1. Why do you think the Pharisees kept asking Jesus for more signs despite having seen undenaible acts of God multiple times? How can we sometimes fall into this same trap today when dealing with doubts? 

2. Is there an area in your life right now where you find yourself waiting for God to "prove Himself" or give you more evidence before you fully trust or obey Him? What has He already provided that you need to lean back on instead? 

3. What does Jesus' parable of the empty house teach us about the danger of moral behavior or self-improvement without genuine spiritual transformation? 

4. Think of a habit, mindset, or old pattern of sin you've tried to "clean up" or remove in your own strength. What positive, life-giving truth or spiritual practice do you need to actively fill that space with so you aren't left running on empty? 

5. In what practical ways can we shift our church experience from being "moviegoers" (passive consumers attending a weekly event) to "co-laborers" (deeply connected family laboring together)? 

6. Looking at how you currently engage with your church community, do you tend to act more like a "moviegoer" (a consumer of a weekly event) or a "co-laborer" (someone laboring alongside others)? What is one concrete step you can take this week to lean deeper into spiritual family? 

1. Why do you think the Pharisees kept asking Jesus for more signs despite having seen undenaible acts of God multiple times? How can we sometimes fall into this same trap today when dealing with doubts? 

   • The Pharisees weren't asking out of genuine curiosity or a desire to believe; their hearts were already hardened against Jesus. When someone is committed to rejecting truth, no amount of evidence will ever be enough.

   • Today, we can fall into a similar trap by demanding God prove Himself through specific circumstances ("If You just do this, then I'll trust You") rather than resting on the overwhelming evidence He has already given us through Scripture, creation, and the resurrection.

2. Is there an area in your life right now where you find yourself waiting for God to "prove Himself" or give you more evidence before you fully trust or obey Him? What has He already provided that you need to lean back on instead? 

   • This is going to be highly personal to you, this is a time to show vulnerablity with your groups and encourage them to do the same.

3. What does Jesus' parable of the empty house teach us about the danger of moral behavior or self-improvement without genuine spiritual transformation? 

   • The idea of "fake it 'till you make it" doesn't work when it comes to following Christ. If a person removes sin or bad habits from their life but doesn't actually fill that space with Christ, the Holy Spirit, and active discipleship, that spiritual vacuum will eventually get filled by something worse.

   • True discipleship requires actively replacing old patterns with life-giving devotion to God, rather than just trying to remain neutral or "empty" of sin.

4. Think of a habit, mindset, or old pattern of sin you've tried to "clean up" or remove in your own strength. What positive, life-giving truth or spiritual practice do you need to actively fill that space with so you aren't left running on empty? 

   • This is going to be highly personal to you, this is a time to show vulnerablity with your groups and encourage them to do the same.

5. In what practical ways can we shift our church experience from being "moviegoers" (passive consumers attending a weekly event) to "co-laborers" (deeply connected family laboring together)? 

   • Moving from consumption to community requires shared mission and active participation. Just like coworkers bond through working toward a common goal, believers build deep kinship by serving together, holding each other accountable, sharing burdens, and engaging in ministry outside of a one-hour Sunday morning service.

   • It means stepping out of isolation, investing time in smaller community groups, and genuinely committing to the day-to-day labor of Christ's work with others.

6. Looking at how you currently engage with your church community, do you tend to act more like a "moviegoer" (a consumer of a weekly event) or a "co-laborer" (someone laboring alongside others)? What is one concrete step you can take this week to lean deeper into spiritual family? 

Hello everyone, welcome to session 22. This week we are finishing out Matthew 12, and are thus ending out this section in Matthew. Over the past two chapters we have been seeing some responses to Jesus in a 3 part structure: 2 rejections and 1 acceptance/altar call. We have seen Jesus criticize cities like Capernaum who saw Jesus do undeniable miracles, even raising a girl from the dead, and responded to Him with indifference. We have also seen the Pharisees come into direct conflict with Jesus as well. This section of Matthew ends in this session as we look to a collection of parables next.

Asking for Signs and Wonders

In verse 38 the Pharisees, who have been arguing with Jesus, come up and ask Jesus for a sign. Now it is important to note that they aren't being entirely genuine here. Jesus has made some bold claims before them, having claimed to be greater than David and even the Temple, and so these Pharisees are more or less asking Jesus to prove his claims with a sign. 

To this request Jesus gives what may be a seemingly quizical response when taken without our prior context. Jesus has, up to this point, performed many miracles and signs, some of them directly before this same Pharisaical audience. For an immediate example we only need to go a few verses up to 22 where Jesus heals a man who was blind, mute, and demon possessed. Mind you this is a miracle that the Pharisees take immediate issue with, claiming that Jesus was utilizing the power of Satan. 

This being said, it makes sense that Jesus responds a bit coldly here, saying that he will give them no other signs. Surely He has given enough signs already! Jesus does, however, offer them one more sign, the sign of Jonah. Jesus goes on to elaborate on a particular portion of Jonah's story: Jonah spent three days in the belly of a large fish, close to death. In Jonah 2:2, when he is crying out to God from inside the fish, he says that he is crying out from the depth of Sheol (the realm of the dead). Jesus uses this story to foretell what is to come in His own story. He claims that he is going to spend three days in the "heart of the earth" (NASB95 Mt. 12:40). This "heart of the earth" is likely just another current phrase like Jonah's "depth of Sheol" (France, 216). This is Jesus' first indication of His coming ressurection, so it should be no surprise to the Pharisees or His disciples what is to come. 

Jesus goes on to proclaim that the men of Ninevah that Jonah preached to will condemn the Pharisees which Jesus is currently engaged with. These Ninevites (an enemy of Israel by the way) repented when Jonah preached to them. Now here is Jesus, one far greater than Jonah, and yet these Pharisees, these supposed servants of God, reject Jesus. 

Jesus then connects in another Old Testament story, that of the Queen of Sheba who had gone to see King Solomon in 1 Kings 10. This Queen had listened to Solomon's wisdom and brought it back to her kingdom (or maybe queendom?). Yet one greater than Solomon (Jesus) now stands before these Pharisees and they reject His wisdom. 

Next Jesus gives a short little parable to the Pharisees. He describes a man who has a demon cast out of him, yet he remains empty and so the demon returns with friends to take up residence once more. Jesus is making a very coy condemnation of the Pharisees, suggesting that even if Jesus did cleanse them, that they would just remain empty inside and wickedness would return to them in an even greater measure than before. (France, 217; Turner, 177).

A Spiritual Family

Thus we get to our last acceptance of Jesus in this section. In verse 49 Jesus looks to his disciples and declares them His brothers and sisters as opposed to His blood relatives who were apparently looking for him in verse 46. In this Jesus is making a rather important demand of the church. We are to be closer than blood. One should feel more kinship towards fellow believers than our own families. 

How can this be? For many of us we do not feel that kind of connection to our fellow Christians. This is mainly due to how we approach church in modern America. Many of us only see eachother once a week for about an hour and that's it. We have as much comraderie as the people in a movie theater. We share a temporary experience and that's really it. 

Now consider how you feel about your coworkers. For many of us, we tend to find something akin to a second family at work. There is something to be said about laboring day in and day out with the same people that breeds a certain level of comraderie and relationships. For the true church it is the same. We labor day in and day out for the sake of Christ. We are all servants of our Lord, and so we can share in that labor and build genuine relationships. Many of us have lost this because we are not laboring and are simply consuming. Other have lost this because they labor alone, and the work of Christ is not something you can do remotely.