Please first read: Matthew
12:38-45
The activities of Jesus and his followers have now gained a
high profile throughout much of all Palestine. Great crowds of both those
who support, and those who oppose, are coming daily to listen and hear. As
would be expected, tensions are in the air including those from the accusations
involving Jesus being in league with Satan and doing his healings and miracles
by the power of the devil. The Pharisees are taking the lead in asking
for, demanding, a sign(s).
Apostle James E. Talmage:
“The Master’s lessons have (fallen) on ears that were
practically deaf to spiritual truth, and found no place in hearts already
stuffed with great stores of evil. To the profound wisdom and saving
instruction of the word of God to which they had listened, they responded with
a flippant request: ‘Master, we would see a sign from thee.’ Had they not
already seen signs in profusion? Had not the blind and the deaf, the dumb
and the infirm, the palsied and the dropsical, and people afflicted with all
manner of diseases, been healed in their houses, on their streets, and in their
synagogues; had not devils been cast out and their foul utterances been
silenced by his word; and had not the dead been raised, and all by him
whom they now importuned for a sign? They would have some surpassing
wonder wrought, to satisfy curiosity, or perhaps to afford them further excuse
for action against him—they wanted signs to waste on their lust. Small
wonder that, `he sighed deeply in his spirit’ when such demands were
made. To the scribes and Pharisees who had shown such inattention to his
words, he replied, “An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a
sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the
prophet Jonas.”
The sign of Jonas (Jonah) was that for three days he had
been in the belly of the fish and then restored to liberty; so would the
Son of Man be immured in the tomb, after which he would rise again. That
was the only sign he would give them, and by that would they stand condemned.
Our Lord’s reply to those who clamored for a sign, that “An
evil and adulterous generation seeketh for a sign” (Matthew 12:39; Matthew
16:4; and Mark 8:38) could only be interpreted by the Jews as a supreme
reproof. That the descriptive designation ‘adulterous’ was literally
applicable to the widespread immorality of the time, they all knew. Adam
Clarke in his commentary on Matthew 12:39 states, “There is the utmost
proof from their own writings that in the time of our Lord, they were most
literally an adulterous race of people.”
Apostle Bruce R. McConkie:
A sign from heaven! What part do signs play in the
eternal scheme of things? Why do these scripturally wise detractors of the
Holy One feel they can rouse further ill feelings against him by demanding a
sign? Should he give some sign that he has not yet given? Is there
some great heavenly portent that will prove he is the Son of God?
Jesus came, it is true, to give signs and to work
miracles. It was part of his ministerial assignment, and in so doing he
was acting in the power and authority of his Father. Signs are for true
saints, not the world. Signs follow those that believe; they are not
designed to convert the wicked and ungodly. Faith precedes the
miracle. “I will show miracles, signs, and wonders, unto all those who
believe on my name, the Lord says.” (D&C 35:8) Those who seek signs –
either to create faith or to feed their egos – whether in or out of the Church,
shall fail in their search for divine approval. “He that seeketh signs
shall see signs, but not unto salvation…Faith cometh not by signs, but signs
follow those that believe.” (D&C 63:7-11)
Some sins cannot be separated; they are inseparably
welded together. There never was a sign seeker who was not an adulterer,
just as there never was an adulterer who was not also a liar. Once Lucifer
gets a firm hold over one human weakness, he also applies his power to kindred
weaknesses. (Matthew 12:39)
Sign of Jonas: Jonah’s burial in and coming forth from
the ‘great fish’ (Jonah 1:15-17) symbolizes the death, burial, and
resurrection of Christ … By repenting and believing Jonah, wicked Nineveh was
saved; by repenting and believing Christ, the wicked Jews could have freed
themselves from sin. And the miracle of the resurrection, symbolized by
the sign of Jonas, stands as a witness against them that they rejected their
God.
Albright:
Idolatry and Adultery: During Old Testament time and the Meridian
of time when Jesus was here on the earth, these two terms were spiritually
synonymous and interchangeable. Idol worship was a constant recurring
problem and was always accompanied by sexual excess of all kinds.
Vine:
·
Adulterous: In
Israel the breach of their relationship with God through their idolatry was
described as adultery or harlotry. Believers who cultivate friendship with
the world, thus breaking their spiritual union with Christ are spiritual
adulteresses, having been spiritually united to Him as wife to husband.
·
Idolatry: The sin
of the mind against God.
·
Immorality: The
sins against the flesh.
Vincent:
Adulterous: a very strong and graphic expression of
the relation of God’s people to him under the figure of marriage. Hence
idolatry and intercourse with Gentiles were described as adultery; and of
moral unfaithfulness to God. (Matthew 12:39)
A final point of interest: The Gospels record Jesus being
directly asked five times for a sign.
Nineveh was the capital of powerful Assyria and noted for
its extreme wickedness.
Glenn R. McGettigan
April 2016
References:
“Jesus the Christ.”
Talmage
“Our Lord of the
Gospels.” Clark
“The Mortal Messiah.”
Volume 2. McConkie
“Doctrinal New
Testament Commentary.” McConkie
“Mormon Doctrine.”
McConkie
“Anchor Bible Gospel of
Matthew.” Albright
“Expository Dictionary
of New Testament Words.” Vine
“Word Studies of the
New Testament.” Vincent
