The Ultimate Proof. ( Matthew 12:42-45).

I.             The Pharisee’s Ask for Another Sign

So the Pharisee’s have asked for a sign, proof that he is the Messiah. But he refuses and responds by saying the only sign I’ll give you is the sign of Jonah, i.e. my resurrection. Previous generation had Jonah and they listened to him,  and they got it, but they listened to the son of God himself and didn’t get it. Jonah didn’t work any miracles and Jesus has worked dozens of miracles and they didn’t get it. Jonah was a minor prophet, but Jesus is the Messiah himself and they got, and you didn’t

. 42 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 something greater than Solomon is here.

(Matthew 12: 42)

This verse is referring to the story of the queen of Sheba who came from we don’t know from exactly where but probably from somewhere like Saudi Arabia all the way to Jerusalem to see Solomon and she was very impressed by his wisdom. Jesus is saying she also recognised the spirit of God and she was a foreigner just meeting a great servant of God. This is really kind of a of a sting to a pharisee living in the 1st century to be told that the Ninevites got it and they were gentiles and then to be told a woman got it, a foreign woman as well got it, that would frustrate big time. So Jesus is choosing his illustrations very carefully and very deliberately and saying she got it and she came to visit Solomon. Which is why he probably said a few verse back that someone greater than Jonah and Solomon is here now.

In other words, Solomon was wise but Jesus was wiser, Solomon was a king but Jesus is the king of kings. So even those who  is here and a greater than Solomon is here and that means that those who got it from Solomon will stand in judgment against you because you had a greater opportunity than they had, and you turned it down.  Now as if all that isn’t enough, he tells them a story to illustrate his point.

II. The Impure Spirit.

43 “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. 45 Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.”

(Matthew 12: 43-45)

That last statement is very important, “this is how it will be with this wicked generation”. The point of this illustration is obvious the person in it is demon possessed, the demon got cast out while and while he was gone the man cleaned himself up straightened himself out and then the demon came back and brought seven of his cronies with him and took back possession of the man. The point of the story is really simple, in that the end result was worse than the beginning.

It’s sort of like losing 10lbs on a crash died but if you don’t change the lifestyle, you put 50 pounds back on again. Often see people who struggle with alcohol trying to give up for years, stopping and starting again and they often end up drinking again and in the become full blown alcoholics, worse than they were before. So, Jesus is saying the end is worse than the beginning if you don’t get you house in order. 

Notice he says that’s true of this generation now, which is a reference to well back up at the beginning of this passage when he said, “this is an evil and adulterous generation”. He’s talking about that generation of Israelites and he says look, John the Baptist came and preached repent for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand and large crowds went out to the wilderness to hear him and many were baptized and started following him. Jesus came along and no doubt many believe in him directly but obviously he attracted large crowds and healed hundreds and people followed him but what we know is about to happen is that the nation is about to reject him as Messiah.

I suggested, when we began studying this chapter a few days ago that chapter 12 is the watershed in this narrative. Up until this point his popularity has increased, but the religious leaders have been agitating behind the scenes and now in this climactic moment they say he does all this by the power of the Devil and this represents the turning point in the ministry of Christ. So, he is saying the nation as a whole, this entire generation as a whole will turn against me, and when they do the end is going to be worse than the beginning. And that is exactly what happen to them. The Nation of Israel in the Old Testament prior to the captivity became idolatrous but the captivity cured them of that. History shows that here after they turned their back on Jesus Christ, they found themselves worse off than before he came. Before he came they lived in expectation of his coming, but when he came they rejected him and they went headlong into a worse state than ever before, including the destruction of the temple and the placing and worshipping of an idol in the Holy of Holies.

III.           The Sign of the Resurrection.

What Jesus has said is simply this, you asked for a sign, but the only, the final sigh you shall have is my resurrection, but I prophecy you’re not going to believe that when you see and hear about it, so I’m telling you are will be judged to the point that even the men of Nineveh and the Queen of Sheba can look on you with pity. If you do believe in the resurrection, you can be saved. If you believe that Jesus Christ died for your sins arose from the dead and trust him and him alone for eternal life you will be given eternal life as a free gift.  

That’s the positive side of what on the surface may sound like a negative message but having said all of that let me make two applications. Number one I think there is a lesson to be learned here for all of us who trust the Lord about when we are talking to other people. It seems to me that the lesson for us is this, all we have to do is give people the message, that’s our job, our commission if you will. Our mandate is to go tell people the good news about Jesus Christ. Now, if you do that times people are going to ask sincere questions that need to be answer. If anybody does you need to be ready to give an answer for the hope that is in you. So that means if they’re asking legitimate questions from a sincere heart give them a reasonable answer as best you can. And if they ask a tough question go get the answer and give it to them, but beyond that if they ask for proof, the ultimate sign that you will need to give them is simply the sign of the resurrection.  I sometimes believe we think that if I only had some clever answer we might hold some power of persuasion over people, so we could just zip open their brains and pour it in and zip it back up again. 

Let me tell you there is such a power. Would you like to know the power, are you ready for this, here it is, the power is the word of God. Hebrews 4:12 says that the scripture is more powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. Give them the good news of what the Word of God says, give them gospel, which say, I am not ashamed of the gospel that Jesus died and rose again because it is the power of God to salvation. Would you like power, well, we have the word of God in general we have the gospel in particular which includes the resurrection of Jesus as evidence of the eternal victory over sin. We also now also have the presence of Holy Spirit who Jesus tells us empowers us to be witnesses to Jerusalem, Judea and to the ends of the world. For he said, “you shall receive power and you shall be witnesses to me”.

So how do I activate this power, it’s real simple just give people the message and leve the rest to the Holy Spirit, because it is with him that the power of the gospel lies.  Our job is to give them the message, it’s Holy Spirit’s job to convict and to draw, and to enlighten and to convert, not mine. When you cross that line and start pressuring, or when you start arm twisting, that’s wrong, that’s simply wrong, that never works. In the New Testament they disciples are just told to give the message and trust the Lord to work it out.

I used to talk to people and if they didn't get it, I'd want to twist their arm or convince them and then one day I came upon that passage where Jesus talked to the rich young ruler and the text says and he went away sad for he would not surrender all he had because he had great possessions. And you know what, Jesus let him go. Now I’m not suggesting that you only witness somebody once, I think you should witness them regularly particularly if you come into contact with them regularly, but I think there comes a point when you give them the message then you say, Lord it’s now up to you, and back off. You can still pray for them, you still talk to them, but I suppose what I’m trying to say is we have to trust the Lord and the power of the word of God which is already there in the gospel of God, and we also have to trust the spirit of God who will always do the work of God. Realise that you are not going to persuade anybody with some clever answers. You are never going to convert anyone because you have some sort of power of persuasion, this is a work of Holy Spirit, and you must rely upon him to get it done. Amen, Amen.

The other side of that coin is we have to give the message in order for Him to work. If we don’t give the message, Holy Spirit doesn’t have a chance to work, so by talking to people we at least give the Holy Spirit the chance to work. So what shall we say to them well of course we have all the stuff about the Old Testament being written 400 years before the coming of Christ and how it gave numerous predictions concerning the coming of the Messiah. I think that is an overwhelming proof that Jesus is the Messiah. There is nothing like that in any religious book on this planet, or in the history of mankind. There is nothing like that in any piece of literature anywhere in the world.

The Old Testament tells us who the Messiah was 400 years + ahead of time, amazing powerful stuff but as I mentioned the crowning and climactic proof of Christianity is the resurrection and that’s the point of this passage. Jesus says to these people, OK, I’ll give you one more sign I’m going to give you one more chance and it’s the resurrection, if you believe that you’ve got it and if you don’t that is your choice. This is the God message to mankind, contained withn and throughout the whole Bible. If you would take what it says about the resurrection seriously I think you will come to see that Jesus is the Messiah. The one who was God’s plan for the us, the world and the whole universes from the very beginning of all things. On many occasions highly intelligent, highly educated, well-read people who have rejected Christianity have decided to give it a try and they’ve gone and investigated the documents and the information concerning the resurrection and thereafter become Christians.

IV.           An Illustration from the 1st Century and an Example from the 20th Century. 

One of the outstanding stories happened in the early part of the 20th century in England. Frank Morris there was an well-known atheist investigative journalist and he set out to write a book to prove that the story of Christ resurrection was merely a myth. He set out to investigated all the historical documents and look at all the evidence for the resurrection and in the process became convinced that Jesus Christ really did come back from the dead. He was converted and he wrote a book that has become a classic in Christian circles, it’s called, “who moved the stone”. Frank Morrison based on just facts became a Christian. I’m telling you there’s evidence and there’s good evidence and every single person on this planet has access to it and I’m telling you many don’t accept it.

But these more for such people to consider, there is also the life, the words, the stories and the parables of Jesus. Jesus is the gospel of Luke tells the story he tells the story of a rich man and a very poor who both die, let me conclude by reading it to you.

19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’ 25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’ 27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ 29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’ 30 “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”

(Luke 16: 19-31)

Jesus is saying in that the scripture sometimes if God was to even raise someone from the dead you would not believe it. As a matter of fact, we’ve already seen Jesus do this already in Matthew’s account, he raised a little and they still didn’t  get it.