Greater

LUKE 11:29-32 (NKJV)

“Greater”

July 30, 2023

The Seeker (Teacher, we want to see a sign from You Matthew 12:38)

God does not hide – If you seek you shall find! In Romans 3:11 Paul quotes Psalm 14 “There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God.” John 6:26, Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.” (I know why you are here for the fish and the loaves) Even after the feeding of the 5000 the disciples each get a basket of fish and bread to take with them on the boat and Mark 6:52 says the reason why they were shocked at Jesus walking on water was that “they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was hardened.”

Be careful of people who want you do something other than what you have already done for Christ! What they are asking is not the problem; the problem is why they are asking! ILLS: 10 Years of Prison Ministry and an inmate wanted a therapist not a preacher. The Sign Seekers rejected Jesus, not because He would not do a magic trick for them, they rejected Him because they were an evil generation and their heart was hardened. Let no one make you feel that what you are doing for Christ is not good enough. Even the religious folks of Jesus’ day wanted the Son of God to do more!

The Sign (This generation looks for a sign and Jesus let them know that there will be no sign except the signs that He had already given)

The Queen of Sheba was a wealthy and powerful ruler in Africa. As this pagan queen reigned in her country, the sailors and merchants that passed through shared the word of the greatness of King Solomon.

A. She Heard Of His Wealth! She heard of the great riches that flowed into the kingdom of Solomon - 1 Kings 9 & 10 and the cost of his throne!

B. She Heard Of His Works! She heard of the great kingdom he had built, 1 Kings 5-9. She heard of the Temple he had constructed for his God. She heard of the great palace he had built for himself.

C. She Heard Of His Wisdom! - She had heard of his intellect and that he could answer deep questions. She came to prove him. She came to get her questions answered!

BUT JESUS SAID A GREATER THAN SOLOMON IS HERE! And if this Queen would travel all the way from Africa to hear the words of Solomon how much more should the children of Israel hear the words of Jesus?

The story of Jonah tells of his prejudice (Jonah was a racist). And there no indication that Jonah ever learned from his awful experience or repented! But Jesus still used the life of His prophet Jonah as an Illustration of His Resurrection! Jonah was not a heroic prophet. Nevertheless, God chooses Jonah in spite of his prejudice and anger issues because He loves the people of Nineveh! Jonah is called by God to go to Nineveh and testify to the people so that they might turn from their wicked ways. Jonah responds by fleeing the opposite direction and heading to sea. Apparently, Jonah believes that God’s power is limited to land. He is wrong. God’s power extends to the sea as well. At sea, a storm blows up and threatens to sink the ship. While Jonah sleeps the sailors pray to their own individual Gods. Finally, the sailors decide their ship is cursed and decide throwing Jonah overboard is the only way to save their ship. They are right. The storm settles as Jonah hits the water and is swallowed by a Big Fish. In the belly of the Big Fish, he prays for deliverance, so after 3 days and 3 nights God causes the Fish indigestion and it vomits him out on shore. Only then does Jonah realize he should probably do what God told him to do. So, he heads to Nineveh to preach Repentance and about God’s Judgement. He declares “If you don’t turn and repent of your evil way, God will utterly destroy you and your animals.” Within 40 days, they all repent! It turns out this complicated man is the effective prophet because they listen to the preaching, turn their lives around and are kept from the wrath of God.

Rather than rejoice at the turned around Ninevites, Jonah gets angry. He is mad that God has accepted the repentance of the Ninevites, even though that is exactly what he was sent on God’s mission to demand! The book ends with our graceful and merciful God reconciled with the city turned around and our not so heroic prophet still angry. BUT Jesus says just as Jonah became a sign to his generation, He will be a sign to this generation! BECAUSE A GREATER THAN JONAH IS HERE!