In less than two weeks it will be Christmas and almost all of us will celebrate the birth of someone born 2000 years ago. Why? That is the question of the day. What makes Jesus Christ so special? Why isn't the birthday of Mohammed, Confucius, or Buddha the biggest holiday of the year? Why does our calendar measure years from the time Jesus was born, 1998 years, rather than from the birth of Moses, Plato, Alexander, Galileo, Abraham Lincoln, or Michael Jordan? The historians will say, "Well, it is because Christianity has been the dominant religion in western civilization. Christians were in charge of the calendar so the birth of Christ was given the spotlight." But, why did that happen? How could a carpenter from an obscure village in Palestine start a religion which, within a few decades, would have followers in almost every part of the world? "Well," some Christians would respond, "it is because Jesus is the Son of God. He is the true Lord and Savior of the human race." Yes, I'm convinced that is true, but, why do we believe that? How do we know that He is who He says He is? What makes Jesus so special?
We find an important answer to this question in our text today. We are continuing our journey through the Book of Matthew and we come to Chapter 12:38-42. Here Jesus is essentially asked, "What makes you so special? Why should anyone believe that you are anything but one of those religious hucksters who is always out there trying to win people's loyalty and get their money?" We are going to look at Jesus' answer to that question, and I believe it will help us understand why Christmas is such an important celebration and why 2000 years after His birth, Jesus Christ is worthy of our trust, love, and devotion. Let's pray God would help our minds and hearts to grasp the truth today.
Our text records a continued confrontation between Jesus and the Pharisees, the Jewish religious leaders of His day. Back in Verse 24, these men had accused Jesus of doing the devil's work, and in Verse 34, which we looked at last week, Jesus referred to them as a "brood of vipers" or, in our vernacular, a "bunch of snakes." Then some of the Pharisees make a request of Jesus. 12:38 Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, "Teacher, we want to see a miraculous sign from you." Their respectful tone reflects not a sincere desire for truth, but political strategy. There is a crowd of people gathered, and the Pharisees' goal is to turn these folks against Jesus. Things had started back in Verse 12:22 Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see. When that happened, people started asking, "Could this be the Son of David? Could this be the Messiah? Could this be the Savior that God promised, for whom we have waited so long?" That is when the Pharisees say, "No way, this fellow can only do this miracle because he is empowered by Satan himself.
Verses 25-37 record Jesus' compelling rebuttal of this charge, and so now the Pharisees have to change their tactics. What they are implying in Verse 38 is something like this: "OK, Jesus, we will concede there is some ambiguity about what happened today. Some say you received your power from the devil, others say from God, who's to know? But, you can answer everyone's question here and now. If you are the Messiah, then perform a great miracle right now which will prove to everyone that you really are the Christ." You can see why these Pharisees are sometimes called lawyers. Now, I'm not sure whether they believed Jesus could not or simply would not perform this miracle on demand, but I think they are pretty confident Jesus is not going to meet their challenge. At least, they sure hope He doesn't. Their goal is to convince people that Jesus is not the Messiah, but rather a religious fraud of some type. Now, if I were Jesus, I probably would have said, "OK, you guys want a miraculous sign. I will give you one." And then I would have snapped my fingers and turned the guys who challenged me into a bunch of pigs, or maybe a brood of vipers. But Jesus didn't do that, though He certainly could have. Instead, Jesus gives this response:
12:39a He answered, "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign!" Jesus is not referring to sexual immorality though no doubt that was going on. Instead, He means that these religious people have been unfaithful to God. They have committed spiritual adultery. Oh, they may not have engaged in pagan idol worship as the people had done in the Old Testament, but they were worshipers of self. Though they claimed to be loyal only to the true God, they were really loyal only to themselves. 12:39,40 "But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 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." The Pharisees and the crowd are not going to get their sign that day, but there will be proof that Jesus is the Messiah. The sign of Jonah. Most of you remember the story. God tells the prophet Jonah to go to Nineveh, but he tries to run away. Eventually Jonah is thrown overboard and is then swallowed by a great fish. After spending three days inside the fish, he is vomited back onto dry land, and from there, Jonah obeys the Lord and goes to Nineveh. Now, it is unlikely that the Pharisees, the crowd, or even Jesus' disciples understand with any clarity what Jesus meant by "the sign of Jonah" even though they all knew the story. With the benefit of hindsight, we know Jesus was speaking of His resurrection from the dead. Just as Jonah was "resurrected" after spending three days in the fish, Jesus will be brought back to life after spending three days in the grave. That is, of course, exactly what happened. The most magnificent, significant event of all time, the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead! Probably too spectacular for even His disciples to imagine at that point, but the proof which shows Jesus is indeed the Messiah, indeed God's Son, indeed the Lord and Savior.
Now, let me make two footnotes at this point. First, Jesus clearly believes and teaches that Jonah was a real person and that this greatest of all fish stories actually happened. There have been skeptics in the past, and in our day, who contend the story is a fairy tale. Jesus strongly disagrees with them, and I agree with Him. Jonah really did spend three days inside, not a whale, but a huge fish, or more literally, a "great sea creature." Second, Jesus' prediction that He will be in "the heart of the earth" for three days and three nights has caused some controversy. Good Friday to Easter Sunday morning seems less than three days and three nights to us. There are three solutions which have been suggested to this puzzle. #1) That Jesus is wrong about the timing of His resurrection, which I don't believe, and even if He were, I don't think Matthew would include that statement. #2) That Jesus was really crucified on Wednesday afternoon, which is possible but unlikely, and #3) that "three days and three nights" is a Jewish expression which can mean merely a portion of three different days, which Friday afternoon, Saturday, and Sunday morning would fulfill. If you are bothered by this little puzzle, talk to me later. OK, end of footnotes.
Jesus then concludes with a warning. He talks not about signs which prove He is the Messiah, but rather of witnesses who will testify against those who oppose Him. 12:41 "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 one greater than Jonah is here." After Jonah came out of the belly of the fish, the wicked, pagan people of Nineveh believed his message, repented, and turned to God. In a short time, the Pharisees and all the people around would witness a miracle far greater than someone living in a fish for three days. Jesus would rise from the dead. They were being confronted not by a prophet, like Jonah, but by the Messiah Himself. Yet, they were rejecting, and would continue to reject, this truth. The people of Nineveh will say, "These folks had a lot more chances than we did, but they never repented. They deserve whatever punishment God chooses to give."
There will also be another witness against these folks on judgment day. 12:42 "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 one greater than Solomon is here." The Queen of the South is the Queen of Sheba, a pagan ruler from the part of the Arabian Peninsula which is now Yemen. According to 1 Kings 18, she came to Jerusalem to honor and learn from King Solomon. On the day of judgment, she will testify, "I simply heard of Solomon's great wisdom and made the long journey to honor him. These folks had the Messiah Himself in their midst, they saw His great miracles, and yet they wanted nothing to do with Him. They deserve whatever punishment God chooses to give." The testimony of these two witnesses will affirm that Jesus is the Messiah, that the evidence clearly demonstrates He is the One whom God has sent, and that those who reject Him do so only because their minds and hearts are closed to the truth. This is Jesus' solemn warning against the Pharisees and all who oppose Him.
So, what do these verses mean to folks who live at the end of the 20th Century? There are two important implications for those of us today. #1) The resurrection of Jesus, the sign of Jonah, is how we know he is the Messiah and Lord. Now, the fact that Jesus is the eternal Son of God is what makes Him so unique and special. That is the reason why it is only right that His birthday be the occasion of the year's biggest celebration. That is why it is only right that our calendar record time as before and after Christ came to earth. However, the resurrection of Jesus is what enables us to know that this is who He is. It is the sign of Jonah which confirms that Jesus was not some type of nut, or a crafty magician, but really was who He claimed to be -- the Messiah, God's Son, our Savior. The apostle Paul puts it this way in Romans 1 as he speaks of the gospel of God regarding His son. Romans 1:4 ...and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.
Friends, if you took the founders of all the world's religions, and all the great philosophers throughout history, and all the great scientists, political leaders, and scholars who have ever lived, and then placed them all in a big circle, there is one person who would stand head and shoulders above the rest. No, it would not be Mohammed, it would not be Aristotle, it would not be Einstein, it would not be Gandhi, but it would be Jesus Christ. Jesus probably was not exceptionally tall physically, but when you compare Him to any of these other people, He is like an eight-foot giant among midgets. It is the resurrection from the dead which shows us He is different from anyone else. A Muslim was trying to convince a Christian that Islam is a superior religion. He said, "When we go to Mecca, we at least find a coffin, but when you Christians go to Jerusalem, you find nothing but an empty grave. How do you know this Jesus ever existed?" To this, the believer replied, "That is just the difference, Mohammed is dead and in his coffin. All other religious leaders and philosophers are in their coffins, but Christ is risen and all power in heaven and on earth is given to Him. He is alive forevermore!"
There are lots of conversations going on these days as to which is the best football team in the NFL. I have to concede a strong case can be made that it is the Vikings, though I'm not giving up on the Packers yet. But you know, by the end of January, all the talk will be irrelevant. One team will win the Super Bowl, and when that happens, all the claims that other teams were the best this year will seem very empty. Friends, when Jesus rose from the dead that first Easter Sunday, it was the Super Bowl of all Super Bowls. And He won. He was victorious, He defeated death itself. He is clearly the champion of champions, King of kings, and Lord of lords. The sign of Jonah shows us who Jesus Christ really is, the Messiah, our Lord and Savior.
#2) Those today who reject Jesus as Messiah and Lord put their souls at great risk. They may be committing a sin even worse than what the Pharisees did. It is very plausible that on the day of judgment, some of these Pharisees will say, "Hey, we only heard Jesus' cryptic reference to a resurrection. We didn't know it was really going to happen. We didn't have proof that He was who He said He was. These folks who live in the 20th Century, they know all about the resurrection of Jesus. All they have to do is pick up a Bible and they can read how three days after Jesus had been killed, He was once again alive. They have no excuse for not recognizing that He is truly who He claimed to be, the Son of God, the Savior of the world. They deserve whatever punishment God chooses to give them."
Now, there are a couple of responses some of you have to this. Maybe you are thinking, "But, Pastor Dan, I don't believe this resurrection thing really happened. It is scientifically impossible. That is just a story that children and gullible people buy into." Well, if that is your position, let me ask you a question: Have you really studied the evidence concerning the resurrection of Jesus Christ? I find that most people who reject the idea that Jesus rose from the dead, have not really taken a serious look at the issue. Keep in mind, the biblical writers present this story as fact. Millions of intelligent people, throughout history and today, believe it is true. And I think an honest person will conclude that the historical evidence strongly supports that it actually happened. As Josh McDowell says, "There is more historical evidence that Jesus rose from the dead than there is that Julius Caesar ever existed." This is very important. This is the event which Jesus said would prove that He is the Messiah. If He did not rise from the dead, Christianity makes no sense. If nothing happened that first Easter, there is no reason to make His birth the center of our calendar. We could just as well say this is year 35, 35 years since Michael Jordan was born. But, if Jesus did indeed rise from the dead, then it is certainly compelling evidence that He is God's Son. Friends, if you refuse to even look at the evidence, then you are just as closed-minded and hard-hearted as those Pharisees, and I fear you will be in just as much trouble on the day of judgment as they will be. If you are honestly skeptical, fine! But, take a look at the evidence and study the issue. If you have questions, I would be delighted to talk with you, so feel free to give me a call.
On the other hand, some of you may be thinking, "Well, of course I believe in the resurrection, Pastor. I always have. But, you know, I have more important things to do right now. I'm busy with my job, my kids, I've got lots of Christmas shopping to do, and those Christmas cards, I don't even want to think about them. Someday, I'll get some time and then I'll think about this Jesus stuff a bit more." Friends, if that is your attitude, you may be more open-minded than the Pharisees, but you are also more foolish. If you believe the resurrection of Jesus occurred, if you believe He is who He claimed to be, but you think there are more important things in life, then you are very mistaken. The message of Christmas is that a Savior has been born. God has come to earth in the flesh in order to bring salvation to all who trust in Him. It is the greatest news there has ever been. To believe that is true, but that it doesn't really matter a whole lot, is bizarre. It would be like a cure for cancer being discovered, and a cancer patient saying, "Yeah, well that is great, maybe after I get my Christmas shopping done, I will check into that." Waiting to come to Jesus until after you have taken care of other things in life doesn't work. He is too important, too special for that.
So, I close with two questions. #1) Have you embraced Jesus as your Lord and Savior? If you have, that is super. But, if you have not, now is a great time to do so. It doesn't require any lengthy process to do so. You don't have to fill any forms. All you need to do is believe with your head and heart that Jesus is who He claimed to be, and that His death on the cross was for your sins. As the Holy Spirit enables you, you need to receive the gift of salvation that God offers through Jesus. If you're not sure what that means, please talk with me after the service.
#2) If you have received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, are you living that way? Are you treating Jesus as King of kings and Lord of lords? Remember, if you believe that Christmas and Easter are true, if you believe that God sent His Son into the world so that we might find life through the death and resurrection of Jesus, then you can't just put that truth on the shelf and bring it down once or twice a year. Jesus is indeed worthy of our trust, love, and devotion each day. Our lives need to be focused on following and seeking to honor Him, not just at Christmas, but throughout the entire year. Jesus is far more than special, He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. May God help us to believe and live this truth today, and in all the days ahead.
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