Day 110 "If I walk in the truth, it alone shall be my witness and my defense."

Day 110 Matthew 12:38-42 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered saying, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from You." But He answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For 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. The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here." Jesus is placing great emphasis here on the pursuit of and our response to the truth. Nineveh was an evil, adulterous place. The people were not seeking redemption or truth, yet when God sent the truth, they listened and repented; hence, God's response to forgive and restore the people. The people of Nineveh, as a result of hearing and obeying God, will now sit in judgment of the generation of the Jews who turned their back on Jesus. I mean, how ironic is that? Remember, the people of Nineveh were of Assyrian descent; they had been long-standing enemies of the Jewish people; therefore, Jonah felt that the people of Nineveh deserved judgment, not mercy, and that was his primary reason for not wanting to share the truth with them. Therefore, when Jesus tells the scribes and Pharisees that they will be judged by these men, He is truly offending them, yet He is using the Word to do it! He then speaks to them of the Queen of Sheba who sought out the wisdom of Solomon and concluded that this wisdom was truth, and upon hearing it, she honored him with gifts of gold and great wealth. She sought the truth, recognized it as such, and openly received it and blessed it. In essence, she placed her seal of approval on it and, therefore, caused many others to believe in this truth, and they, too, blessed and honored it. While they were honoring a man greatly blessed and anointed by God, they were, by their actions, also acknowledging that God's hand was upon these people. We see two opposing approaches here to the truth: one a nation who it was sent to and another who pursued the truth; the common bond being that each of them recognized it for what it was and responded accordingly. The Jewish leaders of Jesus’ time were neither in pursuit of truth nor did they desire to hear it; they openly chose to deny Jesus as the true Messiah. Hence, those who came before them and even those they despise will sit in judgment of them one day. For me, this is a very timely passage. More than ever, I desire to stay completely engulfed in the Word of God, the truth, for there is nothing else I trust. All of the answers we seek in life, the challenges we face, the fears we need to overcome, and the hopes we hang on to, they are all found in this Word of life–all we need to do is seek them out. And I believe that Jesus is telling the Pharisees and scribes that very thing: those who seek it shall find it, and those who desire it will receive it, but all who see the truth must choose to recognize and acknowledge it for what it is and then react accordingly. Daily Prayer: Father, help us to recognize the truth when we see it. May we know the truth so well that the counterfeit becomes obvious as such. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen. "If I walk in the truth, it alone shall be my witness and my defense." Pastor Gene Burroughs