11.02.08
Request for a Sign by the Leaders
Request for a Sign by the Leaders (Matt. 12:38-45)
We enter this lesson knowing that Jesus has had the ‘rock star’ status for some time. He had done things that this generation had never seen. He was amazing, and crowds followed Him. I suspect, as perhaps you do, that the Pharisees knew full well that Jesus was claiming to be the heaven-sent Messiah. They knew full well the miracles that He had done and that these multitudes of miracles authenticated His person. But now they came to challenge Him and request a sign that would prove to them He was what He claimed to be.
And Jesus responded by explaining to them the reason for their request. It was not a request from faith, instead it was a request from unbelief and their unwillingness to believe His words and signs. And to do that indicated that they were evil and their intentions were less than stellar. In fact, He gave them a sign – the sign of Jonah. What was that all about?
Well, where would you find the story of Jonah? Look in the Old Testament book of Jonah. Here I will pause and say that Jesus is alluding to types. He is showing how Jonah had aspects of types of things that would be made clearer by experiences and things that Jesus Himself would show. This type, of course, points to the 3 days and nights that Christ would spend after His death and before His resurrection. The things that were not fully clear (or were not fully revealed) through this prophet would now be brought to light.
Let me try to be clearer for those reading this on the blog.
What is a type? Literally speaking, the word type comes from the Greek word tuptein, to strike. In Webster’s dictionary, type is defined as “to figure, to represent by a model or symbol beforehand. In the context of our study of the Bible we consider both the type and antitype. In our study of the Bible a type is a person, place, thing, or event that is a foreshadowing of a future person or event. The antitype or thing the type foreshadows is greater and clearer to understand. For example, a rubber stamp is a type. It is not clear and simple to understand. However, its antitype, that print that appears when the rubber stamp is pressed on paper, is much clearer than the type. The type was a shadow, or promise of the revealed antitype to come. There are dozens of types of Christ in the Old Testament.
information Copyright 1999 by Grady Scott, taken from http://www.christianlibrary.org/authors/Grady_Scott/types.htm - on this page are some introductions to a few types that may be of interest.
I have no problem admitting that I had 2 favorite classes out of my studies in seminary, and the study of types was one of them. The text we used was ‘Study of the Types’ by Ada R. Habershon – I highly recommend it if you are interested in learning more.
Let’s see how Pentecost approaches verses 43 through 45.
Christ through an illustration revealed the condition of the nation Israel at that time as a result of its rejection of Him and His offer. Christ said that when an evil spirit leaves a man, it seeks rest and is unable to find it. Remembering the body in which it formerly dwelt, it determines to return. On its return it finds the main freed from evil spirits and determines to reenter but rather than to occupy that body alone it seeks seven other spirits more wicked than itself. Together these spirits move in and occupy that body as their dwelling place. Thus the man’s condition after his initial deliverance is worse than before. This illustration clearly revealed Christ’s reflection upon the recent history of Israel. John the Baptist had come to find the house of Israel occupied by evil spirits; the nation was full of unrighteousness and sin. As a result of John’s preaching, which brought about repentance and confession, the nation of Israel had been purged from its evil. Multitudes were awaiting the coming of the kingdom. But before the kingdom was established, the nation of Israel had returned to the sin that had been removed by John’s preaching, and now the nation was further from God. It was more wicked – and consequently under more severe judgment – than it had been before John began his ministry. Because the nation that professed to receive John’s witness had turned in unbelief from the One whom John introduced, it was now in a worse state than before John’s ministry began.
I ask you – have you found yourself in this condition? Have you lost that flame and are asking ‘Lord, where are you? Show me a sign.’ If so, would God answer you like He did with these Pharisees? What condition is your house? Perhaps you are overwhelmed with other things…concerned with the things of this world and not really focused on Jesus and how He is at work right now – in a very tangible and undeniably real way – in your life and in mine.
