Matthew 12:39

But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: BUT HE ANSWERED AND SAID UNTO THEM - "when the people were gathered thick together" (), AN EVIL AND ADULTEROUS GENERATION. This latter expression is best explained by , "Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the Lord." For this was the relationship in which He stood to the covenant people - "I am married unto you" (). SEEKETH AFTER A SIGN. In the eye of Jesus this class were but the spokesmen of their generation, t...

Matthew 12:39._A wicked generation _He does not merely charge that age with malice, but pronounces the Jews—or at least the scribes, and those who resembled them—to be a _wicked nation; _thus declaring that they labored under a hereditary disease of obstinacy. The word γενεά sometimes denotes an _age, _and sometimes a _people _or _nation. _He calls them _adulterous, _that is, spurious or illegitimate, (165) because they were degenerated from the holy fathers; as the prophets reproach the men of their age with being not the descendants of Abraham, but the ungodly seed of Canaan. _Seeks a sign. _This leads to the inquiry, Does Christ address them with such harshness of language, because they wished to have a sign given them? for on other occasions God manifests that He is not so mu

38-45 Though Christ is always ready to hear and answer holy desires and prayers, yet those who ask amiss, ask and have not. Signs were granted to those who desired them to confirm their faith, as Abraham and Gideon; but denied to those who demanded them to excuse their unbelief. The resurrection of Christ from the dead by his own power, called here the sign of the prophet Jonah, was the great proof of Christ's being the Messiah. As Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale, and then came out again alive, thus Christ would be so long in the grave, and then rise again. The Ninevites would shame the Jews for not repenting; the queen of Sheba, for not believing in Christ. And we have no such cares to hinder us, we come not to Christ upon such uncertainties. This parable represents the case of the Jewish church and nation. It is also applicable to all those who hear the word of God,...

Verse 39. _AN EVIL AND ADULTEROUS GENERATION_] Or, _race of_ _people_; for so γενεα should be translated here, and in most other places in the Gospels; for our Lord, in general, uses it to point out the _Jewish people_. This translation is a key to unlock some very obscure passages in the evangelists. _SEEKETH AFTER A SIGN_] Or, _seeketh another sign_, (επιζητει,) so I think this word should be translated. Our Lord had _already_ given the Jews several signs; and here they desire _sign upon sign_. Our Lord terms the Jews an adulterous race. Under the old covenant, the Jewish nation was represented as in a _marriage_ _contract_ with the Lord of hosts; as believers, in the new covenant, are represented as the _spouse of Christ_. All unfaithfulness and disobedience was considered as a _breach_ of this _marriage contract_; hence the persons who were thus guilty are deno

WE WOULD SEE A SIGN FROM THEE - See Luke 11:16, Luke 11:29. A “sign” commonly signifies a miracle - that is, a sign that God was with the person or had sent him. Compare the notes at Isaiah 7:11. Luke adds that this was done “tempting him;” that is, trying him, doubting if he had the power to do it. If these persons had been present with him for any considerable time, they had already seen sufficient proofs that he was what he claimed to be. They might have been, however, those who had recently come, and then the emphasis must be laid on “we” - we, as well as the others, would see a proof that thou art the Christ. In either case it was a temptation. If they had not seen him work a miracle, yet they sh

EXPOSITION MATTHEW 12:1 The opposition that our Lord met with (1) from his enemies (Matthew 12:1); (2) from his relations (Matthew 12:46-40); ,and the manner in which he dealt with it. MATTHEW 12:1 (1) _Opposition from his enemies._ (A) Conscious and wilful opposition (Matthew 12:1). (α) As regards the sabbath ...

BUT HE ANSWERED AND SAID UNTO THEM,.... Not to the Pharisees, who were unworthy of an answer from him; having, in such an imperious manner, and with a sole view to tempt him, and after such miracles were wrought by him, required of him a sign from heaven; but to the multitude, the throng of people gathered thick together on this occasion, see Matthew 12:45 he turns himself from the Scribes and Pharisees, to the common people, and says to them concerning the former, AN EVIL AND ADULTEROUS GENERATION; not only in a spiritual sense, being degenerated from the faith, religion, and piety of their ancestors; but literally, which appeared not only in their polygamy, and frequent divorces on trivial occasions, but by criminal conversation with other women; see John 8:9 and this, with the Jews themselves

Matthew 12:38. _Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he answered and said unto them, an evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:_ The Pharisees change their manner, but they are in pursuit of the same object. How hopeless had the religionists of that age become! Nothing would convince them. They manifested their hate of the Lord Jesus, by ignoring all the wonders he had wrought. What further signs could they seek than those he had already given? Pretty enquirers these! They treat all the miracles of our Lord as if they had never occurred. Well might the Lord call them «evil and adulterous,» since they were so given to personal lasciviousness, and were spiritually so untrue to God. We have those among us now who are so

9. THE REJECTION CONSUMMATED AND THE BROKEN RELATIONSHIP. CHAPTER 12 1. The Hungry Disciples and the Accusing Pharisees. (Matthew 12:1 .) 2. The Man with the Withered Hand Healed.(Matthew 12:10 .) 3. The Hatred of the Pharisees.(Matthew 12:14 .) 4. The King in Rejection. (Matthew 12:15 .) 5. The Demon Possessed Man Healed. (Matthew 12:22 .) 6. The Blasphemy of the Pharisees and the King's Answer. (Matthew 12:24 .) 7. The Sign of Jo

JESUS-' ANSWER TO THE VERDICT OF THE JERUSALEM SCRIBES, AND THE INTERVENTION OF HIS FAMILY (Mark 3:20 *, Luke 11:14; Luke 11:29; Luke 12:10; Luke 8:19). For the painful statement in Mark 3:20 f. Mt. (like Lk.) substitutes the healing of a blind and dumb man probably a second (compressed) use of Matthew 9:27 and Matthew 9: