The God Who Gives His Son

Jonah Series | Matthew 12:38-41 | Pastor Duane Smets

This an exegetical sermon of Matthew 12:38-41 which wraps up the book of Jonah by looking at the significance of seeing how all the Bible relates to Jesus and how Jesus saw himself as a fulfillment of Jonah when he spoke about the book. Particular attention is paid to the nature of signs and the “sign of Jonah” as well as judgment day and what kind of judge Jesus is. This sermon was originally preached on May 22nd, 2011 at The Resolved Church in San Diego, CA.

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The Resolved Church
Pastor Duane Smets
May 22nd, 2011

Jonah Series | The God Who Gives His Son (Matthew 12:38-41)

I. Redemption: All The Bible Is About Jesus
II. Resurrection: The Sign Of Jonah Is Jesus
III. Repentance: The Judge of Judgment Is Jesus

Introduction

Today we are wrapping up and concluding with our final sermon in our study through the book of Jonah. We finished working through each and every word that’s in the book of Jonah last week. But what we haven’t done yet is seen in full how the book relates to Jesus and what he said about it. So what I’ve got planned for us this morning is to see why doing such a thing is important and then we’ll take an intent look at the two main things Jesus said about the book of Jonah.

To start us off, let me read Matthew 12:38-41 for all of us and then we’ll jump right in today. (Read text & pray)

I. Redemption: All The Bible Is About Jesus

My first point point for this morning is “Redemption: All The Bible Is About Jesus.” Have you ever been in a conversation with someone about the Bible, maybe even a specific part of the Bible and in response to whatever you said, their answer was something along the lines of…”Well, that’s just your interpretation….”? Ever had a conversation like that?

It’s a weird thing. I mean you don’t normally get into conversations with people like that about any other book like that. Like, say we were having a conversations about the number one New York Times best seller book. I think right now it’s “Lies That Chelsea Handler Told Me” by Chelsea Handler. You wouldn’t be talking about the book with someone and then say…”well that’s just you’re interpretation.”

What’s we’ve found is that when it comes to the Bible people come up with all kinds of crazy ideas and interpretations. Like this whacky dude Harold Camping who decided to do math on the Bible and comes up with this ridiculous notion that the world was supposed to end yesterday.

Basically there are four different main approaches to the Bible. One plain out just says it’s not true at all, that in reality it’s a fairytale and you should read it like one. Another viewpoint says it’s part fairytale and part true and you got to try and figure out what’s what. A third view says it’s just book that’s you’re free to interpret however you like, whatever is meaning or significance you can make out of it, then whatever you come up with is good…you make your own fairytale. Then there’s a fourth view. The fourth view says the Bible speaks about real people and events which actually happened…like a fairytale it’s good and better than a fairytale it’s actually true.

When you take that fourth view like we do here at The Resolved Church it forces you to work hard with the words of the Bible and take what it says seriously. For Christians, Jesus Christ is the leader and head of our religion. We love him, believe in him, follow him and everything thing he has said and taught us.

There are two different times he was teaching and preaching, kind of like I’m doing now, when he addressed this issue of how to interpret the Bible. What he said on those occasions is striking…shocking really.

The first one was toward the beginning of his preaching and teaching ministry in the middle of his famous “Sermon on the Mount.” It’s Matthew 5:17. He’s in the middle of saying some pretty radical stuff and then he’s busts out this line where he says he has come, come into the world to fulfill all of the Bible. Matthew 5:17 “I have not come to destroy the Bible, but to fulfill the Bible.”

The current pastors and preachers of the day think he’s a crazy, self-absorbed lunatic. I mean on one hand it’s hard to blame them when this guy shows up saying the whole way to interpret the Bible correctly is to see it as being fulfilled in him. If I said to you all, look the whole key to understanding and interpreting the Bible everyone is to see how it relates to me, Duane Smets. You’d rightly think I was insane.

It’s a huge claim Jesus makes here. That’s one reason C.S. Lewis used to say there are only three options: Jesus was either a liar, a lunatic or he was in fact who he said he was as, the Lord of all.

The second time Jesus says this type of thing he makes it even more clear and he actually walks some guys through it. This second one is at the end of his preaching and teaching ministry after he rose from the dead in Luke 24:13-34.

Here’s what happens. Jesus runs into these two guys at an old school ancient gas station or something and discovers that they are traveling to a town called Emmaus. Turns out Jesus says he’s going there too. At first they don’t realize it’s Jesus. They get to talking and basically the substance of their conversation is confusion about the Bible. They have questions and are confused about how the Bible and the things it says could be true.

Then Jesus does something phenomenal. Luke 24:27 says this is what he did, “Beginning with Moses (so that’s the first five books of the Bible) and all the Prophets (shorthand for the rest of the Old Testament), he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” I mean this is crazy. He takes them through the whole Bible and shows them how every person, every story, every event, every law, every miracle, every prophecy…all of it was all pointing to him. He tells them the way to interpret the Bible correctly is to see how it relates to him.

I mean really…Jesus here has to either be the most delusional egotistical person on the planet or he is in fact God, the author of the Bible and the savior for peoples of the world. But this is what he says. It’s all, this whole book, every chapter, every verse, every word is all about me.

In the evenings at our house we read the Bible with our children every night. We read from the ESV and memorizing verses. We work on catechism to teach sound doctrine. And we always read a story from a kids Bible we have. I have it here. It’s called the “Jesus Storybook Bible.”

It’s doesn’t have every story, but it’s got forty of ‘em. What it does is sort of re-tell each story in kid language and then it briefly concludes every story with a hint or reference its fulfillment in Jesus. Before the first story, which is creation, The Jesus Storybook Bible has an introductory chapter titled “The Story and The Song” where it explains it’s method. I thought I’d read part of it for you all today.

“God created everything in his world to reflect him like a mirror – to show us what he is like, to help us to know him, to make our hearts sing…And God put it in words too and wrote it in a book called ‘The Bible.’

Now some people think the Bible is a book of rules, telling you what you should and shouldn’t do. The Bible certainly does have some rules in it. They show you how life works best. But the Bible isn’t mainly about you and what you should be doing. It’s about God and what he has done.

Other people think the Bible is a book of heroes, showing you people you should copy. The Bible does have some heroes in it, but (as you’ll soon find out) most of the people in the Bible aren’t heroes at all. They make some big mistakes (sometimes on purpose). They get afraid and run away. At times they are downright mean.

No the Bible isn’t a book of rules, or a book of heroes. The Bible is most of all as story. It’s an adventure story about a young Hero who comes from a far country to win back his lost treasure. It’s a love story about a brave Prince who leaves his palace, his throne – everything – to rescue the one he loves. It’s like the most wonderful fairy tales that has come true in real life!

You see, the best thing about this story is – it’s true. There are lots of stories in the Bible, but al the stories are telling one Big Story. The story of how God loves his children and comes to rescue them. It takes the whole Bible to tell this story. And at the center of the story there is a baby. Every story in the Bible whispers his name [Jesus]. He is like the missing piece in a puzzle – the piece that makes all the other pieces fit together, and suddenly you can see a beautiful picture.”

Maybe you’re sitting there and you’re wondering…okay…so what’s that look like? What did Jesus say or do with the two dudes on the road to Emmaus. Let me give you some examples from Pastor and theologian Tim Keller…

• Jesus is the true and better Adam who passed the test in the garden and whose obedience is imputed to us.
• Jesus is the true and better Abel who, though innocently slain, has blood now that cries out, not for our condemnation, but for acquittal.
• Jesus is the true and better Abraham who answered the call of God to leave all the comfortable and familiar and go out into the void not knowing wither he went to create a new people of God.
• Jesus is the true and better Isaac who was not just offered up by his father on the mount but was truly sacrificed for us.
• Jesus is the true and better Jacob who wrestled and took the blow of justice we deserved, so we, like Jacob, only receive the wounds of grace to wake us up and discipline us.
• Jesus is the true and better Joseph who, at the right hand of the king, forgives those who betrayed and sold him and uses his new power to save them.
• Jesus is the true and better Moses who stands in the gap between the people and the Lord and who mediates a new covenant.
• Jesus is the true and better Rock of Moses who, struck with the rod of God’s justice, now gives us water in the desert.
• Jesus is the true and better Job, the truly innocent sufferer, who then intercedes for and saves his stupid friends.
• Jesus is the true and better David whose victory becomes his people’s victory, though they never lifted a stone to accomplish it themselves.
• Jesus is the true and better Esther who didn’t just risk leaving an earthly palace but lost the ultimate and heavenly one, who didn’t just risk his life, but gave his life to save his people.
• Jesus is the real Rock of Moses, the real Passover Lamb, innocent, perfect, helpless, and slain so the angel of death will pass over us. He’s the true temple, the true prophet, the true priest, the true king, the true sacrifice, the true lamb, the true light, and the true bread.

All of the Bible is about him and the redemption he provides for and extends to us. All of the Bible is about Jesus and until we see that we’ll never really fully get the Bible. We’ll just keep coming up with whacky thoughts and ideas and interpretations that leave us lost and helpless. What we need most is Jesus.

So when we come to a book like Jonah, it’s really important for us to see how it relates to Jesus. Now, granted we do that each week. Every sermon here at The Resolved always ends in the gospel. It’s one of the things we always make sure of and it’s one of the reasons we always receive the Lord’s Supper in communion each week here at The Resolved. If every book, chapter and verse of the Bible is about Jesus than it’s really important that every one of our services and sermons are all conclude and climax with Jesus.

Where are you at with that today? How have you looked at and treated the Bible? When you think about the Bible does it seem to you like this dark heavy book that hangs over your head or do you think of it as the greatest story ever told for how it puts Jesus on magnificent display and thereby redeems your soul? If you don’t see it like that, I’m begging for you to change your view of the Bible today. It’s a much better book than you ever dreamed existed.

Okay back to the book of Jonah. I’ve been intentional about something all the way along through Jonah. Each week when I’ve concluded the text and the sermon by looking to Jesus I’ve intentionally not gone to Matthew 12 and dealt with what Jesus says there. I wanted to leave it until the end of the book, until today for this sermon because even though Matthew 12 gives the clearest explanation of how the book of Jonah points to Jesus, it does so by looking backward at the completed book and events of Jonah.

We’ve done that now. It took us seven weeks all together to do. If you’ve been here for the whole series then you’ve got a real good grasp of the book of Jonah. Now we’re in a good place to look at the two things Jesus says about Jonah in Matthew 12:38-41 and get the full effect. So let’s do it.

II. Resurrection: The Sign Of Jonah Is Jesus

The first thing Jesus talks about in regards to Jonah is that it is a “sign.” Remember the whole conversation comes about in Matthew because the scribes and the Pharisees are asking him for a “sign.” They say in verse 38 to Jesus, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.”

You’ve got to wonder and ask here, what is it they are wanting to see? I mean Jesus had been doing all kinds of miracles all the time up to that point. Just a few verses earlier, in the same chapter, Jesus had just healed a dude with a withered hand. I mean it kind of seems like Jesus had been doing a bunch of signs already. So what is it they were wanting?

To really get at it I think we have to ask ourselves what we have perhaps secretly longed for or wished in order to believe in God and follow him. I mean some of you here may not be Christians and some of you here are Christians but in the back of your head you really wonder…is it really all true? Is there really a God and a Jesus, a cross and a resurrection and all this stuff? Is it really true? I wish there was some sort of incontrovertible proof. Ever thought that or wished for that?

This is most likely what the scribes and the Pharisees were asking for…because you see Jesus’ miracles could be interpreted in several ways and for all they knew maybe it was some sort of magic or something. They wanted a bigger sign or proof, most likely something from the heavens where Jesus would just let loose and let his power go, showing that he is God…by ripping open the sky, or making angels suddenly appear praising him, or by making wind and the weather obey his voice.

The funny thing is Jesus did actually do all that stuff, just never on command and never in front of his opponents. Which is actually kind of the point. In response to them Jesus says they are “evil and adulterous” for seeking a sign. Why is that?

Here’s why. You see, if Jesus was actually God then as God is it fitting for you dance whenever man tells you to dance? Would it be the Godlike thing for you to do exactly as man wishes whenever he demands it? When man says “jump” is God supposed to say “how high”?

You see, isn’t that a role reversal? If God did respond to that it wouldn’t it belittle his very Godness. I mean who’s the boss? Wouldn’t it kind of end up seeming like man’s the one in charge and not God? In effect what you literally have with the scribes and Pharisees demanding a sign here is mere man stepping into the place of God and telling him what he must do. Which is why Jesus says it is adulterous and evil.

Now Jesus could’ve just left it at that and he would have fully been within his rights. But then he does something funny. Jesus is always full of grace. So right after saying he won’t give ‘em a sign he throws ‘em a bone and actually gives ‘em a sign anyway…just not the kind of sign they were looking for.

Here’s what he says, “no sign will be given…except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”

This is freaking genius. Really it is. In several ways. One, he points back to the Word because it’s always God’s intention that we rely on His Word for truth rather than our experience. Two, he points backward in time to Jonah and what happened with him and the fish and says that’s like what’s going to happen to him and when it does happen that’ll be a sign from God to them.

So what’s he getting at with this? Well, let’s recall what happened with Jonah and the great fish. The storm is raging. Jonah is thrown overboard in order to save the lives of the sailors. You figure Jonah is a goner. But instead he gets swallowed whole by this great fish, then after three days the fish spits him up on dry land and Jonah is alive and now able to go preach to Nineveh so they might be saved.

Jesus looks forward in time to what he was going to do in dying on the cross and rising again. Then he looks backward to what happened with Jonah and says that’s like what I’m about to do. I’m going to give up my life and be in darkness for three days in order to save some people and when I come back to life on the third day good news will be declared so many people will be repent and be spared.

The sign of Jonah is the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. And it is the royal proof, evidence, and sign…of the truth of Jesus…that he is from God and that his salvation is real. Listen to Romans 1:4 on this, “(Jesus) was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead.”

What Jesus does here is hang all the truth of his whole life and ministry, the whole of Christianity, he hangs it all on his resurrection from the dead. And what is astonishing about this, besides it being solid evidence and making Christianity different than every other religion in the world…what makes it most astonishing to us, what makes it a real sign for us and not just some fiat demonstration of divine power…what makes it more than that is it speaks to the deepest longing of our hearts and lives.

Here’s what I mean. The essential struggle that the scribes and the Pharisees had was doubt. Now sometimes faith gets pitted as being the opposite of certainty as if faith is this blind leap in the dark. But that’s not faith. Faith means trust. It’s he same word in Greek actually, which the New Testament is written in. So for example, will there be faith in heaven when there’s nothing left to doubt because it’s all there, Jesus, the throne, the angels, no more tears, sorrow or pain? Will there be faith then? Yes. Because faith is trust and we will delight in and worship him who we trust in.

This is the deal. Beneath the surface. Beneath it all. Our deepest struggle, our deepest challenge, the reason we long for some sort of sign is because we doubt and why do we doubt? Because we are afraid. Afraid of the unknown. Afraid of life not turning out well. Afraid of the wrong thing happening. Afraid of darkness and death. And Jesus goes to the heart of that doubt and fear by rising from the dead. Through his resurrection he secures new life for us and declares it for us who trust in him.

You see, it’s the greatest sign of all. The greatest sign he could ever have give because it’s the sign that most ministers to our hearts and our deepest need. Life!

Sometimes I’ve had friends say to me…man if I could just see Jesus, or if I just saw him risen or saw some miracle or some sign…then of course I’d believe. I don’t think so. I don’t think so because I don’t think our inability to believe is primarily a head issue. Not only would it diminish the significance of what Jesus did if he had to keep dying and rising in every generation in order to prove it to everyone…but the attitude, the heart of demanding a sign shows that no sign will really do. The only sign which can really break in is one that addresses the heart. And that’s exactly what the resurrection of Jesus does for us.

So let me just ask you, where do you need the resurrection life and power of Jesus to minister to you today? Where are there areas of deadness and darkness which need new life? Where is there fear, doubt and distrust you need to turn over to the trustworthy savior? In what areas of your life do you need to hear: Jesus is real, he’s true, he’s alive, he knows and he loves and cares for you?

You see the resurrection of Jesus isn’t just our entry ticket to get into heaven when we die, though Jesus does promise eternal life to those who believe. But it’s more than that. Jesus’ resurrection is the life-giving power of God he administers unto us here and now. He gives us new life!

May he do that through his Word by his Spirit today.

III. Repentance: The Judge of Judgment Is Jesus

Well, let’s move onto our last point here this morning, “Repentance: The Judge of Judgment Is Jesus.” This could easily be a whole sermon in itself so I’ll try and be brief and just say what’s relevant from what’s in our text. This is the second thing Jesus says about the book of Jonah and how it points to him.

Let me re-read it. It’s verse 41 of Matthew 12, “The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.”

Okay, remember what happened in the book of Jonah. Jonah finally goes to Nineveh after avoiding and running from it for a long time. He gets there and he preaches the crappiest sermon ever given. He just goes around yelling, “40 days and you’re all gonna die.” And in a miracle of God’s grace, for reasons unknown to us, the whole city, from the king on down, listens and takes heed and repents.

And apparently, according to Jesus here, it was real repentance. There was true, genuine Godly sorrow and not only that, but they actually changed the way they were living, turning from evil and wicked ways. Remember biblical repentance is both sorrow and lasting change.

So Jesus looks at that and says those people, the people of Nineveh who repented are going to rise up against those who don’t repent at Jesus word and work. Let’s unpack that a little.

First Jesus says the men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment. What’s that mean? We don’t have time to tour through a hundred Scripture references today. So I’ll just give you a few and a brief overview.

Romans 1:18 tells us judgment is happening all the time, bad stuff which is the wrath of God meant to wake us up so that we’ll turn to God. Hebrews 12:6-7 tells us what may be judgment for some, is simply loving discipline for others meant to teach them and draw them closer to God. That’s judgment in general. However, both the Old and New Testament teach that there will be one great day of judgment, called a last or final judgment. Bible commentator David Hubbard summarizes it well when he says, “Judgment at history’s end is the climax of a process by which God holds nations and persons accountable to him as Creator and Lord.”

Now, in case you’ve been living under a rock and haven’t seen the ads or the news…there have been all kinds of billboards and bus caravans across the country and the world reading “Judgment Day” predicting and declaring yesterday, May 21st, 2011 as the end of the world.

We can’t spend a ton of time on this and it really doesn’t deserve it. I think they should be sued for false advertising. However, let me try and set a few things straight since it’s relevant to our text and our world right now.

That there is a judgment day is about the only thing that Harold Camping, the false prophet and funder of all this nonsense got right. Jesus here does refer to “the judgment” day. But he also says three times in Matthew 24-25 alone that no one knows or can know the day or the hour. One of the times he says specifically it will be on a day we do not expect (Mt 24:50).

However, when it does happen, here’s another difference from Camping, everyone will see it and know it. Jesus and multiple biblical writers go out of their way to point this out. They’ll be angels, a trumpet sound, great displays of God’s glory, and Philippians 2:10 says everyone, believers and unbelievers alike will see him and bow their knees before him acknowledging him as the king and Lord of all. So there’s no rapture or people disappearing. The word “rapture” doesn’t even occur in the Bible. Everyone’s there before the throne, some are bowing in worship and some are bowing in fear about to receive sentence.

Then what happens is while sitting on his throne he will execute judgment as the great judge of all. Here’s Jesus’ words. Matthew 25:31-34,41, “31 When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world…41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.“

Intense stuff. Here’s the point. Jesus is the judge. And this is exactly what Jesus is saying when he looks back at the book of Jonah. He says the Ninevites will rise up, or confirm his justice in sentencing those who don’t repent because they got a crappy sermon from Jonah but they responded. We, the generations since Jesus and until now, we got a great sermon from Jesus who is far greater. We heard more and have seen more…so you would think our repentance would come easier.

But it doesn’t does it? Even though we have all the benefit of Jesus’ extensive teaching and preaching recorded here in this book…even though we have all the evidence for Jesus’ resurrection from the dead…even though we have all this benefit, it doesn’t make repentance any easier does it? To be sorry and to change…that hard.

Now, I don’t want to downplay the seriousness of sin and I don’t want to push Jesus’ words beyond what they are intended here…So I may be going out on limb here. But look where Jesus ends with this. The end of verse 41, “behold, something greater than Jonah is here.” If we took time to work through verse 42, we’d see it ends similarly, “behold, something greater than Solomon is here.” Jesus ends by calling us to see his greatness.

So here’ my last and concluding question, “what makes him so great?” Just that he’s God and has all power and will judge everyone? I don’t think so. What did Jesus just tell us right before this? That he will die and rise again. And why does he die and rise again? Jesus tells us over and over and over again throughout his ministry. He dies to pay the penalty for sin that we deserve.

God the judge stands over us. Our sin is serious. We deserve judgment. So what makes Jesus such a great judge? Because he gets up off his throne and climbs down from behind his judgment bench and gives up his life to pay the penalty of justice we deserve.

There’s no judge like that. Can you imagine it? I was in court a couple months ago for a stop sign ticket. You ever been to court? It’s intimidating. This big high bench and the judge sitting behind it in a black robe. Can you imagine when it’s your turn to come up to the podium and speak into the microphone, can you imagine the judge getting up coming down, pulling out his wallet and telling you, I’ll pay the fine for you and he hands you the money? Can you imagine that?

Do you get it? Do you get why Jesus’ call to repentance is not just graceless fear mongering like the stupid billboards? Jesus’ call to repentance is a gracious call for us to look on him, to see who he is and what he has done for us and to embrace it with all of our hearts and lives.

You see the Christian motive for the day of judgment isn’t meant to be excitement about God sending people to hell, our primary motive is meant to be longing to at last see our loving judge and savior face to face and to bow in adoration. He is great. I long for that day.

Until then I won’t be driving buses around and posting billboards about judgment…I’ll be preaching the good news of the gospel about who Jesus is and what he has done for us. It’s my prayer you’ve got a taste of that today.

Conclusion

Here’s my conclusion, the conclusion to this sermon and to all of Jonah…Jesus.

Jonah was thrown overboard and nearly died, spending three days in the darkness of a fish so a few sailors might be saved. Jesus was thrown onto a cross and really died, spending three days in the darkness of the earth so many who are lost at sea might be brought in.

Jonah was spit out of the fish’s mouth onto dry land so he at that point and time he might offer the people of an ancient city repentance and new life. Jesus was spit out of the grave itself so that for all time he might offer peoples of all cities repentance and new life.

Jonah thought God shouldn’t have had grace on the Ninevites because it compromised God’s justice. Jesus thought God should have grace, so took God’s justice onto his very body and soul in order that he might extend it towards all mankind.

The book of Jonah is about Jesus. Jesus, the great judge who died and rose again for our sin. He’s both the reason why we can we repent and the reason why we can rejoice.

If one thing has been clear throughout our study of the book of Jonah, it’s that we’re all in need of God’s grace and salvation. Whether we’re irreligious like the sailors…religious like Jonah…or anti-religious like the Ninevites…we’re all in need of grace.

Let’s respond to God’s word today. I’m gonna pray and then we’ll respond by receiving the Lord’s supper together.

We receive the Lord’s Supper each week because the bread and the wine tell us of Jesus body and blood shed for our sin. Additionally, we recognize Jesus presence here in this sacred response.

Jesus rose from the dead and ever lives to minister to us. So when you come recognize you’re need for Jesus, everything is about him. Repent of sin by embracing Jesus great work on the cross. He’s the judge who died for you. Then allow Jesus to administer new life to you by the power of his resurrection from the dead. He is good. He lives and he cares for us.

Let’s pray.