The Sign that is for Every Generation

When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, “This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. 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” (Lk 11:29–32).

Once again the teaching and miracles of Jesus increased the size of the crowd. Once again Jesus confronted the crowd. His plan was clear and consistent. He wanted followers to take a step away from the cloud and closer to Him to become true disciples. In today’s text we see Jesus expose the hearts of those in the crowd that were looking for some sign that confirmed His claim that He is the Christ. They were looking for something big, dramatic and physical, something they could see or hear. But Jesus told them that as the people of Nineveh received the sign of Jonah, they would see the only sign of the Son of Man, which is revealed in the person and the gospel message of Jesus Christ Himself. Here the Spirit of Truth uses the words of Jesus to confront our hearts too. How often do we demand a sign from the Lord to encourage us when the going gets tough or to reassure us that Jesus is who He claims to be? It’s in moments like these that we are like those in the crowd who in looking so hard for something so big, miss the something so obvious that God gave us in Christ, the sign that is for every generation.

The sign of Jesus and His gospel reflects the passion of Christ. Just as Jonah was buried in the belly of a great fish, Jesus would be buried in the grave for three days… “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” (Matthew 12:40). Jonah suffered because of his disobedience when he tried to run away from the call to preach to the Ninevites. Jesus willingly suffered crucifixion and burial to atone for the sins of mankind… “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24). Christ’s death at Calvary is a sign of His passion for every generation.

The sign of Jesus and His gospel raises the perception of sin. Just as Jonah’s preaching convicted the hearts of the Ninevites, the grace of God released in Jesus’ preaching and teaching confronted the crowd with the reality of sin… “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin” (John 15:22). When we believe and live according to His words we become instruments of God’s heart-piercing grace, confronting others around us… “If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 15:19). Our born again life and pursuit of holiness is a reflection of the grace of Christ, a confrontational sign for every generation.

The sign of Jesus and His gospel reveals the profit of repentance. Just as Jonah’s preaching compelled the Ninevites to repent of their sin, Jesus’ preaching of the gospel was intended to move the hearts of His listeners to repentance… “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32). The Spirit teaches through the Apostle Paul that genuine repentance leads to salvation… “For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death” (2 Corinthians 7:10). It is Jesus’ desire that true disciples in every age, who have witnessed and experienced the new birth, should proclaim this message of repentance to all nations… “Repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things” (Luke 24:47-48). Our earnest proclamation of the gospel in word and deed will produce repentance in many because it is a compelling sign for every generation.

As we grow up into Christ we become a clear and compelling reflection of Jesus and His gospel…

The Sign that is for Every Generation.

The Life that is Blessed

As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!” But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” (Lk 11:27–28).

A woman in the crowd was so struck by the authoritative teaching and delivering power of Jesus that she was moved to acknowledge the unique anointing that rested upon Him. She believed the source of the anointing that empowered Jesus and His ministry was a reflection of God’s blessing on Mary, His mother and she declared her to be blessed (Greek – makarios: supremely fortunate, well-off, happy). It was natural for a loving mother to attribute such compassion, charisma, and power to inheritance and upbringing. Jesus did not deny that His mother was blessed, but He wanted this precious woman and the crowd of followers to know that the favor that rested upon His mother was available to all true disciples. Despite what you’re experiencing today, you can know and enjoy the life that is blessed.

Like Mary, true disciples are blessed because of our relationship with Jesus. You are not enslaved by your family of origin. Perhaps you grew up in a warm, encouraging home or a severely dysfunctional household. Maybe you were raised in a wealthy or a poor family. You do not have to be trapped by the circumstances that formed you. When you received Jesus Christ you were born again into the family of God… “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13). Nothing that’s happening to you today can change your pedigree… “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37-39). True disciples have the blessing of an unbreakable relationship with Jesus Christ!

Like Mary, true disciples are blessed because we are called to do God’s work. Just as every true disciple is saved by the grace of God, so too every true child of God is created for a unique work of God… “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). When we make a priority of loving God and seeking and doing God’s work we discover our true purpose and fulfillment and everything comes together for us… “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). True disciples have the blessing of enjoying a great day every day as we answer the call to be fully engaged in God’s work.

Like Mary, true disciples are blessed because we can hear the Word of God and keep it. The spiritual truth implanted in God’s word is not understood by unsaved people… “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14). The Holy Spirit is a Helper to truth seekers born of God… “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth” (John 16:13). The love of Christ that consumes the heart of true disciples also compels us to keep (Greek – phylassō: watch, guard, observe, and preserve) His Word… “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him” (John 14:23). Jesus taught that His Word was life for hungry disciples… “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life” (John 6:63). The Spirit inspired John to write that those who keep His Word will be blessed in this troubled world as well as in eternity… “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near” (Revelation 1:3). True disciples know the life-giving and sustaining blessing of hearing and keeping God’s Word.

As we grow up into Christ immersed in Him, His work and His Word, we experience the…

The Life that is Blessed.

The State of True Deliverance

“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order. Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person is worse than the first” (Lk 11:24–26).

Jesus demonstrated His power and authority over demons and unclean spirits. In today’s reading He adds depth to His teaching about deliverance from spiritual enemies. He revealed the desperate character of the unclean spirit that is compelled to seek a home in the life of a human being. Unclean spirits and demons seek rest in dry, deserted, empty places. They cannot stand to be in watery, life-filled places. They often return to their former abode in order to take up residence there, bringing along other dark spiritual forces with them. But they will not settle unless the soul of their former host remains empty, dry, and lifeless. Jesus was pointing the way to an indispensable step that must be taken to secure lasting victory over the devil’s allies. Only the soul that is filled with the Holy Spirit’s living water will enjoy the state of true deliverance.

Jesus had just demonstrated His absolute authority over demons… “Now he was casting out a demon that was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the people marveled” (Luke 11:14). The man could speak because he was free and his life was put in order. Jesus shares His authority over demons and unclean spirits with His true disciples… “The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!’ And he said to them… ‘Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you’” (Luke 10:17-19). Earnest disciples can discern the presence of the enemy and exercise Christ’s authority in our own lives as well as the lives of other victims as the Holy Spirit leads us to them. But to make deliverance complete and lasting we must understand and apply the Biblical truth about demons and unclean spirits whenever we encounter them.

The Holy Spirit teaches through the pen of the Apostle Paul that demons are the powers of this present darkness… “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness” (Ephesians 6:12). They are disembodied spirits of the Nephilim that once had bodies but lost them. God destroyed their bodies in the great flood of Noah’s day. This explains why they hunt for bodies to inhabit… “The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them” (Genesis 6:4). It also explains why, as in the case of the Gerasene victim who was possessed by a legion of demons, they seek rest in dry, desert, waterless places… “He was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert” (Luke 8:29). A life that is delivered from demonic oppression and set in order can still be a dry, attractive place for a presumptuous demon like this one. He even boastfully called the poor victim my house from which I came! For the life that was delivered to become a life that is permanently off-limits to further demonic attack, it must be possessed and overflowing with the new life of Christ through the Holy Spirit!

We are saved and delivered to become the home of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God’s living water, meant to transform our desert lives... “For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants” (Isaiah 44:3). When we are filled with the Holy Spirit demons and unclean spirits are repelled by the life of Christ and the holiness of God in us that the fullness of His Spirit produces and maintains. He makes and keeps us holy as we learn to let Him fill our hearts to overflowing with His life-giving living water… “’Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive” (John 7:38-39).

As we grow up into Christ and we are filled with the Holy Spirit we enjoy and impart to others…

The State of True Deliverance.