Matthew 12:38-42 The Sign of Jonah
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: March 27, 2019, Matthew 12:38-42
Note: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.
Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it 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. 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. The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.
(Understanding the Text) We always ask for signs, yet when we receive a sign, it is never enough, and we want another and another. Instead, we should ask for faith and clear sight so that we can see and believe the signs that are already around us all the time. The Pharisees were essentially asking Jesus to perform a sign on demand like a magic act. Too many of us see miracles as magic to be performed for entertainment and our own private showing rather than as necessities to overcome the results of sin in this world. Jesus is not a trained pet to be asked to show His routine for an audience. He did not heal and walk on water for show. He did it because He saw a need and wanted to fill it. We need to ask for signs when there is a need that we are trying to fill for God.
Jesus calls the Pharisees adulterous. That means that He was saying that they worshipped a god/gods other than God. What god did they worship? My first thought is self. After that, I would say money and their own national identity and to some extent their ancestors. I think in some ways, maybe they had made the temple itself an object of worship. Their picture of god was not that of the God of Abraham and David. They had distorted Him so much that the god they worshipped was no longer God.
(Revelation of God) Jesus is saying that He is greater than Jonah and even Solomon. In fact, He does not call Himself a person. Instead, He calls Himself something. I think this may hint at Him being other than just a man, but I’m not sure whether that is true in the original Greek. The sign that He promises is actually greater than fire coming down from heaven or fleece being wet on a dry day. He promises to let them watch Him die so that there will be no doubt about it and then to see Him alive again within a period of three days. I’ve always sort of thought He was minimizing the sign that He promised and placed the signs of His miracles and healings higher, but actually He was maximizing the sign that He would give them. He was saying, “You want a sign? I’ll give you a sign like no one has ever seen before. My sign is greater than anything in your past history or anything that will happen in the future. Be careful what you ask for because you are going to get the sign to end all other signs.” Far from minimizing the sign they would receive, Jesus was telling them that His sign would be so great that Ninevah and the Queen of Sheba would both stand up and condemn them when they did not accept the sign that Jesus gave them.
(Application / Prayer) My application for myself is that I need to open my mind and heart to God so that I can receive all that He has to give me, even signs at times. I need to see the miracles He puts in my life and have faith. I need to give Him my heart fully so that He will never have cause to say of me that I am evil and adulterous. Instead, I want to hear You say to me that I am Your good and faithful servant.