“Listen To The Word That Saves!”

“Listen To The Word That Saves!”
The “agents provocateurs” were there again to tease Jesus. They wanted to see a miraculous sign from him. He told them he had no miraculous sign than that of Jonah. “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth…”
The craze for miraculous signs today has become so rampant that people “design and perform” miracles to satisfy the miracle seekers and also entrap the vulnerable.
We are comforted for one thing: Jesus says, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign!”
Jesus says the people of Nineveh will indict the generations that listen to Jesus but do not repent! Even the Queen of Sheba will indict the generations that listen to Jesus but do not repent, because she travelled far distance to listen to the wisdom of Solomon. And when she listened she acquiesced. Yet Jesus is something more than Solomon!(Mtt. 12:38-42).
We err in understanding when we focus on Jonah being the passenger of “a huge fish for three days.” The main point of the Jonah story is that when he preached to the people of Nineveh they repented from their sins, turned to God and God forgave them. But those who had opportunity to listen to Jesus himself instead of repenting were asking for a miraculous sign! What a wicked and adulterous generation indeed!
The gospel message which we have today comes from “one greater than Jonah” – Jesus who is now the Christ! Listen to it and repent or perish in your sin! Do not concern yourself about miraculous signs; what leads to repentance is listening to the word and making an about turn to Jesus! God’s word is eternal truth that leads to eternal life; but miracles are for wicked and adulterous people! Bury yourself in the word and receive words of life that leads you to repentance!
Prayer: Lord, may your word be a lamp to my feet and a light on my path. Amen!
Have a blessed weekend! Peace be with you!