XLIX.
SIGN SEEKERS, AND THE ENTHUSIAST REPROVED.
(Galilee on the same day as the last section.)
aMATT. XII. 38-45; cLUKE
XI. 24-36.
c29 And when the multitudes
were gathering together unto him, a38
Then certain of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, Teacher,
we would see a sign from thee. [Having been severely rebuked by Jesus,
it is likely that the scribes and Pharisees asked for a sign that they
might appear to the multitude more fair-minded and open to conviction than
Jesus had represented them to be. Jesus had just wrought a miracle, so
that their request shows that they wanted something different. We learn
from Mark (Mark viii. 11) that they wanted a sign, not coming from him,
but from heaven, such a sign as other prophets and leaders had given (Ex.
ix. 22-24; xvi. 4; Josh. x. 12; I. Sam. vii. 9, 10; xii. 16-18; I. Kings
xviii. 36-38; II. Kings i. 10; Isa. xxxviii. 8). "In Jewish superstition
it was held that demons and false gods could give signs on earth,
but only the true God signs from heaven" (Alford). The request
was the renewal of the one which had assailed him at the beginning of his
ministry (John ii. 18), and re-echoed the wilderness temptation to advance
himself by vulgar display rather than by the power of a life of divine
holiness.] 39 But he answered and
said unto them, {che began to say,} This generation is an evil
generation: it seeketh after a sign; aAn evil and adulterous
generation seeketh after a sign [305] [While
the Jews of that generation could well be accused literally of adultery,
Jesus here evidently uses it in its symbolic sense as used by the prophets.
They represented Israel as being married to God and as being untrue to
him--Ex. xxxiv. 15; Jer. iii. 14, 20]; and there shall no sign
be given to it, cbut the sign of Jonah. athe prophet
[They did not accept miracles of healing as a sign, and only one other
kind of sign was given; viz.: that of Jonah. Jonah was shown to be a true
prophet of God, and Nineveh received him as such because he was rescued
from the fish's belly, and Jesus was declared to be the Son of God by the
resurrection from the dead--Rom. i. 4]:
40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale;
so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights. [Jesus was
one full day, two full nights, and parts of two other days in the grave.
But, as the Jews reckoned a part of a day as a whole day when it occurred
at the beginning or end of a series, he was correctly spoken of as being
three days in the grave. The Jews had three phrases, viz.: "on the third
day," "after three days," and "three days and three nights," which all
meant the same thing; that is, three days, two of which might be fractional
days. With them three full days and nights would be counted as four days
unless the count began at sundown, the exact beginning of a day (Acts x.
1-30). For instances of Jewish computation of days, see Gen. xlii. 17,
18; I. Kings xii. 5, 12; Esth. iv. 16; v. 1; Matt. xxvii. 63, 64. The Greek
word here translated "whale" is "sea monster." It is called in Jonah "a
great fish" (Jonah i. 17). Because of the supposed smallness of the whale's
throat, many think that it was the white shark, which is still plentiful
in the Mediterranean, and which sometimes measures sixty feet in length,
and is large enough to swallow a man whole. But it is now a well-established
fact that whales can swallow a man, and there are many instances of such
swallowings on record. The expression "heart of the earth" does not mean
its center. The Jews used the word "heart" to denote the interior of anything
(Ezek. xxviii. 2). The phrase is here [306] used
as one which would emphatically indicate the actual burial of Christ.]
c30 For even as Jonah became a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall
also the Son of man be to this generation. [Nineveh was the capital
of the Assyrian Empire, situated on the Tigris River, and in its day the
greatest city of the world. Jonah's preservation was a sign from heaven,
because wrought without human instrumentality. The resurrection of Christ
was such a sign to the Jews, but rejecting it, they continued to seek other
signs--I. Cor. i. 22.]
a41 The men of Nineveh shall stand up in judgment with this
generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of
Jonah; and behold, a greater than Jonah is here. [Literally, repented
into the teaching of Jonah. The meaning is that they repented so that they
followed the course of life which the preaching prescribed. The phrase,
"stand up," refers to the Jewish and Roman custom which required the witness
to stand up while testifying in a criminal case. The idea here is that
the Ninevites, having improved the lesser advantage or privilege, would
condemn the Jews for having neglected the greater. Nineveh's privilege
may be counted thus: a sign-accredited prophet preaching without accompanying
miracles, and a forty-day period of repentance. In contrast to this the
Jewish privileges ran thus: the sign-accredited Son of God preaching, accompanied
by miracles, in which many apostles and evangelists participated, a forty-year
period in which to repent.]
42 The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation,
and shall condemn it: {cwith the men of this generation, and
shall condemn them:} for she came from the ends of the earth [a Hebraism,
indicating a great distance] to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold,
a greater than Solomon is here. [The queen of Sheba is supposed to
have been queen of Sabæa, or Arabia Felix, which lies in the southern
part of the peninsula between the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. But Josephus
says she was from Ethiopia in Africa. Her testimony will also be based
on the compared privileges, which [307] stand
thus: notwithstanding the dangers and inconveniences, she came a great
distance to be taught of Solomon, but the Jews rejected the teaching of
the Son of God, though he brought it to them. The teaching of Solomon related
largely to this world, but Christ taught as to the world to come.]
a43 But the unclean spirit, when he is gone out of the man,
passeth through waterless places [places which are as cheerless to
him as deserts are to man], seeking rest, and findeth it not.
[Rest is the desire of every creature. Jesus here gives us a graphic description
of utter wretchedness.] cand finding none,
a44 Then he saith, I will return into {cturn back
unto} my house [he still claimed it as his property] whence I came
out. 25 And when he is come, he findeth
it aempty, swept, and garnished. [It was empty, having no
indwelling Spirit, swept of all righteous impressions and good influences,
and garnished with things inviting to an evil spirit.]
45 Then [seeing this inviting condition] goeth he, and taketh with
himself seven other spirits [to reinforce and entrench himself] more
evil than himself [while all demons are wicked they are not equally
so], and they enter in and dwell there [take up their permanent
abode there]: and the last state of that man becometh worse than
the first. Even so shall it be also unto this evil generation. [In
the application of this parable, we should bear in mind that it tells of
two states or conditions experienced by one man, and the
comparison is between these two states or conditions and not between the
condition of the man and other men. Such being the parable, the application
of it is plain, for Jesus says, "Even so shall it be unto this evil generation."
We are not, therefore, to compare that generation with any previous one,
as many do; for such would be contrary to the terms of the parable. It
is simply an assertion that the last state of that generation would be
worse than the first. The reference is to the continually increasing wickedness
of the Jews, which culminated in the dreadful scenes which preceded the
destruction of Jerusalem. They were now like a man with one [308] evil
spirit; they would then be like a man with seven more demons added, each
of which was worse than the original occupant.]
c27 And it came to pass, as he said these things, a certain
woman out of the multitude lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed
is the womb that bare thee, and the breasts which thou didst suck.
[This woman is the first on record to fulfill Mary's prediction (Luke i.
48). It is the only passage in the New Testament which even suggests the
idolatry of Mariolatry, but it was far enough from it, being merely a womanly
way of expressing admiration for the son by pronouncing blessings upon
the mother who was so fortunate as to bear him.]
28 But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God,
and keep it. [Jesus does not deny the fact that Mary was blessed, but
corrects any false idea with regard to her by pointing to the higher honor
of being a disciple which was attainable by every one. Mary's blessing
as a disciple was greater than her blessing as a mother; her moral and
spiritual relation to Jesus was more precious than her maternal. Mary's
blessings came through believing God's word (Luke i. 45). To know Christ
after the Spirit is more blessed than to know him after the flesh--II.
Cor. v. 15, 16; John xvi. 7.] 33 No
man, when he hath lighted a lamp, putteth it in a cellar, neither under
a bushel, but on the stand, that they which come in may see the light.
34 The lamp of thy body is thine eye: when thine eye is single, thy whole
body also is full of light; but when it is evil, thy body also is full
of darkness. 35 Look therefore whether
the light that is in thee be not darkness.
36 If therefore thy whole body be full of light, as when the lamp with
its bright shining doth give thee light. [This passage given in a slightly
varying form is found in the Sermon on the Mount. See page
256. It is here addressed to the Pharisees and reproves them for not
using the light (his miracles) which was given to them. If they [309] had
had an eye single to goodness, Christ's light would have enlightened their
souls. But their eye was double; they desired wonders and spectacular signs.]
[FFG 305-310]
