Obedience and Holiness, Not Seeking Signs

Luke 11:27-36 

Keeping the Word

27 And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, "Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!"

28 But He said, "More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!"

Seeking a Sign

29 And while the crowds were thickly gathered together, He began to say, "This is an evil generation. It seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. 30 For as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation. 31 The queen of the South will rise up in 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 indeed a greater than Solomon is here. 32 The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.

The Lamp of the Body

33 "No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a basket, but on a lampstand, that those who come in may see the light. 34 The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness. 35 Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness. 36 If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light."

Jesus heard a woman in the crowd tell Him that His mother was blessed to have brought Him into the world and raised Him.  Jesus pointed out it was far better to be blessed by hearing and doing all God has said in His written word of the scriptures.  Truly it was a blessing for Mary (Luke 1:28, 35, 48) to have been chosen by the Father to bring His Son into the world in the flesh through her as His Spirit prepared and created that body (Hebrews 10:5) in her, yet she is not to be venerated or worshiped.  No, rather we are blessed in hearing and believing the gospel of Jesus Christ and acting on that by the faith bequeathed to us (John 6:29: 2 Timothy 3:16-17).  God alone is to be worshipped and no mere mortal and because we are blessed in Him (Psalm 119:2, Ephesians 1:3, 1 Peter 1:3) we worship no other.  That is why Jesus pointed out it was not just His earthly mother Mary who was to be called blessed and venerated above others, but that we are all blessed in Jesus Christ by observing His word by faith.  The Lord then went on to correct the people who kept looking for a sign to prove Himself instead of trusting by faith according to the scriptures already given them (Luke 24:26-27).  He compared these sign seekers who demanded miracles to the sinful Ninevites whom Jonah was sent with the word of God to for their repentance.  The Son of Man Himself was to be their sign that pointed to their need to repent and believe the gospel (Mark 1:15) instead of demanding proof by outw work of wonders and signs.  He also compared their lack of faith and desire to hear God’s word as a contrast to the Queen of the South (1 Kings 10:1, 8-9) who had come to hear God’s wisdom through king Solomon.  He then told them He was greater than Solomon to point them to Himself as the word of God (John 1:1) from whom they should be listening to for complete wisdom.  He then summed it up by reminding the listeners that the Ninevites heard the word of God and repented of their sins because they took the message to heart as they should now be doing.  Yes, those evil people of Nineveh (Jonah 1:1-2) heard and turned from sin to Him (Jonah 3:5, 9-10) as their example to heed the gospel as they considered the bad news of their judgment to come (Romans 3:23, 6:23, Hebrews 9:27-28) apart from the word and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Then the Lord reminded His followers to preach this same word of hope which is the word of salvation in Him.  We are to shine that light openly to the people around us wherever we go (Matthew 28:19-20) if we truly have His light within us.  His Spirit in us (2 Corinthians 1:22) is His presence of light (John 1:4, 8:12) to shine to others with this eternal hope.  Without being reborn and regenerated by Him who then lives in us (Romans 8:9) we have no such hope.  May we be filled with the hope of the gospel as we proclaim it by bearing witness to his word and work.