The governing body of Israel at the time of Christ had observed and weighed the actions of Jesus and decided to reject His Messianic claim (see previous blogs). This time we begin to examine how Jesus reacted to their decision.
What was the
response of Jesus to their decision?
There is a point of no return for the obdurate. In His
dealings with man, God sometimes says, ‘enough is enough’. The judgements at the time of Noah, and then
at the tower of Babel Israel
(i)
The generation of Israelites that rebelled on the
journey from Egypt to Canaan under the leadership of Moses suffered such a
judgement.
(ii)
Then there was the judgement that sent the nation into
captivity to Babylon
(iii)
Now there is to be a judgement on the generation that
rejected Jesus as Messiah. When they rejected Jesus as Messiah, particularly
for such base reasons and in such a way, that
generation of Israel
When they dismissed Jesus’ Messianic claims and when they
attributed the good works that He had performed by the Spirit of God, to the
power of the Devil,[1] they
committed the unpardonable sin. Their
lying blasphemy, which still lives today, has no forgiveness.[2] Those that attributed the attesting signs to
Beelzebub were clearly in the camp of Satan, and Jesus called them a “brood of
vipers”,[3]
words well chosen, for they were true children of the Serpent,[4]
and disseminated the lies of the father of lies.[5]
Their rejected Messiah had yet one more message
for them. When He was asked for yet another attesting sign, He said: “An evil
and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the
prophet; for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the
sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart
of the earth.”[6] This sign, which will be more thoroughly
examined in chapter ten, has an extra dimension that the Messiah expressed: “The
men of Nineveh
Not only did Jesus prophesy the ultimate fate of
that generation of the Jewish nation – the most privileged generation that ever
lived – a generation who had the living God walking among them, blessing them
and teaching them – but He also prophesied their more immediate fate. He gave
it in the form of an illustration, no doubt prompted by the case that caused
the final rift: “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry
places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, ‘I will return to my house
from which I came’. And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes and takes with
him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell
there; and the last state of
that man is worse than the first. So
shall it also be with this wicked generation.”[10]
The eight woes of Matthew 23 repeat His judgement
on the Pharisaic Sanhedrists: “Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape
the condemnation of hell? Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and
scribes: some of them you will
kill and crucify, and some of
them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that
on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of
righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered
between the temple and the altar. Assuredly, I say to you, all these things
will come upon this generation.”[11]
[1] Matt.12.24
[2]
Matt.12.31,32
[3]
Matt.12.34
[4] John
8.44
[5] John
8.44,55
[6]
Matt.12.39,40 (NASB)
[7]
Matt.12.41
[8]
Matt.12.42
[9] Proverbs
chapter 8
[10]
Matt.12.43-45
[11]
Matt.23.33-36
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