Jesus Rebukes Insincerity

GOLDEN TEXT: “He that is not with Me is against Me: and he that gathereth not with Me scattereth.” —Luke 11:23

LUKE 11:29-44

IN APPRAISING the attitude of the people toward Jesus, perhaps we are inclined to blame too much of the opposition against him to the scribes and the Pharisees. No doubt they did wield a very unsavory influence over the people of Israel, but they were not wholly to blame for the persecution which was heaped upon the Master.

On this point the opening verse of our lesson is quite enlightening. It reads, “When the people were gathered thick together, he [Jesus] began to say, This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet.” The “people,” not merely the scribes and Pharisees, were gathered “thick together,” and it was to these that Jesus said, “This is an evil generation.” No wonder the religious rulers of the nation found it so easy to raise a mob which shouted, “Crucify him, crucify him!”

The people of Israel to whom Jesus ministered had much opportunity to hear his gracious words, and to witness his miracles. But they passed these over and asked for a “sign” that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. However, as Jesus explained, no further sign was to be given them except “the sign of Jonas the prophet.” Luke’s record does not explain just what the sign of Jonas was, but Matthew’s account does. Matthew 12:40 reads, “As Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”

Jonas (Jonah in the Old Testament) being swallowed by the “great fish” was equal to being dead. Explaining his experience later, Jonas said, “Out of the belly of hell cried I.” (Jonah 2:2) Here the word hell translates the Hebrew word sheol, which is the word used in the Old Testament to denote the death condition. To all intents and purposes Jonah was in the death condition. It was only by divine power that he was rescued and able to appear before the people of Nineveh. This was a convincing sight to the Ninevites, and they quickly repented under his preaching.

The evil generation of Jesus’ day, under the leadership of their religious rulers, put Jesus to death. Like Jonas, he also was in the death condition—hades, in the New Testament. Like Jonas also, it was only by divine power that he was rescued from hades, from death. This was an eloquent sign to the people of Israel, and many of them were convinced—three thousand in one day—the Day of Pentecost. (Acts 2:41) But the majority were still unconvinced, charging that Jesus’ body had been stolen and hidden by his friends.

When King Solomon ruled Israel, his fame spread abroad, and the Queen of Sheba, or “of the south,” traveled from “the uttermost parts of the earth” so she could see for herself if what she heard was true. Jesus, the mightier than Solomon, mingled with the people of Israel. They knew something of his glory. They had witnessed his miracle-working power, but because of their evil hearts they were not interested in making a thorough investigation of his identity. Thus the attitude of “the queen of the south” was as a judgment against them. Likewise, because the men of Nineveh repented under Jonas’ preaching, their attitude also condemned the people of Israel.

The “light of the body is the eye,” Jesus explained. That is, it is through the eye that the body “sees” its way around, and is able to function. Without the eye, the body is in darkness, and Jesus stresses the importance of the eye being “single,” that is, not trying to observe two things at once. The people of Israel, and particularly the scribes and Pharisees, were professedly dedicated to God. Had their “eye” been single to this purpose in life, they would have recognized and accepted Jesus as their Messiah. But they were also looking at self, and seeking self–interests. Thus they were spiritually blind, and in darkness.

The Pharisee who invited Jesus to dinner expressed surprise that the Master did not ceremonially cleanse himself before eating. Jesus took this occasion to remind this man, whom he called a hypocrite, that an outward and ritualistic cleansing is not nearly so important as inward purity—purity of heart, that is.

“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” said Jesus, “for ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them.” (vs. 44) What a scathing denunciation! By their outward forms of piety these hypocrites were able to camouflage their real characters, and thus the better exploit the people.

QUESTIONS

Can all the sins of Israel properly be charged to their religious leaders?

Explain the “sign of Jonas.”

What constituted a similar sign in Jesus’ day?

How did the “queen of the south” rise up in judgment against Israel?

What did Jesus mean by the eye being single?

Explain Jesus’ remarks to the Pharisee who invited him to dinner.

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