Blind to Greatness?

<><>I return your attention to Matthew 12 again today with this question- are you blind to greatness? Apparently the folks in this verse certainly were12:38 Then some of the experts in the law ⁵⁵ along with some Pharisees ⁵⁶ answered him, ⁵⁷ “Teacher, we want to see a sign ⁵⁸ from you.”Folks; if they knew who they were talking to, they would have kept this audacious demand to themselves. This verse reminds me of a story told originally in the 40’s about a group of youth and a man on a bus. A group of young men got on a bus and they were particularly rude and crass in behavior to people on the bus. They spotted, a man sitting in the back of the bus dressed neatly and well groomed, and decided to harrass him. They began to taunt this man who was well over 6 feet and built muscularly and the other passengers were aghast they that would even try to do such a thing. No one knows for certain why they singled this man out, other than they felt safe as a group. The goading lasted a good half hour until the man rang the stop bell and as he proceeded out of the bus, he handed these young ruffians his business card which simply read- Joe Louis, Professional Boxer. They were in the presence of greatness and they didn’t even know it. They were blind to Mr. Louis’s stature as a man and ability. So were the scribes and Pharisees blind to the greatness of Jesus of Nazareth. They held him in utter contempt; just as the young hooligans on the bus were with the Brown Bomber, Joe Louis.

<><><>It wasn’t until they saw the business card that they understood their predicament. Jesus proclaimed His “business card” to the crowd: 12:39 But he answered them, ⁵⁹ “An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 12:40 For just as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish ⁶⁰ for three days and three nights, ⁶¹ so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. 12:41 The people ⁶² of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented when Jonah preached to them ⁶³ – and now, ⁶⁴ something greater than Jonah is here! 12:42 The queen of the South ⁶⁵ will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon – and now, ⁶⁶ something greater than Solomon is here! The gospel of John states that the Light of the World walked amongs the people and they did not comprehend it. What a sad commentary of that world; isn’t it?

Don’t be too quick to pat yourselves on the back. The world still does not recognize the greatness of Jesus. People today are just as ardent in their blindness and arrogance. Today Jesus is lumped in with Buddha, Mohammed and every other mere mortal, instead of recognizing the greatness of His work and of His deity. The world still uses arrogant tones to taunt Christians to peform a miracle or to prove the validity of its claim. This society still blatantly deny the only means of salvation for their souls- Jesus Christ. How often do you hear people tell you they cannot possible believe the gospel. The general populace still deny the empty tomb and ultimately the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The young men who messed with Joe Louis were in inherent danger because they failed to recognize the power of the man they faced. However, the world is in greater peril than the boys in the bus. There will come a time when Jesus will unleash His power on the world and woe to those who are still blind to His greatness. Revelation talks of the return of Christ and just as He rose from the dead, so will He return. Just as it was stated Jesus would come by way of the Virgin, so will He return. Then what? my friend. It will be too late then to accept and acknowledge His greatness. At that time He will not be meting out mercy, but judgment. Knowing this coming terror is what compels me to say- be reconciled to God through Christ now. Acknowledge and pay homage to His greatness now. Every time one reads a blog like this and walks away from Jesus is failing to recognize greatness. Greatness of love that hung on the cross. Greatness of mercy that took our punishment. Greatness of the power that conquered sin, death and the grave. Can you still be blind to His greatness? In the natural I would rather be Joe Louis’ friend than his opponent and in the spiritual, I would rather be called the friend of God than His enemy. How about you?

Christian, Do You Demand A Sign?

I am going through the gospel of Matthew and this morning this passage in chapter 12 caused me to ask this question- do I demand a sign from Christ before I will truly believe His word. Read the following account-

The Sign of Jonah

12:38 Then some of the experts in the law ⁵⁵ along with some Pharisees ⁵⁶ answered him, ⁵⁷ “Teacher, we want to see a sign ⁵⁸ from you.” 12:39 But he answered them, ⁵⁹ “An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 12:40 For just as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish ⁶⁰ for three days and three nights, ⁶¹ so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. 12:41 The people ⁶² of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented when Jonah preached to them ⁶³ – and now, ⁶⁴ something greater than Jonah is here! 12:42 The queen of the South ⁶⁵ will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon – and now, ⁶⁶ something greater than Solomon is here!

I don’t think it a big stretch to say Jesus was not too cool on the idea of having to perform a sign just for people’s satisfaction or to prove His deity. Think about this for just a moment would you- do you pray demanding that God answers your prayer a certain way? do you expect God to meet your criterion in a particular circumstance before you will believe that He is who He says He is? I think we do it all the time. I would say we are Gideons all of the time with certain “fleeces” for God to meet. Why is it when things turn out the way we want them, God answered prayer and we all live happily ever after? Why is denial of a request an unanswered prayer? Why do want God to meet our standards and instead of us meeting His?

Jesus used Jonah and Solomon. Both great men, but both fallible if you ever take the time to read their biographies in scripture. Jesus said He is greater than both these men and that He is! Christians testify all the time He is the Lord of Lords and yet in the little things of life and the biggies, we tend to fall into little mojo, hocus pocus, meet the desired test of authencity to feel yeah, we win, yeah God is great and yeah we know God is true because He met our totem requirement.

Friend, this passage has opened my own eyes to the practical atheism in my own life and prayer. It revealed to me the great sin of pragmatism that still exists within my heart. Jesus, by His Spirit, unveiled the hypocrisy that can so easily creep in when it comes to “living by faith”. As a Christian, I need only one “sign” -the empty tomb. Christ is alive, He sits at the right hand of the Father. He is who He said He was and in that my soul must rest. In His promise to work all things for my good must reign supreme no matter how my prayers are answered and how my life turns out. In Christ I have someone greater than myself, greater than my enemies and greater than all the riches in the world. This is the only sign I need, how about you?