Series: All!

Scripture: Matthew 12:38-50 (Main)

Title: “How relationship trumps religion” (Darien Gabriel)

Bottom line: We are born spiritually bankrupt. But we cannot save ourselves. So instead of trying to reform ourselves, we should humbly repent of our sins and trust Jesus to deliver us like he did Jonah.

Discussion questions for group and personal study.

1. Matthew compares Jesus to Jonah and Solomon. 

How do these comparisons speak to the seriousness of rejecting Christ?

2. How did Jonah serve as a “sign” of Jesus’s authority and mission?

3. How has Jesus brought healing to your life? What difference has Jesus’s power made in your struggle against evil?

Final Questions (optional or in place of above)

• What is God saying to you right now?

• What are you going to do about it?

Find our sermons, podcasts, discussion questions and notes at https://www.gracetoday.net/podcast

Intro

How many of you remember cameras before digital photography? How many of you remember Kodak film?

Kodak went bankrupt as a company because they didn’t adapt their company to take advantage of digital technology.

But did you know that they actually developed digital photography?

They didn’t see that the way to the future of photography was through digital technology.

If you’ve been a part of the church for very long, you are vulnerable to making the same mistake. You can be so committed to the religion that you miss the relationship.

Even though we didn’t start in the old covenant, we can behave as if our religious ways are a covenant that is more like the old law than the new—more about religion than relationship. We must evaluate our relationship with God by looking at our willingness to do the will of God in practice instead of relying on our religion to save us.

Bottom line: We are born spiritually bankrupt. But we cannot save ourselves. So instead of trying to reform ourselves, we should humbly repent of our sins and trust Jesus to deliver us like he did Jonah.

Q. What do I want you to know?

A. We are spiritually bankrupt and unable to deliver ourselves from sin and death.

Q. Why?

A. Because we’re prideful and we think we can save ourselves.

Q. What do I want you to do?

A. Repent instead of reject or reform.

Q. Why?

A. Because it doesn’t work. In fact, it makes us more wicked than we already are.

Bottom line: We are born spiritually bankrupt. But we cannot save ourselves. So instead of trying to reform ourselves, we should humbly repent of our sins and trust Jesus to deliver us like he did Jonah.

Context: Jesus is talking to the crowd and the religious leaders intent on discrediting him. He continues to show them portraits of himself through his direct teachings. He’ll move to parables in the next chapter making his truths less obvious to some and even incomprehensible to others.

Outline (David Platt’s outline)

We saw earlier that He (Jesus) is the Greater Priest. Today we see 3 more portraits of Jesus:

I. He is the Greater Prophet

A. Jonah was alive after 3 days in a fish; Jesus would be alive after 3 days in a grave.

B. The Ninevites responded with repentance; the Israelites were responding with rejection.

II. He is the Wiser King

III. He is Our Elder Brother

A. What we don’t need: an empty religion consumed with outer reformation.

B. What we do need: an intimate relationship compelled by inner transformation.

Conclusion

So what?

• We need to see Jesus for who he really is so that we can see in contrast who we really are. Then we see our genuine need for rescue from sin and death.

• We see our need to become part of the family of God.

• We see that we cannot become part of the family of God unless he delivers us from the belly of the fish—from the tomb. For the wages of sin is death.

• We need to see that our deliverance doesn’t come from us being more religious or working harder to earn something. Our salvation comes when we surrender and let him save us. We quit fighting him and let him rescue us.

A lost person is like a drowning person who is so desperate to not drown that they overwhelm their rescuer and drown them in the process. This is why it’s better to let that person nearly drown and then rescue them. Because they can no longer try to save themselves.

Bottom line: We are born spiritually bankrupt. But we cannot save ourselves. So instead of trying to reform ourselves, we should humbly repent of our sins and trust Jesus to deliver us like he did Jonah.

Like these Pharisees steeped in religion, we too display our spiritual bankruptcy until we repent and believe that Jesus is the way from dead, empty religion and moralism to abundant life that lasts forever. We must turn from trying to dig out of our own insurmountable debt to surrendering to the one who can forgive our debts and restore us to life and wipe out our sins.

Notes:

D Willmington’s outline”

I. Their Judges: A prophet, a city, and a queen

“Although they’d already seen Jesus perform many miracles, the Pharisees sought one more sign from him to prove his messianic claims. Chastising them for their persistent unbelief, Jesus reminded them of Jonah’s miraculous escape from the great fish, and in a veiled prophecy compared that to his own approaching death and resurrection. In judgment, these self-righteous Pharisees will be found wanting in the presence of Gentiles who exhibit true faith. (Luke 11:29-32)

II. Reformation - regeneration = condemnation

“Perhaps recalling the many he had cleansed of demons, Jesus noted that such cleansing is useless unless it leads to a filling with the Holy Spirit.”

III. The real family of God

“When Jesus heard that members of his biological family were looking for him, he used the occasion to teach that those who accept him as Messiah can enjoy a relationship with him that transcends earthly ties.”

References/Bibliography:

“Preaching the Word” Commentary, Douglas Sean O’Donnell, Edited by Kent Hughes

“Matthew” by RC Sproul

“CSB Christ Chronological,” Holman

“Jesus Manifesto” sermon series, by Darien Gabriel: https://youtu.be/x65i2tqFrXk

“The Bible Knowledge Commentary” by Walvoord, Zuck (BKC)

“The Bible Exposition Commentary” by Warren Wiersbe (BEC)

“Exalting Jesus in Matthew” by David Platt (CCE)

Outline Bible, D Willmington

NIV Study Bible (NIVSB)

ESV Study Bible

ESV Gospel Transformation Bible (GTB)