Luke 11:29-32 (3)
Notes
Transcript
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-If you would, please turn in your Bibles to Luke 11.
We’re going to be picking up where we left off...
…a few weeks ago, now.
I mentioned to you back at the end of chapter 9...
That in the coming chapters...
…Luke would be frequently focusing our attention...
…upon those prosecuting indictments...
…that Jesus would make against the Nation of Israel.
Well, Verse 29 picks back up...
…with what appears to be...
…a long series of those indictments.
-And for the sake of time...
…I’m not going to say anymore about it than that, right now.
So, let’s read our text...
And pray for the Lord’s help, to...
Understand it
Avoid its warnings for ourselves
We’ll need his grace for both!
Amen?
Luke 11:29–32 (ESV)
29 When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, “This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.
30 For as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation.
31 The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.
32 The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.
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Pray
-Let me draw your attention back to Verse 29.
And notice, there...
…what Luke tells us about the setting of this event.
It’s one of those details, that...
…is easy for us to overlook...
…but it strikes us as a bit odd...
…once we finally realize it.
Luke tells us that Jesus issued those strong indictments...
Luke 11:29 (ESV)
29 When the crowds were increasing...
Or, as the New King James Version translates it:
Luke 11:29 (NKJV)
29 And while the crowds were thickly gathered together...
So, what’s happening here?
Interest in Jesus appears to have reached at an all-time high!
At this moment, he appears to...
be wildly popular
have his greatest platform yet!
Now, what’s odd about that?
Nothing, in and of itself.
What’s odd is the fact, that...
…when Jesus reaches a zenith of success...
…He says something really convicting...
…that ends up driving people away!
For example:
Luke 14:25–33 (ESV)
25 Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them,
26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own . . . even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.
33 ...any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.
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-Now, why would Jesus do this?
Because (in his humanity):
He feared God (reverential awe and submission)
And He loved men.
He told people what they NEEDED to hear...
Not necessarily what they liked.
He was content with a hostile response...
…so long as...
The will of His Father was being done
People were being told the truth needful for the moment.
-Now, if Matthew 12:38-42 is a parallel account...
…of this same event...
…it sheds some important light on...
…the catalyst behind these indictments.
He sets it up like this:
Matthew 12:38 (ESV)
38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.”
And, if you’ll remember...
…it was something very similar...
…that had begun the series of events...
…back in Luke 11.
Luke 11:14–16 (ESV)
14 Now he was casting out a demon that was mute....
15 But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons,”
“some:” identified elsewhere as the scribes and Pharisees
16 while others, to test him, kept seeking from him a sign from heaven.
Meaning:
Something Greater
Something that Transcended earthly miracles
Something up in the sky!
-And I emphasized this then...
And I’ll emphasize it now:
This is not okay.
God’s gracious allowance permitted to weak Gideon...
…does not mean that we have perpetual permission:
To put God’s word to the test
Demand from him signs...
…as a pre-condition for our faith and obedience.
That is wicked unbelief...
NOT objective, empirical sincerity.
And our text today...
…makes that breathtakingly clear.
Consider this assessment from Philip Ryken:
In one sense, Jesus had given many signs of his true identity as the Son of God and the Savior of the world (e.g., Luke 5:17–26; 9:37–43). Every miracle he performed, including the demon he had just cast out, was a sign of the kingdom of God.
People did not need any more signs; they needed to believe the signs they had already been given. If they did not believe those signs, then what sign would they believe?
“The fact is,” writes David Gooding, “that the people who demanded another sign would not have been convinced by it or by any number of signs.
Their seeking of a sign was not an indication of their willingness to believe if only adequate evidence were provided, but a rationalizing of their unwillingness to believe the perfectly adequate evidence they already had.” — Ryken
Do you remember what Abraham told The Rich man...
…in the parable of the Rich man and Lazarus?
Luke 16:29–31 (ESV)
29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’
30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’
31 He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’ ”
-Now, look at what Jesus goes on to say:
Luke 11:29 (ESV)
29 When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, “This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign...
To whom is he referring, here?
There are a lot of ways that the word “generation” . . .
…could be understood...
…but it’s pretty clear from the context, here...
…that He’s referring to...
Those of Jewish ancestry...
Who had had the privilege of being exposed to his earthly ministry...
And were rejecting it.
Sadly, this was an infamous characteristic...
…of “Second-Temple Judaism.”
Remember Paul saying:
1 Corinthians 1:22–24 (ESV)
22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,
We might say “philosophical proof”
23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,
-Look at the way Jesus rebukes them for it, in...
Matthew 12:39 (ESV)
39 But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign...
What’s implied in that?
Infidelity
Spiritual Unfaithfulness
Covenant Violation
Jesus is telling Old Covenant Jews...
…that their thirst for signs and wonders...
…as a pre-requisite to faith and obedience...
…is indicative of the heart of a transgressor...
Of one who has broken covenant with God!
-We saw Jesus describe that disposition of heart, back in...
Luke 7:31–35 (ESV)
31 “To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like?
32 They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, “ ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.’
Do you remember the image?
Petulant children…
...that couldn’t be enticed to respond...
…no matter what they were enticed with.
-Well, Jesus is making it very clear in our text...
…that they’re not going to succeed...
…in their passive-aggressive defiance.
Look at Verse 29 again:
Luke 11:29 (ESV)
29 . . . “This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.
Who’s setting the terms, here?
He’s not giving into their demands.
He IS going to (in the future)...
...give them the sign of all signs.
He WILL (shortly) give them a sign...
…that no one in the world...
…would ever be able to deny with a clear conscience.
But, he ISN’T going to give them...
…what they’re demanding.
He’s actually going to give them something...
Far greater...
Far more transcendent...
…than the kind of thing they have in mind.
And that sign, ironically...
…isn’t going to bring about their salvation
It's actually going to result in their just condemnation.
-Jesus refers to that sign in Verse 29, as...
Luke 11:29 (ESV)
29 ...no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.
What does He mean by that?
Well, Luke doesn’t record...
...Jesus explaining it in clear terms.
(That’s probably indicative of the judicial nature of it)
(Think: Jesus’ stated purpose for using parables)
Speaking in similarly symbolic language...
…he gave this explanation in Verse 30:
Luke 11:29–30 (ESV)
29 ...no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.
30 For as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation.
In other words...
Jesus himself will (future tense) become the sign
And the manner of his signifying...
…is going to resemble Jonah’s prophetic witness to the Ninevites.
-So, how did Jonah do that?
Well, remember he was told:
Jonah 1:2 (ESV)
2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.”
Do you see the similarities, already?
A prophetic warning
Against an ungodly people
Later on, we read this:
Jonah 3:2–4 (ESV)
2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.”
3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh...
4 ...And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”
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But, does this prophetic oracle of doom...
…exhaust the extent of the similitude, here?
No!
Jesus had already been doing that.
He says that this sign will be done...
…in the future!
So, what are we missing?
Well, we need to remember what happened to Jonah...
…prior to his preaching to the city.
He had initially fled the call of God
(In contrast to Jesus)
He ended up being thrown into the sea...
…to stop its raging.
(Also, in contrast to Jesus)
And, then we read this:
Jonah 1:17 (ESV)
17 And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
In that acidic environment
His life being miraculously sustained by God
Then, he repented of his rebellion
(Also, in contrast to Jesus)
And, then we read this:
Jonah 2:10–3:3 (ESV)
10 And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.
1 Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying,
2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.”
3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord...
Imagine the impact of that on the Ninevites:...
…especially if they had somehow heard...
…about his escape from the clutches of death.
-Well, Matthew’s account...
…makes a more precise correlation...
…between these two signs:
Matthew 12:40 (ESV)
40 For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
This is an obvious reference...
…to the death and Resurrection of Christ, right?
John Peter Lange says this:
As Jonah from the belly of the fish had come forth, to appear to the Ninevites, so should the risen Jesus be for His contemporaries a sign,
but not from heaven; from the depth of the earth shall this sign be given,
but yet it should serve for their condemnation. — Lange’s Commentary
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Brethren, the reality is, that...
...the Resurrection of Jesus...
…is the ultimate and final proof...
…that Jesus is who He claimed to be!
The response to it...
…is what determines everything else!
-Look at what Jesus goes on to tell them in...
Luke 11:31 (ESV)
31 The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them...
Do you remember her?
Her relevance starts in:
1 Kings 4:29–34 (ESV)
29 And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore,
30 so that Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt.
31 For he was wiser than all other men...
34 And people of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.
1 Kings 10:1–5 (ESV)
1 Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to test him with hard questions.
2 She came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue, with camels bearing spices and very much gold and precious stones. And when she came to Solomon, she told him all that was on her mind.
3 And Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing hidden from the king that he could not explain to her.
4 And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built,
5 the food of his table, the seating of his officials, and the attendance of his servants, their clothing, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings that he offered at the house of the Lord, there was no more breath in her.
-Now that we remember her story...
...let’s read Verse 31 again:
Luke 11:31 (ESV)
31 The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them,
Why?
What qualifies her to be...
...a witness for the prosecution?
for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.
As much light as Solomon’s wisdom...
...provided to the world at the time...
…it paled in comparison to...
…the revelation of God in Jesus Christ...
…like the light of a small candle...
…against the backdrop of the noonday sun!
Do you remember:
Hebrews 1:1–3 (ESV)
1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets,
2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son...
3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature...
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-Don’t overlook something important, here:
The Queen of Sheba (A Heathen Queen)...
…travelled far and long...
…to behold, and benefit from, the Wisdom of Solomon.
She had no previous light of special revelation.
-But, in our text...
You have, men of the Covenant...
Men who had received the benefit of...
…God’s special revelation in the Old Testament...
…having the Personified Wisdom of God...
…COMING TO THEM...
And them spurning it.
Setting it aside
Suppressing it
Trampling it underfoot.
Calvin summarized it like this:
A woman who had not been at all educated in the school of God, was induced, by the desire of instruction, to come from a distant region to Solomon, an earthly king;
while the Jews, who had been instructed in the divine law, reject their highest and only teacher, the Prince of all the prophets. — Calvin
Which is the guiltier party?
The one who has sinned against the greatest light.
-Now, verse 32 contains the same basic warning:
Luke 11:32 (ESV)
32 The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.
Remember, that Nineveh was also a heathen city.
They were pagan idolaters.
God’s word came to them through...
…the weak, reluctant, and even spiteful prophet, Jonah!
And yet, they repented in sackcloth and ashes!
-In our text, these folks have had...
2 Peter 1:19 (ESV)
19 ...the prophetic word more fully confirmed...
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And yet they say...
“It’s not enough”
“Give us MORE!”
And what our text makes clear, is that...
There is no more!
There is nothing greater!
The fullness of God’s revelation to men...
… has now happened in the incarnation, death, and resurrection of His Son!
And if you reject that light...
…Son of Abraham or not...
...All of creation is going to stand at the day of judgment...
…and applaud the justice and righteousness of God...
…as he casts you into the Lake of Fire.
Is that serious?
Judgment Day Serious!
Eternally Serious!
-Philip Ryken makes it applicable to us:
What will the Ninevites say about us?
God has spoken to us more clearly than he ever did to them. All they heard was a message of judgment, spoken by an almost complete failure of a prophet.
We have heard a message of grace, spoken by the very Son of God.
The only sign they were given was a man swallowed by a big fish and then brought back up.
We have been given the sign of a man swallowed by death itself, and then rising again in triumph.
Do you believe this gospel sign? — Ryken
And, that’s the question that...
…we all need to do business with, this morning.
Remember what Paul told...
…the gentiles at the Areopagus:
Acts 17:30–31 (ESV)
30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,
31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”
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That’s not an option to be considered.
That’s a command to be obeyed.
Let’s ask Him for help to do so
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