Thursday, July 13, 2006
THIS GENERATION
Vv39-40. But He answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign shall be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; 40. for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Jesus response to the request for a sign draws a rebuke that publicly embarrassed the religious elite as He publicly labels them as an evil and adulterous generation. The tables are turned; the religious envision Jesus as easy prey and He publicly sets them back on their heels as He first calls them evil.
Evil would apply to anything outside of God’s will. This label would be effectively demonstrating that His assessment these demanding conversationalists was that they were outside the will of the very One that they professed to represent.
Adulterous is a term used of those who prostituted themselves outside the vows that they had sworn. Israel was often referred to as the betrothed of God and still the worshipped the idols of their captors Is. 50:1 Thus says the Lord, "Where is the certificate of divorce, By which I have sent your mother away? Or to whom of My creditors did I sell you? Behold, you were sold for your iniquities, And for your transgressions your mother was sent away. The adultery of this generation was the love that they had given to their own fabricated religious practices that had usurped the law of God and had become their idol.
An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign and this generation determined that Gods coming Messiah would have to be filtered through their prescribed scrutiny before authentication could occur. In other words, God would have to subject Himself to the scribes and Pharisees’ permission before He could be operative in His creation. Religion had “de-throned” God.
And, with respect to the requested sign, Jesus says “No sign shall be given to it (the demands of the evil and adulterous generation),” but the sign of Jonah the prophet.
Here again Jesus teaches in a parabolic method through His rapid fire examples that just continue to come at them. He demonstrates that He will not succumb to their tradition and embarrasses them in that He publicly humiliated them. Mac Arthur says, “It was not possible for Jesus to perform a miracle of the sort the scribes and Pharisees wanted – not because He did not have the power to do it, but because it was utterly contrary to God’s nature and plan. Jesus could easily have performed it from the standpoint of His omnipotence, but not from the standpoint of His moral nature – because God is not in the business of bending Himself to satisfy the whims of evil people who have no relationship to Him.”
Jesus would provide a sign for them, but it would be of a parabolic nature and of His Father’s will. This would be a sign that they all were familiar with; no sign shall be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet.
This would be an ultimate defeat to those trying to destroy Him and His ministry.
He then explains the attesting miracle, or sign, that would be of His own demonstration; for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. It is at this point we must become familiar with the circumstances of the prophet Jonah and how his disobedience made his life difficult.
Jesus response to the request for a sign draws a rebuke that publicly embarrassed the religious elite as He publicly labels them as an evil and adulterous generation. The tables are turned; the religious envision Jesus as easy prey and He publicly sets them back on their heels as He first calls them evil.
Evil would apply to anything outside of God’s will. This label would be effectively demonstrating that His assessment these demanding conversationalists was that they were outside the will of the very One that they professed to represent.
Adulterous is a term used of those who prostituted themselves outside the vows that they had sworn. Israel was often referred to as the betrothed of God and still the worshipped the idols of their captors Is. 50:1 Thus says the Lord, "Where is the certificate of divorce, By which I have sent your mother away? Or to whom of My creditors did I sell you? Behold, you were sold for your iniquities, And for your transgressions your mother was sent away. The adultery of this generation was the love that they had given to their own fabricated religious practices that had usurped the law of God and had become their idol.
An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign and this generation determined that Gods coming Messiah would have to be filtered through their prescribed scrutiny before authentication could occur. In other words, God would have to subject Himself to the scribes and Pharisees’ permission before He could be operative in His creation. Religion had “de-throned” God.
And, with respect to the requested sign, Jesus says “No sign shall be given to it (the demands of the evil and adulterous generation),” but the sign of Jonah the prophet.
Here again Jesus teaches in a parabolic method through His rapid fire examples that just continue to come at them. He demonstrates that He will not succumb to their tradition and embarrasses them in that He publicly humiliated them. Mac Arthur says, “It was not possible for Jesus to perform a miracle of the sort the scribes and Pharisees wanted – not because He did not have the power to do it, but because it was utterly contrary to God’s nature and plan. Jesus could easily have performed it from the standpoint of His omnipotence, but not from the standpoint of His moral nature – because God is not in the business of bending Himself to satisfy the whims of evil people who have no relationship to Him.”
Jesus would provide a sign for them, but it would be of a parabolic nature and of His Father’s will. This would be a sign that they all were familiar with; no sign shall be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet.
This would be an ultimate defeat to those trying to destroy Him and His ministry.
He then explains the attesting miracle, or sign, that would be of His own demonstration; for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. It is at this point we must become familiar with the circumstances of the prophet Jonah and how his disobedience made his life difficult.
# posted by Castusfumus : 2:19 PM
