SERMON OUTLINE:
The Compliment (vs 27)
The Crowd (vs 29a)
The Conversation (vs 29b-32)
SERMON BODY:
Ill:
• Photos of funny signs
• (Photos available on request – gcurley@gcurley.info)
Question: What is the purpose of a sign?
Answer: Twofold:
• A sign is to inform – to give information:
• i.e. instructions or warnings etc. – “Do not touch wet paint”.
• A sign often points to something else;
• i.e. on a motorway where you are travelling – “The Midlands 150 miles”.
Now in the verses we are looking at this morning;
• The crowd following Jesus are taken up with signs;
• And are not taken up with the one that these signs point to – that is Jesus.
• The crowd following Jesus just want the sign, they want the dramatic, the spectacular;
• They want to be regaled, amused, wowed and astonished!
• But Jesus refuses to give them a sign that will do that;
• In fact he says that only one sign will be given them – the sign of Jonah.
Note:
• Now to most people Jonah is an almost comic like figure of the Old Testament:
• He is the prophet who foolishly ran away from obeying God.
• He was the passenger who was thrown into the sea.
• He was the dinner the fish could not stomach,
• He was the hothead who gets cross with God over a withered plant.
• And He was the evangelist who was saddened when a revival took place!
Note:
• Jesus believed Jonah to be a real historical figure.
• And not just an allegorical character.
• And the Bible teaches Jonah to be a real historical figure.
• In fact he is first mentioned in the Bible book called 2 Kings chapter 14 verses 23-25.
• Where we learn that Jonah was a prophet of God;
• Who had been used by God on previous occasions to deliver his message.
• But one day he received surprising directions from God;
• That he did not like and he could not in his nationalistic pride & bigotry obey;
• And as you know from the last for weeks of Sunday Morning studies;
• Or from the book in the Bible called Jonah.
• He set into motion a series of events;
• That would make him one of the most famous characters of the Bible.
• But Jesus said to this crowd of people;
• That Jonah still speaks today, even though he is dead;
• Jonah is a symbol, a picture, a sign for people then & now to learn from!
Let’s look at these verses under three headings:
(1). The Compliment (vs 27):
“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.”
Ill:
• The brilliant physician and writer Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.,
• And his brother John represent two radically different views on the subject of flattery.
• Dr. Holmes loved to collect compliments,
• And when he was older he indulged his pastime;
• By saying to someone who had just praised his work,
• “I am a trifle deaf, you know. Do you mind repeating that a little louder?”
• His brother John, however,
• Was unassuming and content to be in his older brother’s shadow.
• He once said that the only compliment he ever received came when he was six.
• The maid was brushing his hair when she said to his mother’
• “Little John wasn’t all that cross-eyed!”
In verse 27 a woman publicly shouted out a compliment on behalf of Jesus:
• She meant well and what she said was indeed true;
• And Jesus did not fault her for what she said, in fact he confirmed it!
• But notice that he took her words and he broadened the scope of her praise;
• Into an instructive principle.
• The principle is this:
• If you want to be truly blessed then do not just listen to God’s word – obey it!
Ill:
• This is the very thing that Mary, the mother of Jesus had done.
• When she received a message (the word of God) from an angelic being;
• She obeyed the instruction she surrendered herself to his will!
Quote: Luke chapter 32 verse 38:
“I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said."
Then the angel left her”.
Quote: William Barclay:
“The world’s most common prayer is ‘Thy will be changed’.
Mary prayed the world’s greatest prayer; ‘Thy will be done!’”.
Question: What about us?
Ill:
• Wise & foolish builders.
• Foolish man is the one who HEARS the word but does NOT obey it!
• Jonah was a foolish builder – because he heard the word of God but failed to apply it!
• Question: What about us?
(2). The Crowd (vs 29a).
• Luke tells us subtly in verse 29: “As the crowds increased”.
• Jesus had fame and success and people could not get enough of him.
• People came from all over the land to see and hear this wonder working Rabbi.
• Matthew in his gospel gives us a little bit more information as to who the crowd was:
• “Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him,
• “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.””.
• The Pharisees and the teachers of the law;
• Represent the Jewish political and religious leaders of Jesus’ time.
Just like the crowd they too wanted Jesus to do something sensational;
• They wanted to see miracles, incredible acts of visible phenomenon.
• To prove if he really was God's son.
• Note: The irony in these words “we want a sign”.
• Note: the context of this passage.
• Jesus has just been carrying out ‘healings and exorcisms’ (verses 14-28)
• Which are the very signs the people are asking to see Jesus do.
• Now when there was genuine need as in verses 14-28,
• Jesus had compassion and was willing to do miracle upon miracle,
• But not so that the crowd would be amazed;
• But that the individuals he helped would be healed or set free from oppression.
• As Jesus looked at the crowd, he saw the hardness of their hearts;
• And their wrong motives that were hindering their faith not helping it;
• So he refused to perform like a magician or a circus act at their request:
• He used his power openly for all to see, including the Pharisees,
• But Jesus was not an entertainer out to perform and satisfy their inquisitiveness.
Note: Had Jesus done what the Pharisees had asked:
• He would have allowed them to set the standards, the guide-lines for faith.
• And actually, I believe whatever Jesus did would still not have satisfied them,
• Because he wouldn't play by their rules and that was the real problem.
Ill:
• Like a rock in the middle of a rushing river;
• Jesus stood firm, unmoved and strong.
• “Enough with signs”, said Jesus;
• “You don’t want a saviour you want a showman, an entertainer”.
• These signs they demanded were like a smoke screen for their lack of faith;
• So Jesus countered; “You want a sign, then let Jonah be your sign”.
(3). The Conversation (vs 29b-36)
Joke:
• An office executive was interviewing a blonde for an assistant position,
• And he wanted to find out a little about her personality.
• So he asked her:
• "If you could have a conversation with anyone, alive or dead, who would it be?"
• She replied:
• "I'd have to say the living one."
Notice:
• Notice in the conversation that Jesus had with the religious leaders and the crowd;
• He focuses on two historical figures;
• And these three people are deliberately, calculatingly, purposefully chosen!
• Because of their Gentile (non-Jewish) connections.
• First: Jonah the Jewish prophet,
• Who went to the Gentile Ninevites & preached to them (Jonah chapters 1-4)
• Second: The Queen of Sheeba,
• A Gentile queen who came seeking, she sought out a Jewish king (2 Chronicles 9:1-12)
The annoying point for the Jewish crowd and especially the Jewish leaders:
• Is that these illustrations relate to Gentiles;
• The Jews looked down on Gentiles and often referred to them in insulting terms.
• Yet Jesus will remind these people; that it was the Gentiles;
• Who listened to God’s messenger and God’s message and responding positively.
• While they the crowd and religious leaders (who were Jewish - the chosen people of God);
• Did not listen to and did not accept the message Jesus (God’s messenger) gave to them.
So Jesus said only one sign will be given you – the sign of Jonah the prophet!
“For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation”
Note:
• Matthew in his gospel account;
• Emphasises that it was Jonah’s message to the Ninevites that caused them to repent.
• But notice in verse 30 that Luke emphasises Jonah himself;
• In other words Jonah was a physical sign, a walking, talking visual aid to the people.
Note: Let me suggest he was a sign in two ways.
FIRST: A VISUAL SIGN
• One of the reasons Jonah had such an impact on Nineveh was:
• Visual as well as verbal,
• The way he appeared spoke to the people, just as much as what he said.
Ill:
Every account on record of people swallowed by large fish such as whales or sharks etc.:
• Shows that the people involved actually changed their skin colour.
• Their skin was bleached by the stomach juices of the fish.
• Bleached to a strange and unusual colours,
• Patches of yellow & brown,
• And also the victims went completely bold, their hair fell out had no hair.
Now that's how Jonah would have looked physically When he entered the city of Nineveh:
• Bleached by strange, unusual patches of colour all over his body.
• The Ninevites would never have seen anything quite like him before.
• And one look at this bizarre looking creature and the people of Nineveh trembled;
• He was in every sense a walking miracle.
Like Jonah Jesus too was physically a walking miracle:
• He was God incarnate - God in a body!
• God manifest in flesh!
• He was in every sense a walking miracle.
Ill:
• Author and pastor Leith Anderson tells the story of his visit Manila;
• To his surprise his hosts took him one day to visit the Manila garbage dump.
• He saw something that day he would never forget, something beyond belief.
• He saw tens of thousands of people make their homes on that dump site.
• They had built shacks out of the things other people have thrown away.
• And so they could eat each day;
• Their children were sent out among the rubbish to scavenge for food.
• Amazingly people have been born and grown up there on the garbage dump.
• On that dump they have had their own families, built their own shacks,
• And so the process goes on and on and on…
• Most will die on that garbage dump;
• Without ever going anywhere else, even in to the nearby city of Manila.
What is even more amazing is that there are also Americans living on the garbage dump.
• They are missionaries,
• Christians who have chosen to leave their own country,
• Leave their own families and friends, leave their own comforts;
• So that they can and communicate the love of Jesus Christ;
• To people who otherwise would never hear it.
• That is astonishing to me! Quite remarkable!
• Yet, their sacrifice is still far short of the one Jesus Christ made:
• He came not just from heaven to earth.
• But actually became part of his own creation – became human!
SECOND: A FIGURATIVE SIGN
• Primarily the sign of Jonah – was resurrection!
• Matthew in his gospel account records some additional the words of Jesus:
“For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
• Jonah being in the belly of the large fish and then spewed out;
• Was a picture of Jesus in the belly of the earth (tomb) and coming out alive again.
• This is the greatest sign/miracle the world has or will ever see;
• The resurrection from the dead of Jesus Christ!
Ill:
Near the end of Jules Verne’s book ‘Round the World in Eighty Days’:
• There is a dramatic episode,
• When the adventurers are desperately hurrying back to Britain from America.
• To everyone’s horror, the ship runs out of coal to fire the boilers.
• Instantly the order is given to start pulling apart the superstructure of the vessel.
• Wooden railings, furniture, deck boards and so on.
• Finally they just make it to land,
• But by this time there is little left other than a hull, boiler and funnel.
• Yet, of course, they had to have at least that:
• They simply couldn’t dispense with these,
• Otherwise the ship would have gone down.
• Like that ship - dispense with the resurrection and you’ve nothing left;
• Your faith will sink.
• Christianity cannot exist if the resurrection of Jesus did not really happen.
Jesus informs the crowds and the religious leaders that the only sign they need:
• Is the sign of Jonah;
• The sign of death, burial & resurrection!
• This of course was the ultimate reason he had come into the world!
• To be its saviour.
Note: in verses 30-31 Jesus now builds on this truth.
• The Ninevites recognized the warning in Jonah,
• The Queen of Sheeba recognized God's wisdom in Solomon.
• He now wants the crowd and the religious leaders to come to the same conclusion;
• Will they see in him a warning and wisdom.
• Jesus said in me has come to you, a greater wisdom than Solomon ever had.
• In me has come a greater messenger and message than Jonah.
Ill:
Compare the two Jonah & Jesus:
• After all Jonah was just a man,
• Jesus is the Son of God.
• Jonah disobeyed God,
• Jesus always did what God required from him.
• Jonah was in the belly of a fish alive,
• But Jesus actually died.
• The fish vomited Jonah to new life,
• Jesus rose from the dead by his own power.
• Jonah preached to only one city,
• Jesus accomplished something for the whole world.
• Jonah didn't love the Ninevites.
• But Jesus has a love for all.
• Jonah message was one of judgement.
• Jesus's message is one of forgiveness.
• Jesus is far greater than Jonah;
• Jesus is far greater than Solomon too!
Notice: verse 31b: “and now something greater than Solomon is here”
(a). Greater in his words:
• Solomon’s words were wise - but they were words of human wisdom.
• And if these people only they took the time to listen to the words of Jesus;
• They could hear the very wisdom of God, far greater words than Solomon.
(b). Greater in his wealth:
• Jesus was also greater than Solomon in wealth:
• Solomon was one of the richest men who ever lived;
• Yet what Solomon and so many crave after they use as paving slabs in heaven!
(c). Greater in his works & achievements:
• Solomon built a magnificent temple;
• (which was destroyed by the Babylonian army in 587 BCE - 2 Kings chapter 25 verse 8.
• In contrast Jesus is building a living church (Matthew chapter 17 verse 18).
• Where “not even the gates of hell will overcome it”
Note: The point of the history lesson is this:
• A day will come when the people of Nineveh,
• And the Queen of Sheeba will be witnesses against you,
• You and I have had a better chance to believe then ever they had,
• Yet still people refuse to recognise God.
• The Ninevites recognized the warning of Jonah,
• The Queen of Sheeba recognized God's wisdom in Solomon.
Question: Will you recognise God's sign?
• Who is Jesus Christ to YOU?
• When this question is personalized,
• It becomes the most important question one will ever be asked or answer.
• Who is Jesus Christ to YOU?
