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Matthew 12:38-50

38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” 39 But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 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. 41 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. 42 The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.

43 “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. 45 Then it goes and brings with it 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. So also will it be with this evil generation.”

46 While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. 48 But he replied to the man who told him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49 And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

The overarching theme of this 2nd Section of Matthew’s Gospel (4:17-16:20) is the Proclamation of Jesus the Messiah to Israel. Unfortunately, we see that Israel refuses to accept Jesus as Messiah.

Here (and later, see 16:1-4), the Pharisees want a sign. Why won’t Jesus give them one? Aside from the fact that he has already been giving them sign after sign after sign (see 11:4-6), the reason he refuses here is because he knows that what they want is to have the Kingdom on their own terms, not God’s. In other words, they reject the Kingship of God altogether, since they want to put themselves at the center and use God, like a cosmic vending machine—to get what they want.

Jesus says that their rejection of him will leave them in a worse state, spiritually, than the darkness they walked in before he came. It’s terrifying.

But then Jesus shows us the way forward—obedience. “For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

Where do you need to be obedient today?