Teachings of Jesus (Part 18) Sign of Jonah
Luke 11:27-32
After Jesus drove a demon out of a man, some of His skeptics accused Him of freeing him by the power of Beelzebub, or the prince of demons. They were basically accusing Jesus of being in league with the devil.
After giving a short discourse on how illogical that kind of thinking was, He lets them know the reason why He is able to drive the demon our was because He was simply more powerful than the demons and their master.
In a brief parable, in vss. 24-26, He also lets them know that once a person is set free from that which bound him, one needs to protect himself by filling himself with good and holy things and not stay unoccupied for long. Otherwise the person may find themselves enslaved again. Simply put the devil is not going to just leave you alone just because Jesus set you free but will do his best to find a way get control and enslave you once again.
After this discourse a lady in the crowd was very moved and had something nice to say. But rather than just accepting what she had to say as a complement He came back with another teaching.
11:27-28 says “As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.” 28 He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.””
Please don’t under estimate the value of what Jesus said here. I believe it’s one of the most important teachings we find in the Bible. There is none more blessed than those who, #1 have the opportunity to hear the word of God. And #2, are wise enough to obey it.
There are untold millions who never had the opportunity to read or hear God word. Not knowing the truth many have floundered about not knowing the purpose of life and why we are here, and many have gone as far as creating their own religion with made up Gods.
Many times we just take it for granted just how blessed we are to have such free access to God’s word and the freedom and ability to study it.
But it’s one thing to read it, hear it, and study it, and it’s quite another thing to obey it. I believe Jesus wanted them and us to know that’s where one is really blessed, by obeying it.
There have been many who have read God’s word, studied it for years, and maybe even memorized it. But because they have fallen short of obeyed it, they short change themselves of one of the greatest blessings one could receive. Sad to say many of these people are in churches each Sunday.
What Jesus has to say next section deals with this issue. He says in Vss. 29-32 “As the crowds increased, Jesus said, “This is a wicked generation. It asks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. 30 For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31 The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the people of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom; and now something greater than Solomon is here. 32 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 something greater than Jonah is here.”
Talk about calling the kettle black. He said, “This is an wicked generation.” After performing this wonderful miracle, and after confronting His critics about their false accusations. Jesus can see the crowd increasing in size. Maybe they were wondering ‘What is He going to do next… I want to see.’
Did you ever notice how much people like to be entertained in one way or another. I always thought if you could invent a new form of entertainment you’d make a fortune. People almost seem starved for entertainment. I guess that’s why movies and television are such a hit. TV is a fairly easy and inexpensive form of entertainment. I read some interesting stats this week:
- Children aged 2-11 watch over 24 hours of TV per week, while adults aged 35-49 watch more than 33 hours, according to data from Nielsen that suggests TV time increases the older we get.
- The average American watches more than five hours of live television every day.
- Once we pass 65, we watch more than seven hours a day.
– The average American also spends, an hour using the Internet on a computer, an hour and seven minutes on a smart phone and two hours, 46 minutes listening to the radio.
Well back in Jesus’ time they did not have television, the internet, radios, and smart phone. So when someone special or interesting came to town, especially if they could put on a performance of any kind, well people would flock to see them.
But Jesus gave them a earful when He called them a wicked generation. ‘Basically All you want to see is a miraculous sign but none will be give to you except the sign of Jonah.’
And then He goes on and says, “30 For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation.”
Do you remember the story of Jonah? Most of us remember the story of how Jonah was swallowed by that big fish because He was trying to run from the Lord and his duty and responsibilities which the Lord gave him; and that was to go and preach to those evil people in Nineveh.
Well, he was humbled and learned a lesson down in the belly of that fish and ended up in Nineveh and preached a very short and to the point message from the Lord. He basically preached, “At the end of forty days, Nineveh will be overthrown!”
It goes on to say in chap. 3, “5 The people of Nineveh believed in God, and they declared a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. 6 When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, put on sackcloth, and sat on ashes. 7 He issued a proclamation and said, “In Nineveh, by the decree of the king and his nobles: No human or animal, cattle or sheep, is to taste anything; they must not eat and they must not drink water. 8 Every person and animal must put on sackcloth and must cry earnestly to God, and everyone must turn from their evil way of living and from the violence that they do. 9 Who knows? Perhaps God might be willing to change his mind and relent and turn from his fierce anger so that we might not die.” 10 When God saw their actions—they turned from their evil way of living!—God relented concerning the judgment he had threatened them with and he did not destroy them.”
Jonah and his message from God had become a sign to the Ninevites of their impending doom and that they needed to change. Getting swallowed by that fish wasn’t a sign for the Ninevites, that was to humble Jonah. Jonah and his message from God was what they needed, and what they chose to do next determined their fate. They could have ignored Jonah and God’s word, but instead they decided to change their lives, unlike many of the Jews in Jesus’ time.
And so Jesus goes on say, “31 The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the people of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom; and now something greater than Solomon is here. 32 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 something greater than Jonah is here.”
I can almost hear Jesus saying, ‘I can’t believe you guys. God’s one and only son is here in your presence, your Messiah, and all you want to see is another miracle? What about wanting to hear God’s word and then obeying it? Are you all that shallow?’
And what I learned from this lesson and what I would like to share with you today is that we have to careful not to be as shallow.
What we do here should not be all about seeking to be entertained. There are some churches out there that do their best to entertain members with professional musicians and amusing preachers, skits and having give-a-ways to keep their attendance up. Why? Because they know that people like to be entertained, they crave it. Is good Christian music and socially pleasing sermons pleasing to the ear? Of course they are. They are meant to be. I would imagine that there are some musicians and preachers that serve in this capacity and believe they are using their talent to Glorify God.
But members going to church and Christianity itself should never be about seeking to be entertained. What you get out of gathering together as a church to worship should take a far second place to what you come to give when you gather together.
The very idea and definition of worshipping God means to adore, show honor, respect, to pay homage to our Lord and God. That’s the primary purpose why Christians should gather together. Because we love and appreciate God and that which He has done for us, we gather to offer up prayer thanksgiving, and songs of praise. The Hebrew letter also mentions the fact that while we gather it is important that we also encourage and support one another.
And I believe that the good feelings you get from going to church should come from that fact that you are drawing closer to God and other members who want to do the same, not because you were entertained by a cute sermon or musical performance; both of which were foreign to first and 2nd century Christian church.
And like Jesus said, we are blessed if we “hear the word of God.” I believe that’s why it’s important to hear God’s word read each Sunday and hear a good Bible based sermon which is meant to help you understand what God is saying in certain passages like this. But hearing the Word is one thing, and I believe Jesus wants us to know that real blessings comes when a person takes God’s owrd to heart and does his or her best to obey it.
So my encouragement this day is; try not to fall into the trap of seeking to be entertained when it comes to church and your Christian walk. We also live an evil generation that’s looking for miraculous signs and wonder, and wants to be entertained. But the wonderful miraculous sign has already been given; Jesus rose from the dead.09 If we believe and obey God’s word He will wipe away every sin that we have ever committed, and one day those who choose to obey will be gathered together with Him in Glory. And yes, you will be blessed.
For more lessons click on the following link: http://granvillenychurchofchrist.org/?page_id=566
All comments can be emailed to: bfronzek@gmail.com
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