Matthew 12:38-45 "Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him..."

Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was for three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so for three days and three nights the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth. The people of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the proclamation of Jonah, and see, something greater than Jonah is here! The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and see, something greater than Solomon is here!
When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it wanders through waterless regions looking for a resting-place, but it finds none. Then it says, “I will return to my house from which I came.” When it comes, it finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and live there; and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So will it be also with this evil generation.” (Matthew 12:38-45)

Comment:

Jesus is speaking here, not to his disciples and followers, but to those scribes and Pharisees trying to discredit his teachings. They represent the old, entrenched mindset to which the new message of Jesus was seen as a threat, and they demand a sign.  But Jesus bases his refusal to perform a sign on two references to Hebrew Scripture. When Jonah went (finally and reluctantly) to the city of Nineveh with his message of repentance, the people believed him and changed their ways without seeing any kind of a sign. And the Queen of Sheba traveled from Africa (“the South”) to meet Solomon simply on the basis of having heard some of his sayings. “Something greater than Solomon is here,” Jesus affirms, and yet the religious authorities will not listen.

In the second part of the passage Jesus returns to what he was saying to the crowds before the scribes and Pharisees interrupted him. He has been telling them of the power of their choices and beliefs: “by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (12:37). Now he adds that mere words will not suffice. You may evict the “unclean spirit” of negative consciousness. But you must then replace it with a positive energy centered in a faith in your Oneness with the divine. Otherwise you simply leave an empty space into which even more negative energy may flow. This relates very much, I think, to Unity’s emphasis on affirmations and denials. We may use denials to remove our faith from negative ideas, but it’s essential that we also use affirmations to replace the negative thoughts with a positive sense of divine purpose.

Blessings!

Rev. Ed