November 5 Sermon: The Sign of Jonah

Dive into the teachings of Jesus in Luke 11:29-32. Discover the gravity of Jesus' message and his call for repentance. We consider the Pharisees' rejection of Jesus' plea, explore our own shortcomings, and gain deeper insights into faith, repentance, and Jesus' teachings. Will we heed Jesus' call and to embrace humility and repentance?

Consider these questions as you listen to this week's message:

1. What does Pastor Mark convey about the importance of understanding and heeding Jesus' warnings in Luke's Gospel?

2. How is the concept of repentance as taught by Jesus in Luke's Gospel discussed and applied to modern-day life?

3. How does Pastor Mark explore the reactions of different groups, such as the Pharisees and the people of Nineveh, to Jesus' teachings and calls for repentance in Luke's Gospel?

Transcript:

Several years back I was driving home from the Atlanta area where I had either been at the Reformation Worship Conference or I was there for my one of my cousins' weddings, and I had a little bit of an issue where I didn't avoid, or where I did avoid, the warnings that were being given to me. Now, for the most part, I can get from here to there and back again without much help, but the landscape in Georgia is far different from what we're used to here. Here things are pretty much right angles on the grid. If there's a hill, you can get to the end of it pretty easy and see where you're going. But there there are hills, there are trees and there isn't a straight road to be found anywhere. So to get to their home or to the church there, I need a GPS app from the freeway, from I-75, I need that piece of information and to leave from either the church or their home, I also need help.

So this time that we were leaving from there, I fired up Google Maps and put in the destination as our home and I started to drive and it gave me the correct turns and I went left. I went right and I got to I-75. And I left the GPS app on, even though I essentially know the way home from there, and as we were driving down the road, I was told to exit off of the freeway and I ignored it. Why would I get off the freeway? I made some comments that the app was losing it and I skipped the exit. Well, you know what happens it beeps at you and you sort of imagine that, even though the voice is electronic and it sounds the same every time, you sort of imagine that it's angry, right. So we got to another exit and it blipped at me and told me to get off the freeway again. This time I actually looked at the map, you know, put my eyes down, and it said 20 minutes faster. And I thought to myself, and I probably said out loud how can getting off a four-lane northbound freeway be faster by going through the trees and around the hills on this two-lane highway that it was asking me about? There's no way that can be faster. And so I went past the exit. Again, it was displeased with me. It didn't tell me to get off, it told me to stay on I-75. As I said, I don't remember exactly what words I said, as we were talking about what it was asking me to do. Don't remember those details, but I do remember that that's the day that I learned that Google Maps can route you around traffic jams in real time. I deserved every second, and it was substantial amount of time. I deserved every second, every minute that I sat in that traffic jam south of Chattanooga that day because I avoided the warnings. I was convinced that I knew better. I willingly drove past the warnings Again. I deserved to be sitting in that traffic jam.

And as we come to our verses this morning, we see that Jesus is speaking to the crowds and he is giving them a warning. As he speaks, and with stern words, he warns them not to reject his message and he lets them know that they should not avoid listening to these words that he has to say. They are important, they are imperative, and as we work through these powerful four verses today, we're going to break down this message of Jesus into three points, and so the first thing that we're going to see is that Jesus is a sign to the people who are speaking, a sign Throughout Luke's Gospel. What have we seen? It's been on display for us that Jesus is showing his authority, and this is a sign to the people around him that he is what they need, but instead the people keep asking for more. They want another sign, they want their sign, what they want, what they need. But here Jesus tells them that he is a sign for them, but he also alludes to the ultimate sign that he is going to give them in his death and resurrection.

Secondly, we're going to see the rejection of the message of Jesus spoken of by Jesus, and he talks about this in a rather interesting way. He speaks of two Old Testament events, and these are people that are being spoken of here in these events, who are outside of the covenant, people of God. Those people responded better to the message that was given to them from God than the people of God responded. And then, finally, jesus shows us that His coming is a call to repentance, and in it we find a challenge here to hear and believe Jesus and to turn to Him in repentance and faith ourselves. And so, as we land in this short passage today, we find Luke continuing to move us through the story of Jesus by telling us that these crowds are continuing to swell, as Jesus teaches around this region. Now, we have seen this many times as we've progressed through Luke.

Luke lets us know the popularity of Jesus is continuing to increase, and it's important that as we move through this passage, that we remember where we were the last time we looked at the book of Luke, a few weeks ago. There, the crowds had gathered and at the end of that passage you will remember, a woman called out to Jesus. Your mother is blessed for having given birth to you and blessed that you nursed at her breast. And remember Jesus replied by saying blessed, rather, are those who hear the Word of God and keep it. And so this is the continuing idea in his message today, that this is the continuation of that statement, that it is better to be one who hears and believes and keeps the Word of God than to have some sort of genetic connection here.

Okay, so as I was considering this passage during the week, I looked at these words here and I thought it was interesting. The words that Jesus uses here are him speaking boldly as the crowds increase. Now, when you and I speak boldly and speak confidently about things that are going on in the world, about the state of the world, do we usually do it in front of a crowd? No, we don't want to upset people. We usually talk amongst our friend group or around people that we know are friendly to what we have to say before we get too bold about the state of the world.

And here Luke tells us that Jesus isn't making this bold declaration about the state of the world and about this generation that is evil, while he's sitting around a campfire with his closest disciples. He isn't just saying this to 12 people. He is proclaiming that this is an evil generation to the masses. And he is clearly speaking about those who are within his earshot, because he calls back once again to this idea of people speaking a sign. He isn't talking about the people out there somewhere in the distance. He's talking about the people that were close by, who had recently been asking for signs to prove who he was. This is a message to those who are within earshot. They are a part of the evil generation, these people who are continually looking for a sign from Jesus, and he is doing sign after sign, right Even miracle after miracle.

We've been reading about them in the book of Luke. There has been sign after sign, but they're not content with those signs. They're not content with what Jesus decides is best. No, they want more. They can clearly see who Jesus is, but they don't receive what is plain before their eyes, and so Jesus here proclaims that they will receive a sign. There is a sign coming, and it's the sign of Jonah. Now, you and I know what Jesus is doing here. He is pointing forward to what he is going to accomplish in his resurrection right. Just as Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days, so the Lord Jesus will rise from the dead on the third day, and Jesus is telling them that the sign that they are looking for, the sign that they're asking for, the sign that he is going to give, is going to be his victory over death. He will prove who he is with this sign.

And there's an important principle for us here, for you and I, in the 21st century, as I mentioned a few weeks back, we're like the Pharisees who are asking for a sign we really are. We continually choose not to trust God and what he has revealed to us in his Word. We want further proof. We want a sign for us, a sign that is tailored to what my needs are, or what I perceive my needs to be, but just as this evil generation, the time of Jesus was going to receive the sign of Jonah. You and I have received this sign as well.

We have the message of the resurrection of Jesus, and it is what we are called to receive and to believe. This is what we are to believe in. This is the sign that we need, this is the hope that we have, this is our source of peace and our source of hope To believe in his resurrection. Now. For us in the 21st century, just as it was for those in the 1st century, this is what we truly need. We want signs for whatever we think the problem is in front of our face. But what Scripture does? What Jesus does here is he reminds us that our ultimate problem isn't what is right in front of us. Our real problem is sin, death and hell. That is our real problem. What we need is not a sign that gives us a little bit of money or heals what is going on with us temporally. What we need is a Savior, a Savior who can go into the belly of the earth and come out victorious over death. That is what we really need.

So in these first two verses, we see that Jesus is going to give that sign and as we continue through the passage we see Jesus pointing to the fact that this evil generation is going to reject his call to repentance. And so what we see Jesus doing here is using some important stories from the Old Testament, and he's using this as a judgment, a harsh judgment, against these people. Now you and I probably come to this story and we skim over it as we read. We're trying to get to the next part At least I know that is what I do and we don't really stop and consider the significance of what Jesus is saying in these few sentences. Here we're moving on. We can feel that we're getting closer to the highlight of the story in his death and resurrection, so we can easily pass over these words.

But Jesus calls upon an important but obscure story here from the book of 1 Kings, and he is making an important point about the people of his generation rejecting the message that they're hearing from Jesus. So back in 1 Kings, the Queen of the South or she was also known as the Queen of Sheba she came all the way from Southern Arabia to hear from King Solomon. We can see this here summed up pretty well for us in chapter 10, verse 1 of 1 Kings. She had heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the great name of the Lord. And so, after coming a long way with a great caravan of camels and wealth, solomon answered all her questions through his gift of wisdom that he had been given by the Lord. And then she comments that what she had heard about the wisdom and prosperity of Solomon was not even as great as what she was expecting. It was greater, he was more wise than even she had heard. And so what Jesus is doing here is he's giving an example of someone who came a long ways because of a sign. Okay, good, great Jesus, good example.

Aren't there other stories about miracles and other signs from the Old Testament that would have been a little more well known, that I wouldn't have to look up in 1 Kings? Aren't there other stories? Well, jesus is using this story for a very deliberate reason, and Luke tells us this story for a very deliberate reason. As we remember the story that Luke is telling, we need to think back to who is Luke writing this story to Now? It was a long while back that we started with Luke, chapter 1, but you'll likely recall that Luke is writing to Theophilus. Theophilus was a Gentile who had come to faith in the Lord Jesus and Luke was giving him the story of the life of Jesus, the gospel of Jesus. So what is the point of Jesus telling this story in the book of Luke? Why does Luke make sure that he tells this?

The point is that this Gentile queen could see the sign that God had given Solomon knowledge and affluence. Even an outsider could see that God was at work. In other words, her simple faith can condemn the people of God for the rejection of Jesus as a Messiah. And you have to love the way that Jesus finishes off his point here. He doesn't just skewer them with the fact that her faith as an unclean Gentile is greater than theirs that would be enough. But he also says that this foreign, unclean, gentile woman can stand in judgment over them in the last day. That is intense. That is actually quite harsh. He says that they can stand in judgment over them. Her faith is that much greater. A gentile can stand in judgment over a Hebrew person. Think about what a scathing statement that would have been for their ears. But then Jesus says something else. Something greater than Solomon is here. He could see the wisdom and the affluence of Solomon and understand that that was a sign, but you have something greater than that right in front of you. In other words, she saw the sign of Solomon. How are you missing me?

So Jesus keeps on keeping it on regarding their rejection of him, and we see that this is a call to repentance, as he continues with his indictment of them by going back to a far more famous story from the Old Testament. I've already brought it up. He talks about Jonah, and our third point here today is that this is more than just an ascent to the truth of who Jesus is. The statements being made here are a call to repentance, and we see this in the way that he uses the story of Jonah. He says that the man of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment.

Now, because we are still familiar with the story of Jonah, it's easy for us to mentally fly through it and forget some of the important details of Jonah's story. Also, we come to the story of Jonah with a long history of knowing it. I'm guessing it's probably in the top five or maybe the top ten, but I'm guessing top five stories that you remember from the earliest years of Sunday school. Right, we know it really well and we've known it for so long we might fail to remember the reason that Jonah ended up being thrown into the sea and consumed by the great fish.

Remember he didn't go to Nineveh because he knew that God would be merciful to the Ninevites. He refused to go to those gentile, unclean people with the message of repentance. He refused to go why? Because he knew God is merciful. He knew that he was slow to anger and abounding and steadfast love and those unclean Gentiles who deserve judgment. They might just repent. That's why he went the complete opposite way from Nineveh. And so Jesus is once again using the example of Gentiles who saw a sign and received it. While these good Jewish folks who have the Scriptures, have the gift of the law to guide them and point them to the Messiah, they're rejecting the sign that's standing right in front of their face. But, as they said, jesus is bringing up the people of Nineveh for a particular reason here, because Jesus alluded to his coming death and resurrection in speaking about the sign of Jonah earlier. But what sign did the people in Nineveh actually receive in Jonah? What was it? It was a call to repentance.

Go into your mental library and pull up your memories of the book of Jonah. Do we get any indication that the people of Nineveh know anything about what happened to Jonah prior to his arrival in the city? Do they have any knowledge of that story of him rejecting the message to go to Nineveh and ending up in the fish and being spit out? Do they know any of that? No, jonah shows up and he calls the people in Nineveh to repentance with a message of God's impending judgment upon them. We can see that here from Jonah 3, verses 4 and 5.

And as we read that, we see that the people believed God and they mourned their sin. They turned from their sin and throughout the book of Luke and the rest of the Gospel, jesus calls people to repent and to believe the Gospel. In fact, the word repent is present six times prior to this passage in Luke and the idea of calling the people to change their minds and turn to God in faith is flowing throughout the entire narrative of the story. And here we see that these people who are questioning Jesus, that are asking for a sign, have less faith than those Gentile sinners in Nineveh. Because they heard the sign of preaching that was calling for repentance and it was enough for them. They turned to God in repentance and faith and he showed them mercy. These unclean Gentiles heard a message of repentance and they turned to Almighty God, and Jesus informs them that, as great as what happened with the prophet Jonah, he is greater Again. This is a word of judgment against the people who are listening to him. He has come giving them signs through not only his miracles, but through the authority with which he teaches, and so he is to be listened to. But, as we have seen for the Pharisees, the message is falling on deaf ears, and this is where our application comes to us from this passage today. The question I want to ask is do you and I hear the Gospel call to repentance, or are we deaf to the sign of the teaching of Jesus that is brought to us? Do we hear the Word and acknowledge our failure to keep God's law and turn from our sin in repentance and faith, or do we go right back to our sin? Are we like the Ninevites or are we like the Pharisees?

The people hearing Jesus speak in this passage would have heard Jesus speak, and if they would have heard him say an evil generation, they would have likely concluded that that doesn't include them. He's speaking of an evil generation. I'm not evil. I'm so much better than my pagan neighbors and I'm most certainly far better than those godless Romans who are occupying our country. That's the evil generation.

But Jesus wasn't talking to the people outside of the covenant people of God. That day he was speaking to them. He was speaking to Pharisees who were obsessed with keeping the law, who were obsessed with being ritually pure. The message of repentance came to them and they likely thought that doesn't apply to me. I'm keeping the law and even where I fail, I'm doing it so much better than the heathens out there. And they likely ignored how important this call to repentance was. It didn't take root in their hearts, and one of the things that Scripture effectively does to the people of God, as the Holy Spirit works in our hearts, is that it causes us to realize that we're not as good as we think we are.

Far too often, when we consider the words of Scripture, we think that we're not the Pharisees, we're not like them. But how easy is it for us to think that the problems in our evil generation are out there and not here in our own hearts? And it's so vital for you and I, as the people of God, to realize that this passage isn't just an indictment of the people who ignore Jesus in His time, but it's also an indictment of you and I, every time we return to our sin, because you and I have the great sign of Jonah. Christ went into the grave for us and came out for us. And we have seen this sign and we acknowledge the truth of it. But are we like the Ninevites or are we like the Pharisees?

As the children of God in Christ Jesus, we are called each and every day to turn from our sin in repentance and faith and to follow Jesus. Do we let that call of repentance work in us or do we think the problem is out there somewhere? That is the world's problem. So may you and I daily remember the faith that we've been given in Christ and may you and I humble ourselves like the people of Nineveh. May our lives be lives of repentance, that the one who is greater than Jonah might be glorified, that he might be praised for his saving work in our lives but also be glorified for the sanctifying work that his Word and Spirit does in us. As we strive to live in holiness each day, may that be our focus. May we hear the call to repentance, like the people of Nineveh, that Christ might receive all the glory for who he is and what he's done. Amen.