Matthew 12:38-45
Pharisees
Demand Miracles from Christ
( Asking
for Signs )
12:38
Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him,
"Teacher, we want to see a sign from You."
39 But He answered and
said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation
craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to
it but the sign of Jonah the prophet;
40 for just as JONAH WAS
THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF THE SEA
MONSTER, so will the Son of Man be three days and
three nights in the heart of the earth.
41 "The men of Nineveh
will stand up with this generation at the judgment,
and will condemn it because they repented at the
preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater
than Jonah is here.
42 "The Queen of the South
will rise up with this generation at the judgment
and will condemn it, because she came from the ends
of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and
behold, something greater than Solomon is here.
43 "Now when the unclean
spirit goes out of a man, it passes through
waterless places seeking rest, and does not find
it.
44 "Then it says, 'I will
return to my house from which I came'; and when it
comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in
order.
45 "Then it goes and takes
along with it seven other spirits more wicked than
itself, and they go in and live there; and the last
state of that man becomes worse than the first.
That is the way it will also be with this evil
generation."
This
is the Word of the Lord ... It is meant to change
the way that we think, and the way that we live.
Commentary
by Bob Pardue
Asking for Signs from
God
Have you ever been in a
situation or circumstance where you've asked God
for help and just wished he would send a sign to
show he has heard your prayer?
Life would be much simpler if
everything in God's plan for us was crystal clear
and we could see instant miracles happening before
our eyes every time we prayed. Well, it's not quite
that simple.
As for the Pharisees, they
were asking for miracles not for the good of
mankind but for the sake of proof that Jesus was
who he claimed to be ( The Messiah ).
The miraculous deeds Christ
had done up until this time should have been proof
enough so Jesus knew their hearts. And, one more
sign would be meaningless. If the religious leaders
were open to believe, they would have done so
already.
Should We Ask For
Miracles In Order to Believe in
God?
In verse 39 Jesus answered
the Pharisees with "An evil and adulterous
generation craves for a sign;.." so the same
applies to us.
The Bible clearly gives us
guidance and proof that Christ was born of Mary,
lived among us, died on the cross and rose again to
save us from sin. Witnessing a miracle today would
not change these facts for us. In actuality, asking
for signs only serve to prove a lack of faith on
our part.
We, as Christians, need to
follow in the footsteps of the faithful servants
who came before us and tell others the good news
about Jesus Christ instead of asking for signs to
prove Gods existence. Miracles do happen everyday
in Gods plan but don't expect them to always be
obvious. The outcome might not be what we expect.
With myself included, trust
in God with faith, learn more about him through The
Bible, and help others to trust him too. This very
day someone might learn about Christ through
something we do or say. Then, we'll see the
greatest miracle of all!
Love In Christ
- Bob
If you have never made the
commitment to receive the love and life-changing
experience of Jesus Christ, please take a moment to
go
here and take the
first
steps to salvation.
Other
Bible Study Verse For Living ...
Matthew
12:15-37 - Pharisees Accuse Jesus of Being Under
Satan - The Unpardonable
Sin
-
Large crowds
began following Jesus after they learned of his
miracles and great healing power. Some truly wanted
to follow him and repent, some were just "part of
the crowd" out of curiosity and some, like the
Pharisees wanted to try and trap him as they had
attempted many times before. What is the
unpardonable sin ? Christ explains here
Resources: Learn
more about Jesus Christ by searching
Bible.Com
and other online Scripture sites.
Bob Pardue is a member of
First
Baptist Church in
Lancaster, SC. He was ordained as deacon at Rich
Hill Baptist in Lancaster.
Verses are from New American Standard
Bible
Comments are welcome. Please email
me with any questions or comments you
may have.
|
