A Bright Light for Darkened Hearts ~ Luke 11:29-36

April 26, 2015 ~ New City Church of Calgary ~ Pastor John Ferguson
Intro: M.Night Shyamalans movie Signs, See what you have to ask yourself is what kind of person are you?
Are you the kind of person that sees signs, that sees miracles? Or do you believe that people just get lucky?
Or look at the question this way: Is it possible that there are no coincidences?
Those are great questions to have in the back of our mind as we look at the passage in the Gospel of Luke
about Jesus interaction with folks that were demanding a sign from Jesus. And its not like he hasnt been
displaying signs, but this question was being asked in order to evade the proper response to what they were
witnessing.
His response will probably surprise you because his response was the last thing that anyone was expecting.
And his response has huge implications for our generation today in the 21st century.
Jesus says there is one bright and unmistakeable sign from God.
The only question left is can we see it? Its right there in front of our faces; can we see it?
What kind of person are you?
A Bright Light for Darkened Hearts ~ Luke 11:29-36
Context: In 11:14, Jesus liberated a person who had been oppressed by supernatural evil (what is sometimes
called demonic possession). This was a sign of what God wanted to do for Israel and for the world. Some
marvelled, but there were two negative responses that had to be addressed: (1) Jesus did this by the power of
Satan, & thus Jesus was an instrument of evil; (2) Jesus needs to show us more (ie., give us a sign from
heaven). Weve looked at Jesus response to the first accusation in 11:17-26 in a message called, The Clash
of Kingdoms & The Only Hope for the World. Today, well look at his response to the other reaction.
29

When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, This generation is an evil generation. It
seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah. 30 For as Jonah became
a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation.

1. The Diagnosis: Stubborn, Unbelief is Evil.

(1) Jesus came preaching the Kingdom of God, the Good News.
(2) Signs are sermons, miracles are messages. Signs are invitations to see, but they also reveal what kind
of person you are. Do they compel belief, or are they simply the opportunity to evade belief.
2. The Prophet: Jonah Back From the Dead.
(1) Jonah sent to preach to Nineveh, and exceedingly wicked and depraved city. Their evil has come up
before me (1:2).
(2) Jonah knew that God is a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love
(4:2), so he fled in the other direction. Thrown overboard, swallowed by a fish, and taken to Nineveh.
Jonah went through a sort of death, burial, and resurrection.
(3) Nineveh repented, from the greatest of them to the least of them (3:5).
3. The Resurrection: The Sign to End All Signs.

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 Mt 12:40, For just as Jonah was three days and three night 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.
31

The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and
condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and
behold, something greater than Solomon is here.

1. Solomon was the wisest person who had lived.

Queen of Sheba (Yemen) had heard of the wisdom of Solomon, and traveled far to meet him. Solomon
answered all her questions; there was nothing hidden from the king that he could not explain to her (1
Kings 10:3). The report was true that I heard in my own land of your words and of your wisdom, but I did
not believe the reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it. And behold, the half was not told
me (vv. 6-7). She paid tribute to Solomon in the form of 75 pounds or 34 kgs of gold, and very great
quantities of spices and precious stones.
2. Jesus is greater than Solomon.
(1) 1 Cor. 1:30, Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God.
Col. 2:2-3, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
(2) This claim alone should make you want to give Jesus a long & serious look.
32

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.

1. Nineveh (!) repented at the reluctant preaching (on the theme of judgment) of Jonah!
2. We have even greater light and an even fuller message.
How much greater should we respond to the message of Jesus about the amazing love of God the
Father & the message of reconciliation!
33

No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a bucket, but on a stand, so that those
who enter may see the light.

1. John 8:12, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light
of life.
2. The light of Jesus shines for all to see. He is there so that all may enter and see the light. But not everyone
who sees the light sees the light. Rather than delighting in it, some fight against it.
34

Your eye is the lamp of your whole body. When your eyes healthy, your whole body is full of
light, but when it is bad, your whole body is full of darkness. 35 Therefore be careful lest the
light in you be darkness. 36 If then your whole body is full of light, having no dark part, it will be
wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.

1. Spiritual perception is analogous to optical perception. Eyes are the organs which gather light & illuminate
the world for your body. If the eyes of our hearts are bad, then we cannot see the light and reality will not be
illuminated for us.
John 3:19, the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light
because their deeds were evil.
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2. What kind of person are you?

In our day, there are not too many who have difficulty believing that Jesus was special, and that he was
some kind of miracle worker. A typical Calgarian response is not, Show me a sign, but rather, I have
questions.
Questions are good if they are employed in the search for truth, but they can also be endlessly employed
in the evasion of truth as well.
Reinventing Jesus, To be sure, an open mind is a good thing. But a mind is open only as long as it is
closing in on the truth.

Why did Luke record this response from Jesus?

Because he wants to call forth the right response to the Light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Main Idea: Dont fight, but delight in the light of Jesus.

Conclusion:
Most people hear something like this & think what Jesus is telling us to do is to become religious.

An atheist until his eighties, Adler admitted that he rejected religion because it would require a radical change
in my way of life, a basic alteration in the direction of day-to-day choices as well as in the ultimate objectives
to be sought or hoped for. The simple truth of the matter is that I did not wish to live up to being a
genuinely religious person.

But heres the deal: Jesus isnt calling you to be a religious person. The people rejecting Jesus were
religious people. Hes calling you to be an enlightened person. He wants to pour his light and life into you
making you not a religious person, but a new person!

John 1:4, In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

CS Lewis, I believe in Christianity as I believe in the sun, not only because I see it, but because by it I see
everything else.

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