0245. Upon the Jonah Sign Christ Staked His Deity

Upon the Jonah Sign Christ Staked His Deity

"An evil and adulterous generation seeketh for a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of the Prophet Jonas: for as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" (Mat_12:39-40).

1. Our Lord made positive claim that He was the Son of God. He claimed Deity. He claimed to be more than man, because He said: "A greater than Jonah is here," and, "A greater than Solomon is here."

Christ claimed omnipotence, and omniscience and omnipresence; He accepted Divine worship and claimed to be equal with the Father; He claimed attributes that belong to God alone; in fact, Christ made Himself God.

2. The Jews denied every claim to Deity that Christ put forth. They contended against all He said of Himself. They refused to bow the knee; they refused to render homage; they rejected Him and despised Him; they went about to kill Him; they nailed Him to the Cross.

3. When the Jews demanded of Christ some proof of His claims, some tests of His Deity, He quickly risked His all on the Jonah sign. He did, at times, remind them of the works which He did, as bearing witness of Him, and yet the Lord did not make as final any of these things. He did not base His Deity upon His miracles, nor upon His matchless and holy life, nor upon His marvelous teachings. To be sure Christ wrought as no other man ever wrought; He lived as no other man had lived; He taught as no other man had taught; but Christ swept all of this aside and said: "There shall no sign be given * * but the sign of the Prophet Jonas."

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR