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Matthew 12:38-45

Matthew has shown that the opposition against Jesus in Galilee eventually included the religious authorities
who came down from Jerusalem. Seeing that the people were really considering that Jesus might be the
Messiah, these Pharisees sought to disparage Jesus, suggesting that He cast out demons by the power of
Satan.

Jesus conclusively disproved their statement, then turned the tables and denounced the Pharisees as the
ones who were the agents of Satan. Their disparaging words, attributing what was clearly God’s work to
His greatest enemy, was blasphemy against the Holy Spirit - an unforgivable sin, as it revealed their evil
heart of unbelief, fixed in its opposition against God.

As we continue in chapter 12, we find the religious rulers continuing to oppose Jesus - despite His strong
words, against them.

v. 38 Remember the scribes were the trained professionals in the Law of Moses; they explained it, and
taught its practical applications, to the people. The scribes were the recognized theological experts.

But often scribes were also Pharisees - the sect of Judaism that was so concerned with separation from the
Gentile world, as well as ritual purity and observing the traditions of the elders - such as the Sabbath
restrictions. Here, Matthew delineates both groups - perhaps to emphasize that the opposition was uniting,
against Jesus.

The Greek word for “answered” in this verse indicates that the religious rulers were responding to what
Jesus had said, previously. In response, they were asking for a sign from Him. But in response to what? In
response to the authority, which Jesus claimed - and manifested.

When the prophets of old brought God’s word to the people, they would preface it with “Thus says the
LORD”. Is that what Jesus said? No, from Jesus, they heard, “But I say to you”. What was the basis of such
personal authority?

And to make the claim, that He was Lord of the Sabbath (Mt 12:8) - overturning the traditions that had
been established in Judaism, as He did - by what right did Jesus do that? By what right did He now
pronounce judgment on the religious rulers - the experts in the Law; the teachers of God’s people?

For Jesus to act with such authority, He must be willing to produce a sign - a supernatural manifestation, a
miraculous token from heaven - that would conclusively show that He acted by the authority of God.

But as we continue in the account, we find that Jesus was unwilling to accommodate the religious rulers.

v. 39 The religious rulers wanted to a see a sign from Jesus - right there, and right then - proving that His
authority was from God. Jesus did not give them this; He indicated that a sign will be given to the entire
unbelieving nation of His day - and that it will be given, not now, but at a future and undefined time.

Now, some might be inclined to think, why didn’t Jesus just give the rulers what they asked for? Then they
would have believed Him, and all would be well.
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But would they have believed Him? After all, Jesus had been doing sign after sign - all of those miraculous
healings. He had just done an astonishing sign, right before the eyes of these rulers - in casting out a
demon, restoring sight and speech to a man. Did they believe Jesus then? No, they accused Him of doing
it by the power of Satan.

And remember, Jesus had called these rulers from Jerusalem the seed of the serpent (12:34); they were
diametrically opposed to the purposes of God; entrenched in the enemy camp. There was no sign that
would have convinced them of the authority of Jesus; their only goal was to undermine His authority.

This becomes more evident from Mark and Luke’s gospels, who record that when the Pharisees asked Jesus
to show them a sign - from heaven, from God - they did so to test Him (Mk 8:11, Lk 11:16) - meaning, with
ill intent - to disprove Him as Messiah.

Perhaps the Pharisees thought Jesus was doing all that was within His power to do; and that, in failing to
produce another, different sign, they could suggest to the people that it was because He was not really
acting by God’s authority.

But Jesus did not fail to produce another sign; He simply indicated it would not be according to the
timetable of the religious rulers. Instead, it would be in accordance with God’s predetermined time and
purpose.

And this sign would be given, not just for the ruling authorities, but for all the Jews of that day. If they
follow their rulers and reject that sign, it would serve as the means by which they would be condemned.

Notice how Jesus expanded His words to encompass all of Israel, calling them an evil and adulterous
generation - if they follow their rulers, into unbelief. “Evil and adulterous” is reminiscent of ancient Israel.

Jehovah had brought the new nation of Israel to Himself in the wilderness, and there offered Himself as
husband to them, on the basis of His eternal covenant - that was to be their marriage contract. As the wife
of Jehovah, Israel’s part was to respond to her husband, obeying His voice - putting all her trust in Him.

But was Israel faithful to Jehovah? No; Israel pursued the idolatrous worship of other gods. Idolatry is
spiritual adultery.

But by the time of Jesus, Israel had long since left their practice of idol worship. Yet Jesus still called the
nation adulterous; in what sense was that true?

In the sense that Israel still did not trust in Jehovah; now she put her trust in her own religious working of
the Law - thinking that would keep Jehovah appeased - and allow her to pursue her own selfish interests. It
was a new definition of adultery, for the nation - but the same faithless heart of unbelief, toward Jehovah.

For those of the nation who were willing to believe to see, there was sign after sign, from Jesus,
demonstrating that He is the Messiah. But those who had an evil heart of unbelief requested yet another
sign; and if that was given, then another; and another. For them, there was only one sign left to give. And
what does Jesus say that sign was, in verse 39? It’s the sign of the prophet Jonah - which Jesus then goes
on to define.
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v. 40 The sign that Jesus indicated will be given to the Jews has two distinct aspects to it; it will be
miraculous in nature - a supernatural work of God - and it also will be a fulfillment of a type, from OT
Scripture - a prophetic picture - given through the life circumstances of the prophet Jonah. And Jesus
indicates exactly how that type will be fulfilled, in Himself.

To get a fuller understanding of what Jesus was saying here, we’re first going back in the OT to review the
story of Jonah. Turn to Jonah chapter 1.

Jonah was a prophet who was actually from Galilee. In that day, this was part of the divided kingdom to
the north known as Israel, or Samaria.

Jonah ministered around 784 to 760 BC, prophesying to Samaria that they would have great political
victories. These resulted in great material prosperity for Samaria - but a corresponding further decline in
the spiritual condition of the kingdom to the north.

Meanwhile, the Assyrian empire dominated the near east. This was well before the time when Assyria
would conquer Samaria, and take the people into exile. But still, in Jonah’s day Assyria was a feared and
despised enemy.

Well, the LORD called upon His prophet Jonah to preach to the people of Nineveh - the capital of Assyria.
And that was something that Jonah was dead set against, in his loyalty and devotion to his own people.
Let’s look at how the LORD convinced Jonah to change his mind.

[Jonah 1:1-10, 17]

v. 1-2 Later in the book, we find out this message that the LORD had for Nineveh was that He was going to
bring imminent judgment on them, for their wickedness (Jon 3:4). Now, why doesn’t Jonah want to preach
that to them? He’s afraid they’ll repent. Jonah wants the LORD to destroy the Assyrians; they’re the
enemies of Israel.

So Jonah decides to run away. You know what they say; you can run but you - what? Cannot hide.
Especially from God!

v. 3 If you were to look at a map, you’d see that Tarshish is about 180 degrees in the opposite direction to
Nineveh. Jonah is in full-blown rebellion, here.

v. 4 The LORD is in control of His creation; He controls the weather. He has created circumstances to get
Jonah to reconsider.

v. 5-6 So the false gods aren’t working, as usual; the idolaters want to make sure they’ve covered all the
bases, so they request Jonah to petition his God. Did Jonah comply? The account does not indicate he did;
usually when you’re in the middle of your rebellion, you’re not ready to talk to God!

v. 7-8 Proverb 16:33 says, The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD. And we see
that this one was. You can sense the desperation of the mariners, as they pump Jonah with questions, trying
to understand the dilemma they’re in.

v. 9-10 Jonah describes the LORD to the mariners in terms they can understand, as the Creator. When the
mariners learn that Jonah is fleeing from this powerful God using their ship, they understand why they’re in
the tempest - and in danger.
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Jonah knew that as soon as he was off the ship, the mariners would be safe. Initially, they resisted the idea
of throwing him overboard, knowing Jonah was sure to perish; but finally there was just no choice; they
couldn’t help Jonah.

So they entrusted the situation to the LORD, threw Jonah overboard; and the sea calmed. This brought home
the reality of the LORD to these men, and they are last seen in the account offering Him sacrifices, and
taking vows to Him. Even in the midst of his rebellion, the LORD used Jonah as a witness to Him. The
LORD can use anything!

In verse 17, we rejoin the account, with what happened to Jonah once he was cast overboard.

v. 17 The mariners thought that Jonah would surely perish, but the LORD had other plans. The word for
“great fish” in the Hebrew, as well as the Greek, just communicates the idea of a giant sea creature. In that
the LORD “prepared it” to swallow Jonah, this sea creature could do so without causing Jonah any harm; in
fact, the whole idea is that the sea creature preserved Jonah, so that he would come forth alive - once he
repented.

In chapter 2, Jonah prays to the LORD from the stomach of the sea creature. The description of Jonah’s
experience in the raging sea contains many alliterations to death. Jonah cries out from Sheol, the place of
departed souls. His body seems to have sunk to the bottom of the sea. But through the fish, the LORD
brought up Jonah’s life from the pit, and delivered him; as Jonah said, “He answered me”.

Through this deliverance, Jonah became willing to do what the LORD had called him to do. Once he was
vomited by the fish onto dry land (!), he went to Nineveh, and preached the LORD’s message of pending
judgment: “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”

And that’s all it took, for the inhabitants of the city. They all repented, and God spared them. That
generation of the Ninevites - and only that generation - were saved from a temporal judgment.

Was Jonah pleased, that his message was well received? Not at all. He was furious that these enemies of
Israel were spared. The book ends with the LORD teaching Jonah about His compassion for all men - a
lesson we never find out if Jonah actually took to heart.

[Return to Matthew 12]

So Jesus was indicating that the confinement of Jonah in the belly of the great fish and subsequent release
was a prophetic sign, which would at a future time find its fulfillment in Himself, when Jesus is confined in
the heart of the earth - and was then subsequently released.

Jesus quoted the Septuagint word-for-word concerning Jonah - he was three days and three nights in the
belly of the great fish. To mention day and night was just an emphatic figure of speech for indicating three
days; it was not meant literally.

In this case, the phrase was intended to draw attention to the spectacular result: Jonah’s remarkable release
- to complete his commission, and proclaim the LORD’s message to the Assyrians.

The same phrasing is then repeated when Jesus spoke of Himself as the Son of Man - Jesus, in His human
form. He will be crucified on a Friday. His soul will reside in Sheol, His body in the grave part of that day,
all of the next day, Saturday, and part of the following day, Sunday.
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By Hebrew reckoning, a part of a 24-hour day is counted as representing the whole day. This is why it is
said that Jesus rose from the dead the third day; or using the language here, Jesus was three days and three
nights in the heart of the earth, before His resurrection from the dead.

Jesus said no sign would be given - except this sign. And what a sign it would be! Who would think that
something as incredible as the experience of Jonah - his near-death experience; his unique preservation; his
extraordinary deliverance - would be repeated in such a way as to be the fulfillment of what it all simply
pictured?

And yet, that’s exactly what would happen, with Jesus. He would genuinely experience death - as the
sacrifice for the sins of mankind. His body would be perfectly preserved in the grave - because He had no
sin, to corrupt that body. And Jesus would be delivered from death, in a glorious, ever-living spiritual body.

Of course, from our perspective in history, we know exactly what the sign of Jonah means, don’t we? And
Matthew’s readers would have known, as well. But what about the Jews listening, that day? They would
not have understood this, as Jesus said it. Not until it was all fulfilled, would the words of Jesus be
understood.

But the people present that day could believe the works that Jesus was doing - the works of the Spirit. Or
they could believe, as the events all unfolded, in time - remembering that Jesus had told them this. The
disciples would remember.

Or the people present that day could be part of that evil and adulterous generation of Israel, that demanded
sign after sign - and never believed - like their religious rulers. It was their choice. But if that is what they
chose, Jesus wanted them to know that judgment awaited them.

v. 41 The concept Jesus is bringing to mind is a courtroom scene. This evil and adulterous generation of
Israel was rejecting the witness of the Spirit to Jesus as Messiah. In the final judgment, they will stand
charged by the Judge, for their unbelief. Who will be judging them? Jesus Himself (Jn 5:27).

The men of Nineveh who repented in their day will rise up as a witness for the prosecution against
unbelieving Israel, and they will condemn it. How so? Because even back then, they believed the
preaching of Jonah, concerning judgment; and now, in this day, Israel has been given a greater witness.

A greater than Jonah is here, who is preaching the full message of how to be saved; not just from a
temporal judgment, like the Ninevites, but from eternal judgment - through faith in the messenger, Himself
- Jesus.

And the authenticity of Jesus’ message will be validated by God - when? When God raises Jesus from the
dead. God will overrule the death of Jesus, by the hand of wicked men. Then the words of the Psalmist
will be fulfilled: “You have answered Me” (Ps 22:21) - Like Jonah’s “He answered me” (Jon 2:2).

That will be the vindication of Jesus, as the One whom the Father sent, to save from sin and death. It’s the
ultimate sign, of the authority of Jesus.

What a shock this would be, to the religious Jews listening that day - to think that the notoriously godless
Assyrians would be called forth by God as witnesses against Israel, in the final judgment!

And there will be yet another witness for the prosecution, at the judgment of this evil generation of Israel.
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v. 42 “The queen of the South” is found in the OT record as the queen of Sheba, in First Kings (10:1-13)
and Second Chronicles (9:1-12). Sheba was located in southwestern Arabia. This queen determined to go
to Jerusalem in order to meet King Solomon, the son of David.

The distance between Sheba and Jerusalem is about 1200 miles - it’s an arduous journey. Why did she go
there? The queen wanted to see if what she had heard reported about Solomon was really true - about his
wisdom, and the prosperity of his kingdom.

When the queen got there, she pumped Solomon with hard questions - riddles, that were notoriously
difficult to solve. And Solomon had all the answers, which took her breath away!

The statement that the queen made afterwards shows her recognition that Solomon’s wisdom and prosperity
exceeded what she had heard reported. And she gave all the credit to Solomon’s God, Jehovah.

Although there is no record that the queen began to follow the LORD herself, the fact that she made such a
remarkable journey of inquiry certainly suggests she was seeking to know about the LORD; and the words of
Jesus here imply that she came to believe in Him, because she is to be brought forth as another witness for
the prosecution against Israel.

It was the wisdom and prosperity of Solomon that convinced the queen of Sheba about the LORD. And
Israel has had a greater than Solomon, in Jesus - who was revealing to them the full wisdom of God; and
the heart of the Father, to bring prosperity to Israel, as sons of God.

Notice that the figures representing God’s authority - Jonah and Solomon - are drawn from the prophets and
the kings, respectively, who were anointed by the Spirit of God for their ministry. Those who believed
God’s representatives were Gentiles.

Now Jesus is God’s anointed prophet, God’s anointed King - the greatest of all - and the Jews in this
generation were rejecting Him - His own people. The most severe judgment is warranted.

As Jesus continued to address the rulers and the people, He gives them an illustration concerning an
unclean spirit - a demon.

v. 43-45 Now, as Jesus was giving this illustration, it might have seemed at first to the people - and to us,
for all that matter - that it was unrelated, to what He had just been saying. Instead, it brings us back to the
man from whom Jesus had cast out the demon.

And that’s what Jesus was intending it to do. But how does Jesus finish what He is saying, at the end of
verse 45? By indicating that the illustration shows how it will be for this wicked generation - this evil and
adulterous generation, of the nation Israel.

So this is not to be taken as any kind of general statement, on what can happen to a person who had been
possessed by a demon. This is an instructive picture-story, for Israel. Let’s think the illustration through.

Based on the final words of Jesus here, the man with the unclean spirit represents the current wicked
generation of Israel. The illustration essentially presents a historical retrospective, of the unbelieving
nation.
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The nation that was formed in Canaan, and grew up in Egypt, was like a man with an unclean spirit; they
were unclean, like all the other nations (Eze 16) - under the influence of the spirit of this world; conducting
themselves in the lusts of the flesh and the lusts of the mind (Eph 2:3).

Then the LORD brought the nation to Himself, and gave them His Light - the Law - intended to reveal to the
nation the way of salvation. Through the righteous requirements of the Law was the knowledge of sin;
through the ceremonial Law was the way to be saved from sin - through the Savior, their Coming Messiah.

The Law was to keep Israel separated from the world; separated unto the LORD. It was in this sense that the
unclean spirit of this world “went out” of the man, the nation Israel.

Well, that spirit became restless, to come back. A demon is never at home so much as when it is in
possession of a man’s body. But what did Jesus indicate that this demon found, when he came back? He
found the “house” that he had left empty, swept, and put in order.

What did this represent, concerning the nation - the house of Israel? It represented what they had done with
the Law, which the LORD has given them. Instead of finding in it the way of salvation, Israel tried to use the
Law to clean themselves up; to justify themselves - by keeping it.

So the “house” was swept; the dirt was taken out. But the dirt could just get tracked in again, couldn’t it?
And the “house” was put in order - Israel had organized the Law into the religion of Judaism. But the
“house” was as empty as when the unclean spirit first left it - because no life had ever been conceived in the
nation - they remained slaves of sin and death.

What does the unclean spirit see, in this? Opportunity. He now brings with him seven other spirits, more
wicked than he; for there’s a lot more room to dirty things up, now. Seven is the number of completion.
Utter wickedness is now in possession of the nation. And with the original unclean spirit, we now have
eight - the number for new beginning.

When Israel embraced the Law as religion, as a means to work their way to God, Satan took the
opportunity to bring forth a greater deception, for them - and for others, who were drawn to Judaism. An
organized religion of works is very appealing to men, as a way of improving themselves, so God will
accept them; as a means of controlling the flesh.

But what was the result, in Jesus’ illustration? The last state of the man is worse than at first. Why?
Because the Law causes sin to abound (Rom 5:20); sinful passions are aroused, by the Law (Rom 7:5).

This wicked generation of the nation Israel was facing a terrible end, in thinking that they could keep the
Law as a means to get into the kingdom of God. But the ones who are willing to humble themselves to
receive the wisdom of God’s Prophet, and to recognize that their King has been sent to them - they will be
spared God’s wrath - and instead receive His salvation.

Reading: Matthew 12:46-50, 13:1-52; Mark 4:1-20; Luke 8:4-18