Overcoming the Connection-Challengers, Part 1

And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven large baskets full. And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. And sending away the crowds, Jesus got into the boat and came to the region of Magadan. Matthew 15:37-39

And immediately thereafter…

The Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and testing Jesus, they asked Him to show them a sign from heaven. Matthew 16:1

Jesus had just fed four thousand men along with at least as many women and children, using only seven loaves and a few small fish (see Matthew 15:34). The leftovers from that meal filled seven large baskets.

After this mind-boggling miracle, both Jesus and His disciples were accosted by vicious challenges to their secure connection with God.

One challenge targeted Jesus Himself. The other challenge zeroed in on the disciples. And it all came via the demands of “prove-yourself” religion, complete with a heavy dose of “appearances-R-us”.

Jesus vs. the Connection-Challengers

Instead of scrambling to whip up a miracle to impress the religious heavyweights before Him, Jesus replied back to them with a challenge of His own:

“When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ And in the morning, ‘There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times?”  (Matthew 16:2b-3).

He stated the obvious: they knew how to accurately predict the weather by looking at the appearance of the sky; but even though they heard and saw the miraculous works of Jesus, they refused to acknowledge the reality of what they were witnessing. In their arrogant rejection of the Truth standing before them, they attempted to dismiss the Lord by downgrading the display of God’s mighty power to the status of carnival tricks (Show us a sign, they mocked, like teenagers at a magic show hosted by a second-rate magician).

Jesus could read their intentions like an open book. Bottom line: they wanted to stop the manifestation of God in His life—or at least control it. And they were attempting to do so by intimidating Him with scorn, hoping to push His buttons. If they could coerce Jesus to try to “prove” Himself to them, they would be in control, having gained the upper hand.

But Jesus would have none of it. Instead, He declared, “‘An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and a sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah.’ And He left them and went away” (Matthew 16:4).

The web had been woven; the spiders were eagerly awaiting their prey; but this One refused to be caught and instead, snared the predators with their own web.

Here’s my paraphrase of the words Jesus used to confront them:

You seek after a sign, you say, but we all know the truth. You don’t intend to give God the glory for any sign He displays in your midst. That’s because you are an evil, adulterous bunch—you’ve strayed from the One to whom you were betrothed.

But the Lord gave them a sign, nonetheless—the sign of Jonah. And then He walked away.

Of all the Old Testament signs Jesus could have cited, He chose Jonah.

Yes, Jonah was swallowed alive by a big fish and was trapped within its belly for three days and nights before being vomited onto dry ground. In this way, Jesus was foreshadowing His death, burial, and resurrection.

But there was another pointed reason that Jesus chose the sign of Jonah, in my opinion. Jonah, the prophet of God and the man with the message, was all about—at least throughout most of the book bearing his name—Jonah. And the Pharisees and Sadducees knew it.

Jonah fled in disobedience from the Lord when God wanted him to preach to Ninevah. The Pharisees and Sadducees knew this.

A storm overtook the ship upon which Jonah was sailing and catastrophe was about to befall everyone onboard on account of Jonah. And the Pharisees and Sadducees knew it.

The storm ceased when the crew threw Jonah overboard. And the Pharisees and Sadducees knew this.

A giant fish swallowed Jonah alive. And the Pharisees and Sadducees knew it.

Jonah was forced to acknowledge his rebellion and sin while sloshing around inside the fish’s stomach contents. And the Pharisees and Sadducees knew this.

The fish vomited Jonah onto dry land—quite an ignoble deliverance for such an important man. And the Pharisees and Sadducees knew it.

Jonah preached to Ninevah, and the Ninevites repented before God with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes—signs of truly humble, repentant hearts. And the Pharisees and Sadducees knew this.

God did not judge Ninevah, and because of this, Jonah was furious. And the Pharisees and Sadducees knew it.

There was more. Jonah rested under a plant appointed by God which gave him shade and comfort…and then it was attacked by a worm and died. And Jonah pouted, whined, fretted, and wished to die. The prophet—the religious heavyweight—threw a tantrum. And the Pharisees and Sadducees knew it.

And the sign of Jonah, given to the Pharisees and Sadducees—men of great religious import—was a fore shadow of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.

But that day—in the arena with men who presumed to know God and to be judges on His behalf—Jonah was also held up by Jesus as a mirror. And as the stunned Pharisees and Sadducees watched Jesus walk away, they could only gaze into the mirror of Jonah—in all of his rebellion and self-absorption—and they saw themselves. And they knew it.

Dorothy