Matthew 12:39-40….Ready

Matthew 12:39-40….Ready

12:39 He answered, A wicked and adulterous (Israel who was disloyal to the Covenant by refusing to believe, obey, or respond to God) generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it (Not that Jesus will ot work anymore healings or miracles, but rather  He’s not going to dance the way they want) except the sign of the prophet Jonah.  40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, (whale-K.J.V.) so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart. (For Complete Expository See Book)

Extended Sermons

“Teaches how through the cross God has spoken decisively, proving His love, power, and forgiveness, no further proof is needed.” → The cross and resurrection is God’s final word that He is who He says He is, that His promises stand unshaken. If you’re looking for proof that Jesus loves you, that Jesus is really God, you have to look no further than the Cross  The cross settled it. The empty tomb sealed it. In Jesus’ death and resurrection, God has spoken once and for all, leaving no doubt about His love and commitment to us. The cross stands as God’s answer to every need, every problem, every question, every fear, every wound, every sin, every burden, every accusation, and every lie of the Enemy. At the cross, God declares: “This is enough. My Son is enough. My love is enough. My forgiveness is enough.” The cross is God saying, “I have not abandoned you. I have not forgotten you. I have given My Son for you.” The Cross is the answer to our deepest wounds. Every hurt finds its remedy in the wounds of Christ. The Cross is where guilt is removed, shame is broken, and healing becomes possible. The cross guarantees that death is not the end and eternity is not uncertain. Because of the cross, heaven is open, the grave is temporary, and hope is unshakeable. If you’re going through a hardship and struggles look to cross and the pain and suffering Jesus went through for you. No matter what situation you’re going through, what pain you’re suffering remember Jesus’ love for you having gone through the same things Himself.

“Even today, how many people whose lives have been healed and transformed by Jesus do you need to hear about?  How many stories of addictions broken, life’s being made new will it take?”→  How many stories of chains broken, prodigals coming home, hearts being made new will it take? How many marriages restored, how many bodies healed, how many minds set free, how many testimonies of God’s grace be enough?  How many stories of answered prayers will it take? How many doctors shaking their heads saying, “We can’t explain this,” will it take. How many people who should’ve been dead or in prison but are now alive and  free because of Christ will it take?  How many testimonies of lives changed by faith—stories of people finding hope after despair, families restored, and forgiveness replacing bitterness will it take. The stories of healing, renewal, and redemption that surround us are reminders that God continues to work in powerful ways. When our hearts are open, even one testimony is enough to inspire faith and hope. The question is not whether God will provide another sign, but whether we will choose to trust in the evidence already before us.

“Jesus affirms that Jonah as a real historical figure and not just a myth. That scripture is true and historically accurate” → The question then arises: Will you go with Jesus, that Jonah is not a “whale of a tale”, but Jonah is real history. Or will you go with those who consider Jonah and other scriptures as mere fanciful stories meant only to entertain children?

   Additional Notes & Applications

Teaches how Jesus dying & resurrecting proves that He is who says He is, that the Gospel is true, no further proof is needed.

Teaches how attraction doesn’t equal acceptance. (Many don’t want God, they just want God to fix things)

Warns where there’s outward moralism without inward change there’s immorality brooding just beneath the surface.

Teaches rather than back down boldly confront others come what may. (Jesus stood for the truth even if it cost Him His life. Will you stand with truth even when it costs you comfort?)

Warns outward Christian appearance without true repentance can harbor evil and immorality beneath the surface.

Teaches when confronting sceptics and unbelievers we need to point them to the word of God.

Note: Remember the story of Jonah, where God commands Jonah, a prophet, to go to Nineveh, a wicked Assyrian city, and preach against its sin. Jonah wants nothing to do with this assignment. Nineveh is Israel’s enemy, and Jonah fears that if he preaches, God might actually show them mercy. So Jonah runs the opposite direction. Instead of heading east to Nineveh, Jonah boards a ship heading west toward Tarshish—as far as he can get from God’s call. God sends a volant storm. The sailors, realizing Jonah is running from God, throw him overboard, and the storm stops. God sends a large fish to swallow Jonah, who spends three days in its belly, praying and promising to obey. The fish vomits Jonah onto dry land. Jonah goes to Nineveh, and his message causes the entire city—including the king—to repent and wear sackcloth, leading God to spare them.-(Jonah 1:1-17, 2:1-10)

Note: A lot of people, Christians included, have a problem with these “three days and three nights” and say wait a minute. The Gospels say Jesus was crucified on Good Friday, spent all day Saturday in the grave, and then resurrected early Sunday morning. Which is not even close to the there-days (seventy-two hours) Jesus is declaring here. Some, in order to resolve this, will push back Jesus’ crucifixion to Thursday to make the math fit. But the truth is Jesus was using a common Jewish idiom that took any part of a day, no matter how small, and counted as a whole day. It’s like if I were to come over to your house late Friday night, spend all day Saturday, and then leave Sunday morning. When I return home I would tell my family that I spent three days with you. Obviously they wouldn’t take this as a literal seventy-two hours knowing I left Friday night.. We use the same type of idioms in our culture today. If I were to tell you “I’ve been running all day” or “I’ve been working nonstop”. You’re not going to take that literally, thinking I actually worked a full twenty-fours none stop without a break or anything to eat. The same is true here, Jesus is simply using an idiom, and not talking about a literally seventy-two hour period.

Note:  Some find Jonah being swallowed by a great fish a hard story to swallow (No pun intended) but the real miracle isn’t the fish at all. The real miracle is that God pursues people who run from Him. The fish is just the vehicle; the mercy is the message. Jonah wasn’t rescued because he deserved it—he was rescued because God wasn’t finished with him. And that’s the part skeptics can’t explain away. A God who goes to outrageous lengths to bring a stubborn, reluctant, imperfect person back into His purpose is far more unbelievable than a fish with a big appetite. The text states God “appointed” a great fish, implying a special, divine intervention rather than a common natural occurrence.-(Jonah 1:17) If one believes in a Creator God, then miraculous intervention—such as sustaining a human inside a fish—is possible. The same God who raised the dead, parted the Red Sea, and created the universe can surely preserve a man in a Whale. The story of Jonah is not that hard to swallow. Seeing that in November 2020, two kayakers, Julie McSorley and Liz Cottriel, were nearly swallowed when a humpback whale breached directly beneath them off the coast of “Avila Beach, California”. Though they were briefly engulfed in the whale’s mouth, the animal quickly spat them out, and they escaped without serious injury. A similar, more famous incident occurred in June 2021, when a lobster diver Michael Packard was swallowed by a humpback off Cape Cod; he survived for about 30 seconds inside it’s mouth before being spat back into the ocean. (See Video https://youtu.be/3RkeFY9rZDo?si=pJDFdBHuhlHQqE6h