smackdownstories

1 And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. 2He answered them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ 3And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. 4 An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” So he left them and departed.

Matthew 15:1-4

Three things to take away:

  1. What the Pharisees did - demanded magic tricks of Jesus for their own selfish desires; their predetermined goal was to “test” Jesus, ostensibly to get him to do something they could use against him. Often times we let fleshly and worldly concerns overshadow how we view value the sovereignty of God and how we try to ‘play the game’ to produce self-glorifying ends.
  2. What Jesus did back – proclaims that the ultimate sign and showing of God’s glory is in the work of Jesus on the cross and the fulfillment of the gospel; draws a line between what is attempted to be perceived by man about the physical realm and what cannot be perceived by man in the spiritual realm; chastises the carnality of desiring worldly satisfaction in miracles and signs.
  3. What Happened Next - Jesus always seemed to ‘slip away,’ didn’t he? I wish I had the humility to ‘slip away’ after a confrontation after that. Once again, in a situation in which Jesus could have completely and repeatedly slammed the religious leaders in a ranting rave, he speaks his Truth and in full humility leaves. It may be hard to explain, but for me this holds special significance: to speak gospel-centered Truth in full humility (a humility, which by the way, was a curious humility. Jesus was humble in the sense that he was a servant, compassionate friend, and loving teacher. Jesus was humble in that his relation to God was exactly correct — he was God. So his humility did the exact right thing: point people to himself. But the curious thing is that he did it with an obedient servant’s heart. That’s pretty amazing.)

Out.

-Riley