The King & Recognizing Him (Matthew 12:38-50)
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The King & Recognizing Him
Matthew 12:38-50
Sunday, February 2, 2025
Land O’ Lakes Bible Church
Introduction
Introduction
In the legendary story of King Arthur, Uther Pendragon was forced to send his son away as his beloved Kingdom of Camelot fell into great danger. Arthur was to be sent away, to grow up unknown according to the counsel of Merlin, the wise wizard and aid of Uther. And so, Uther took Merlin’s counsel and the boy was sent away to grow up unknown by all. And the only way to recognize that Arthur was the son of Uther and the right heir to the throne of Camelot was to pull the sword from the stone. The sword and the stone was magically placed so that none but Uther’s heir could pull it.
Now, many tried to come and pull the sword from the stone, but they were unsuccessful. That is until the day young Arthur came to the stone and successfully removed it. Proving without a shadow of a doubt that he was the son of Uther Pendragon and the heir to the throne of Camelot.
The sign of the sword and the stone was there to help the people recognize Arthur as the true king of Camelot. A sign that could not be ignored or rejected. But this morning I want to talk to us about another sign, a sign that was ignored and rejected resulting in great evil.
Please then take out your copy of the Bible and turn with me to Matthew 12:38-50. (Page #972 in the Red Pew Bible).
Matthew in his retelling of the gospel of Jesus has been laboring constantly to show us that Jesus is the Messiah who has come to save his people from their sin, how he is the one to fulfill all that was previously written. That Jesus is the one whom all of God’s promises find their yes and amen in!
Yet, as Matthew seeks to retell the story of Jesus and his great authority over many things, opponents have arisen, doubting and questioning Jesus and who he says he is. We have seen that opposition intensify in Matthew 12. First the Pharisees accuse Jesus of being a Sabbath breaker, they then accuse him of casting out demons by the power of Beelzebul, that is Satan himself. And yet, everytime Jesus corrects them, aiming to persuade their hearts to believe. However, with each encounter, their hearts do not soften with Jesus’ teachings, but they further harden. Their hearts have been hardening in their unbelief to the point that Jesus now will hand out judgment against them for failing to recognize him as the true Messiah King.
Read Matthew 12:38-50
Main Idea: All who behold Christ with the eyes of humble faith will be joined to Christ in the closest of unions.
Behold Christ (12:38-45)
Embrace Christ (12:46-50)
1. Behold Christ (12:38-45)
1. Behold Christ (12:38-45)
Sign
Sign
Verses 38-45 appear to be two scenes at first glance, the request for a sign, then the return to unclean spirits. However, these verses are tied together by the repetition of the word, generation. In these verses, generation is used 4x as an indictment, as a judgment against a group of opponents of Jesus. A portion of scribes and Pharisees being the leading opponents here.
Yet, let it be said upfront here, this declaration of judgment is meant to warn all who hear it from following in their path of unbelief and hard-heartedness. It’s meant to awaken us to behold Christ as the Messiah King and to rightly respond. That is to repent and believe in Jesus.
That is my prayer this morning as we work through this passage, that all may behold Christ and be led to repentance and belief in Jesus. Whether that is an initial faith or a deeper faith. May this pronouncement of judgment compel us towards Jesus! V.38.
It’s tempting to think this request for a sign is innocent and a plea to help with one’s faith. After all, we know a father cried out asking for Jesus to help his unbelief by healing his child (Mark 9:24). And we know that the LORD even offered Ahaz a sign to help him have firm faith, and even gave it to him though he refused a sign (Isaiah 7:10-14).
However, the scribes and the Pharisees have continually been opposing and resisting Jesus. They have continued to harden their hearts, no matter how many miracles Jesus has done as he reveals the authority given to him from his Father above. Likewise, we see Jesus' response, V.39.
Now, if this response seems harsh, we must remember that Jesus knows what is in the heart of man. He needs no one to bear witness what is in man (John 2:24-25). Therefore he sees what is at the heart of this request for a sign by this portion of the scribes and Pharisees. He knows they do not seek a sign to believe Jesus, but another means of opposing him.
We see that Jesus says no sign will be given, then comes an important word, except. Except the sign of the prophet Jonah. The sign that these scribes and Pharisees need is the sign from Jonah. What sign from Jonah? V.40.
Jesus here recalls Jonah being tossed into the sea and swallowed by that great big fish to be brought to the bottom of the sea for three days and three nights to then rise and be spit out of the mouth of the great big fish and live. And paints the sign of his coming death and resurrection being the sign that these scribes and Pharisees need. That they need to see that Jesus has come to turn back the curse of sin and death, something that his death and resurrection alone can accomplish.
And before someone starts trying to do the math of the three days and three nights surrounding Jesus’ death and resurrection, mathematically it doesn’t fully add up. Nor is it intended to. The phrase is more intended to communicate the three days and the similarity. And we must not get too caught up on it to miss the point of both Jonah going down and rising, and so here Jesus is foretelling of his going down in the grave and his rising again.
But what are we to do with this sign of Jesus’ death and resurrection? We are to believe that he is the Messiah. We are to repent and believe. V.41-42.
Jesus first here continues with his pointing to Jonah, but this time to those to whom the Jonah prophet proclaimed the word of the Lord too. When Jonah finally went to Nineveh, and even reluctantly preached the word of the LORD, the people of Nineveh heard and they believed. It led to the people putting on sackcloth and ashes as a sign of their repentance. God’s word brought life to the despised people of Nineveh.
However, as a greater messenger, a greater prophet in Jesus had come and taught with authority, showed his authority in many miracles, many people in Israel had not believed, certainly not those from the scribes and the Pharisees. And so, because Nineveh had believed and repented, and the scribes and Pharisees had not, the men of Nineveh were going to rise up and judge, condemn these unbelievers in judgment. For they responded to a lesser prophet while these scribes and Pharisees rejected Christ the True and Better Prophet.
Then Jesus turns from Jonah in V.41 to the queen of the South in V.42. While we do not have time to turn there, let me encourage you to write down these references where this comes from. The account of the queen of the South comes from 1 Kings 10:1-13 and 2 Chronicles 9:1-12. Write these down and read them this week.
(Repeat the passages again).
The Queen of the South had heard of the wisdom of Solomon, but refused to believe it without hearing it herself. And so, she traveled north to Jerusalem to hear from Solomon. But as she did, she marveled at the wisdom of Solomon and turned and praised the God of Solomon, YHWH.
And because she sought out the wisdom of Solomon and believed, she is found to be better off than these who do not seek nor believe one greater than Solomon who stands before them. Therefore, as the men of Nineveh will stand in judgment against this evil generation, so will the queen of the South.
Both the men of Nineveh and the queen of the South are meant to show the necessity of belief in Jesus. Both are an indictment against all who refuse to believe that judgment awaits them. Even for the most religious and good seeming person.
There is but one hope, and that is through Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As Christians, we believe this sign of Jesus’ death and resurrection in order to establish our hope and faith in Jesus. Even now, as Christians, may our eyes behold the glory of Christ all the more as the true Son of God who has come to cleanse us from our sin. Seeing that there is no greater sign or love than seeing that Jesus laid down his life in order to save us, and that he took it up again as the sign that the curse of sin has been defeated in Jesus!
Friend, that is also the sign and the hope we point you to this morning. We want your eyes to behold Christ and repent and believe in him. We pray that the message of the cross and resurrection will shatter your cold and unbelieving heart and that the Spirit will give you a new heart that brings new life to you. Friend, come and believe Jesus, today!
Spirits
Spirits
Still, more persuasion comes as we turn our attention to V.43-45. As stated already, at first glance it might seem this is a separate point, but it is not. It is a continuation of the same thought from another angle as we see this generation is still the audience and focus.
Jesus returns here to the unclean and evil Spirits that were previously the focus back up in V.22-29. And now, he seeks to warn them of such continuing in their ways, thinking their religion or even some neutrality will keep them. We read here in V.43-45.
Even if an unclean spirit leaves a place and goes out and about. Even if the house of a person is able to be swept and put in order, unless the person is inhabited by another spirit, Jesus here speaking about the Spirit of God, the person is susceptible to greater danger than first.
The scribes and Pharisees can sweep and put their houses in order with their interpretation of the law and their extra-biblical laws as they go above the line of scripture all they want. They may even to some have the appearance of godliness. However, they are empty from the Spirit of God, and apart from the Spirit of God, they are easy targets for the unclean spirit to enter them and be a people even worse than before as the unclean spirit brings with it other, worse off spirits.
One who rejects the grace of God, rejects the Spirit of God, and is vulnerable to Satan. But the one who beholds Christ by the grace of God through faith receives the Spirit of God, and finds not a house merely swept and put in order, but occupied. For the Spirit of God fills all who come to Jesus by faith, leaving the house occupied by one greater and stronger than the unclean spirit.
Therefore we must see, the enemy is fine with us getting our houses swept and in order. He is fine with us reforming our morals and doing our good deeds as long as we do not turn in repentance to Jesus and trust him. To borrow from Charles Spurgeon:
The devil has no objection to his house being swept and garnished; for a moralist may be as truly his slave as the man of debauched habits. So long as the heart is not occupied by his great foe, and he can use the man for his own purposes, the adversary of souls will let him reform as much as he pleases. [1]
Friend, see your greatest need is not in reforming your morals and deeds, but to come to Jesus by faith as you are reborn in the Spirit of God. Repent and believe, friend. This is your only hope in life and death. Come to Jesus, today!
As for those of us in Christ, while this word should bring us comfort and encouragement in knowing that we have the Spirit of God indwelling in us and working in us and keeping us, that is not the only application we must take away here.
Beloved, we must see then that we guard the gospel message as we tell it to others. We must never give them the impression that the gospel is a call to moral reforms, to better themselves. No, we must make plain the gospel is about turning from sin and running to the arms of Jesus. Our hope is our coming to Jesus! For apart from Jesus, all are left vulnerable to the enemy.
May we all behold Christ and believe. But let us not just behold Christ, but may we also embrace him!
2. Embrace Christ (12:46-50)
2. Embrace Christ (12:46-50)
The hostility against Jesus has been steadily increasing. And now, the family of Jesus seeks to pull him away by calling him to come to him. V.46.
Now, we must pause here briefly and deal with a minor scriptural manuscript issue regarding V.47. If you are using an ESV, like I am and our Pew Bibles, you will notice V.47 is not there. It has been put down instead as a footnote in the ESV translation. To my knowledge, all other translations have this verse up as part of the passage, with maybe a footnote about this manuscript question.
This is an opportunity for us to see that the Bible has various textual debates regarding the original manuscripts with what was originally there, vs what was a scribal error. In this case, the redundancy of V.47 was thought to have been a copy error with its seeming redundancy. But as hopefully all can see, this manuscript debate has very little impact on the passage, certainly not the main point of this set of verses.
Our Bibles have their places of debate regarding manuscripts and translation decisions. Yet, even in these they are so minor that the main point of the Bible is not ever lost, even in these differences and debates. The message is one and the same, God has sent his beloved Son Jesus to rescue a people from sin so that they may turn back to him and find delight in our Triune God for all eternity! Let this increase our confidence then in our Bibles.
But now back to our text. V.48.
The natural world tells us that one’s family is the closest of bonds. We see this from almost every culture in some shape and form. And this would have been no different in Jesus’ day. In fact, likely even more so in his time and culture. Even still today in the Middle East, you find generations of family sharing the same household. Therefore, when Jesus asks who is his mother and brothers, the answer is presumed, those in his own household. However, Jesus turns things upside down as he answers his own question. V.49-50.
Is Jesus here putting away natural relations? By no means. He does not devalue his family relations, nor is teaching us the same. Instead he is elevating the importance of spiritual bonds that are elevated above the natural family.
With his words, those who do the will of his father are his brother and sister and mother, Jesus here makes plain that all who have come to him, as his disciples, are united to him in a way that surpasses even that of one’s family ties.
For it is said elsewhere that Jesus is unashamed to call us brothers (Hebrews 2:11), if we are his disciples. Therefore, we who have come to Jesus and believed in him can embrace Jesus as the closest of kin because we are united to him by our faith.
Therefore we are to regard Christ more closely than all others, no wonder Jesus has elsewhere told us that if we love father or mother or brother or sister or son or daughter more than him, that we cannot be his disciple.
John Calvin commented here:
He tells us also, that there is no tie of relationship more sacred than spiritual relationship, because we ought not to think of him according to the flesh, but according to the power of his Spirit which he has received from the Father to renew men, so that those who are by nature the polluted and accursed seed of Abraham begin to be by grace the holy and heavenly sons of God.
No wonder Jesus has elsewhere told us that if we love father or mother or brother or sister or son or daughter more than him, that we cannot be his disciple.
Beloved, let us this morning then commit to embracing Christ as the closest of our kinships, loving him more supremely as our elder brother who has brought us into the family and kingdom of God! Let us grow to love him more and more!
Likewise, as we see that Jesus has called those who do the will of the Father his brother and sister and mother, let us again see the running theme of this passage, it is a call to behold Christ and embrace him by faith. That is, this whole passage is a call to see that Jesus is the true Messiah King! He has given an ultimate sign in his death and resurrection to prove this! Let none then think differently, lest they face judgment for their unbelief.
Endnotes
Endnotes
[1] C. H. Spurgeon, The Gospel of the Kingdom: A Commentary on the Book of Matthew (London: Passmore and Alabaster, 1893), 94.
[2] John Calvin and William Pringle, Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists Matthew, Mark, and Luke, vol. 2 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010), 91.
Scripture Reading & Prayer
Scripture Reading & Prayer
15 “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. 16 If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 17 But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, 18 I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. 19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, 20 loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”
