LOOKING FOR A MIRACLE
Matthew 12:38-42, Jonah 1-3
WHY DO WE NEED A MIRACLE?
38 Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, \”Teacher, we want to see a miraculous sign from you.\”
39 He answered, \”A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 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. 41 The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here.
OUR NEED FOR A SIGN IS THE EVIDENCE OF WEAKNESS
A. Jesus had been preaching and teaching in Galilee. He healed all who came to Him.
- The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were always close by seeking to find
Fault in everything He did and said.
- Every healing was a miracle, yet His distracters want a miraculous sign.
- To ask for a sign as a condition of our belief is to deny the miracles all
Around us.
B. Jesus compared the need for a sign to adultery
1. He/she is not satisfied with the love in front of them and never will be.
It is the sin in us that causes us to doubt Jesus.
- The evidence of their unbelief was their lack of joy for the
miracles done by Jesus to heal their people.
- They wanted more signs which would not satisfy them.
- The just live by faith and not by sight
Jesus is the proof of the Old Testament.
- Every word is His.
- Throughout His ministry on earth, He quoted Old Testament Scripture.
- According to the dating of Dead Sea Scrolls found in the Quorum caves
In 1947, the Old Testament was complete 300 years before the
Birth of Christ on earth.
- The Pharisees and the teachers of the law prided themselves on
their knowledge of scripture.
- They refused to believe that Jesus knew more than them.
Jesus used a scripture they knew to illustrate their evilness
Scriptures are live examples of our current situations.
There is nothing new under the sun
IMPORTANT INSIGHT FROM THE WORD
We gain insight into our lives when we study scripture.
God gave Jonah a mission which he tried to run away from
How many missions are we running away from?
Jonah was chosen by God to give a message of upcoming doom
To the people of Nineveh if they didn’t repent
Jonah knew their evilness. He didn’t like them, and he prefer they died.
God’s mercy is extended to us in our evilness.
Were we not evil to the core until Jesus stepped into our
Lives?
Are we qualified to judge the evil of others?
YOU CAN RUN BUT YOU CAN’T HIDE
Jonah 1:1-4
The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 \”Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.\”
3 But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.
Have you ever run from the Lord? Be truthful with yourself
DON’T JUDGE AND YOU WON\’T BE JUDGED
Jonah judged the people of Nineveh unworthy to receive the
The mercy of God.
Who have we judged unworthy to receive God’s mercy?
What about the mass murderer of 21 children and teachers
In Uvalde?
Do you think God should forgive Him?
Who have we turned our backs on?
Jonah got on a boat and headed in the opposite way of God’s direction
You can run but you can’t hide from God.
A PLACE OF REFLECTION PREPARED FOR YOU
God can prepare a place for you to reflect on your sins.
Has anybody ever been there? A place of reflection?
The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law were looking for a
Miracle. It was in front of them. They were so blind, that they could not
Accept the miracles they knew Jesus did.
Sometimes God points to the past so you can see what He is
Doing now.
CONSEQUENCES OF RUNNING
Jonah got on a boat, God created a storm.
Jonah hid out on the boat, and God identified him as the reason for the storm
Jonah hid his sin in his heart. God brought him to confession
Jonah was not concerned about the lives of the people of Nineveh,
God cause him to be concerned about the lives of the people
On the boat.
Jonah didn’t want to sacrifice his time for the people of Nineveh
God causes him to sacrifice his life for the people on the boat.
UNDESERVED MERCY
In your worst situation, God\’s mercy can show up
God prepared a large fish as a place of reflection
God changed the Whale, into a dark chamber for Jonah
God stopped the fish\’s digestive process for three days.
God gave Jonah 3 days to think about His sins and come to himself.
Have you ever had a come to yourself moment?
Jonah 2:1
Jonah had a prayer service in his darkest hour
In the belly of the fish
Jonah 2:2
\”In my distress, I called to the Lord,
and he answered me.
From the depths of the grave, I called for help,
and you listened to my cry.
Has anybody ever been there?
When It was just you and the Lord in your misery.
SERIOUS PRAYER TIME
You can have some serious prayer in your affliction.
Jonah 2:9
9 But I, with a song of thanksgiving,
will sacrifice to you.
What I have vowed I will make good.
Salvation comes from the Lord.\”
Has anybody ever been there? Lord if you get me out of this, I
Will devote my life to you.
God caused the fish to spit Jonah up on dry land with a new
Determination to follow God’s plan
YOUR MISSION IS TO BLESS OTHERS
Jonah 3:1-3
Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: 2 \”Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.\”
3 Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh.
You never know who God is going to bless through you.
Jonah 3:4-5
He proclaimed: \”Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned.\” 5 The Ninevites believed in God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.
NIV
You and I should never forget that we got a mission. That is to proclaim the
Word.
Rev. M. Mitchell
