THE ONE GREATER

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, "Teacher, we want to see a miraculous sign from you."

He answered, "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here. The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here.”

Matthew 12:38-42

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Throughout Chapter 12 of Matthew, we have witnessed Jesus in the midst of a showdown with the Pharisees, the Jewish religious authorities of the day. As Jesus came with new teachings and a special power to heal people, he gained a following that disturbed those who were in charge of spiritual matters.

And so we have seen the Pharisees question Jesus on the actions He and His disciples took on the Sabbath, seeking to discredit Him as a leader and even go as far as inferring Jesus was in partnership with the prince of demons. And we have seen in every instance that Jesus had a response for His detractors…responses that only continued to show that He was One who had come that was greater than they were…greater in power and greater in wisdom.

Well, as we continue and look at today’s passage, the Pharisees are not giving up. And amazingly, “some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law” asked Jesus to perform “a miraculous sign”. Now…I’m not sure what driving out demons and healing a man who had been crippled with a shriveled hand would constitute but for me at least those were both miraculous signs.

Jesus full knew that the motive behind the request was to further ridicule or discredit Him and so He had a different response than what the Pharisees and teachers of the law were asking for. For we read where He answered:

“A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here. The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here.”

Wow! Now was that an indictment or what?

The Pharisees and teachers of the law had taken their shots at Jesus but One greater than them was now speaking and taking a shot of His own…one that should have shaken His accusers to the core.

For obviously, those religious authorities who claimed to be such men of God could not even recognize and acknowledge when the power of God was being performed right in front of them. How else would Jesus had been able to do the miracles He performed except by a power greater than any man or woman had ever seen on earth. This is because the power that Jesus carried was not of earth but of His Father…our Father in heaven.

So Jesus let the Pharisees and teachers of the law know the extent of His authority through using two very familiar Old Testament figures…and underscoring the pending judgment awaiting anyone who would seek to undermine His work.

First, Jesus uses Jonah.

We’re familiar with Jonah’s story. You’ll recall that he was told by the Lord to go to Nineveh to preach against the city and its people because of their wickedness. But Jonah, afraid of the assignment, ran instead of obeying…boarding a ship that was bound for Tarshish.

As the ship set out, a terrible storm came upon it and everyone onboard was in danger of dying at sea. All the men on the ship were praying to their own gods, hoping for rescue, but Jonah was asleep below decks. Awakened by the ship’s captain, Jonah was summoned on deck where he was questioned by the rest of the men. They wanted to know what God Jonah followed and he replied, “…I worship the Lord, the God of heaven who made the sea and the land”. (Jonah 1:9)

This statement terrified the men more and they were convinced that it was God…the God Jonah followed…who was responsible for their perilous situation. So the men asked Jonah what they should do and he told them to cast him overboard since he was the one who had angered God.

The men were grief-stricken that they had to kill Jonah to save themselves. In fact, they cried out to Jonah’s God saying, “O Lord, please do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for You, O Lord, have done as You pleased”. (Jonah 1:14) And with that, the men threw Jonah overboard and miraculously, the raging sea calmed. Amazed at what they had witnessed, the men left on the ship “greatly feared the Lord” and offered sacrifice and vows to Him. (Jonah 1:16) The men had seen first hand the power of One greater than anything else they had ever seen.

So what happened to Jonah?

We know he was swallowed by a great fish where he remained inside for three days and three nights. During that time, he repented and reaffirmed his loyalty to the Lord…and then was “vomited…onto dry land” (Jonah 2:10) and given a second chance to do as God commanded…to go to Nineveh and present the word of the Lord…a word that the led Nineveh to amazingly repent and find the Lord’s compassion as He spared the city and its people from destruction.

Back to our scripture where e find Jesus telling the Pharisees and teachers of the law that He would eventually be in a place similar to Jonah…except instead of “in the belly of a huge fish”, He would be in the heart of the earth…dead and buried. But, come back alive to earth after his three day stay, so too would Jesus emerge alive from the tomb…defeating death and ascending to His Father in heaven eternally…an act far more greater than Jonah being vomited from a fish.

And so if what happened with Jonah led the people of Nineveh to repent at Jonah’s teaching then how much more should the people during Jesus’ time repent because He was greater than Jonah? That was the question. And if generation of Jesus’ time chose to not repent through the presence of the One who had come to save them, then the very people of Nineveh would “stand up at the judgment…and condemn it”.

What a powerful statement by Jesus! Now you would think that anyone with half a brain would change their mind, repent and flee from the Lord’s judgment. But those who Satan has a grip on will continue to be blind to the cause of Christ…choosing to remain in darkness instead of stepping into the light.

But Jesus doesn’t stop with a comparison to Jonah. He then goes onto another honored member of Jewish religious history, Solomon, who during his reign was visited in Jerusalem by the queen of Sheba, an Arabian kingdom who profited greatly from the sea trade. During her visit, Sheba “talked with him about all she had on her mind” (2 Chronicles 9:1b) and Solomon in turn, “answered all her questions” with “nothing being too hard for him to explain” (2 Chronicles 9:2). Well, the queen was “overwhelmed” by what she heard and said:

“The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true. But I did not believe what they said until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half the greatness of your wisdom was told me; you have far exceeded the report I heard. How happy your officials, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! Praise be to the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on His throne as king to rule for the Lord your God. Because of the love of your God for Israel and His desire to uphold them forever, He has made you king over them, to maintain justice and righteousness”. (2 Chronicles 9:5-8)

Now, here was a powerful leader who traveled to Jerusalem and was taken to a place of praise and acknowledgement of the Lord through the wisdom the Lord placed on Solomon to express to her. She fully knew that Solomon was where he was because God had put him there…just as Jesus was sent to reign with power and majesty…a power and majesty that far exceeded Solomon’s. And so with that, if the queen of Sheba would acknowledge Solomon, how much more should the people in Jesus’ time acknowledge Him for He was there and greater than Solomon.

OK…so what’s the point for us today?

We need to remember about how great the Lord is…that He is greater than anything.

For in this generation, there are so many who hold up people as being powerful and influential who can’t even scratch the surface on the Lord’s power and majesty. Like the men in the ship heading to Tarshish, people are crying out to gods that don’t exist seeking safety and salvation…and they do it when the One greater than all things is right there ready to give them everything they seek. All they need do is turn to Him, as the men in the ship did after Jonah was cast into the sea and the storm disappeared.

Jesus sacrificed Himself for all mankind…not just for a few men perishing on a ship. He gave Himself up to death on the cross to pay the price for our sins. He perished so we wouldn’t have to if we only believe and trust in Him as our Savior.

Do you fully believe and trust in the One who is greater…greater than anything that life can bring upon you…greater than affliction or hardship?

For through Christ, nothing can separate us from being liberated one day from what this world brings upon us…and in the interim, we know we can cope because He is with us as we seek to carry out His will and way

Indeed, He is the One who is greater. Thanks be to God.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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