An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign

 "Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.  Brood of vipers!  How can you, being evil, speak good things?  For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.  A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.  But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.  For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."

Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from You."  But He answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.  For as Jonah was three days and three nights 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.  The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.  The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here."

- Matthew 12:33-42

Yesterday we read that one was brought to Jesus who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw.  And all the multitudes were amazed and said, "Could this be the Son of David?"  Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, "This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons."  But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them:  "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.  If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself.  How then will his kingdom stand?  And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out?  Therefore they shall be your judges.  But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.  Or how can one enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man?  And then he will plunder his house.  He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.  Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.  Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come."

"Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.  Brood of vipers!  How can you, being evil, speak good things?  For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.  A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.  But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.  For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."  Brood means offspring.  Coming from the context of this discussion (which began with yesterday's reading, above), brood of vipers is an allusion to demonic influence.  John the Baptist also used this title for members of the religious leadership (3:7) and in a similar context of bearing the fruit of one's heart, indicating their deception and malice.  In Scripture, the heart refers to the center of consciousness, as my study bible puts it, the seat of the intellect and the will, and the place from which spiritual life proceeds.  It is the center of a person.  My study bible notes that when God's grace permeates the heart, it masters the body and guides all actions and thoughts.  But on the other hand, when malice and evil capture the heart, a person becomes full of darkness and spiritual confusion.

Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from You."  But He answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.  For as Jonah was three days and three nights 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.  The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.  The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here."   At this point in Jesus' ministry, after so many signs have been done by Jesus (see, for example, the healing in yesterday's reading, above), the Pharisees reveal their wickedness by demanding yet another sign.  My study bible says that Jesus does not cater to those who demand a sign out of wicked intent.  The only sign to them will be His Passion and Resurrection, which He calls here the sign of the prophet Jonah, referring to the three days and three nights when Jonah was "buried" in the belly of the great fish.  Adulterous generation is the same one used by the prophets for Israel, when Israel was unfaithful to God (Jeremiah 2; Hosea 2:2-13; Ezekiel 6:9).

Jesus speaks of judgment, and tells the scribes and Pharisees who demand a sign that the men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.   The Ninevites were foreigners to whom Jonah was sent by God to preach repentance; the king of Nineveh in response ordered the entire community of Ninevites to repentance.  The Queen of the South (the Queen of Sheba) came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, which was also a gift of God.  What can be inferred from Jesus' words is also an indication of the power of the Holy Spirit; where this is at work, witnessing becomes an important potential in each of us.  How we respond to the work of the Spirit in the world, as Jesus said in yesterday's reading, determines the reality of judgment in the world.   Holiness is not so much about the power of an individual as it is about the work of the Spirit and how we respond to the Holy Spirit, as Jesus clearly indicated in yesterday's reading (see above) when He said, "Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come."   At the same time, this remains a testimony to the power of repentance; Jesus does not say that people will never be forgiven for such a sin.  It is both a statement of the importance of our response to the Holy Spirit, and also the power of repentance in faith.  When Jesus tells these men of the religious leadership that the foreigners who responded to the holiness of God will stand with their generation to judge it, this is a statement of the power of the holy.  All their knowledge and understanding, their inheritance as descendants of Abraham and the holy men and women of Israel, does not stand for them as insurance against the reality of what is in the heart.  For all their knowledge and position, it is the active and living love of God, the alertness for the truth of God present to them, that will really count in the sight of God.  And so this lesson also applies to us.  We are the inheritors of Christ's ministry in the apostles and their spiritual descendants, but we, too, must be alive to the work of the holy, of the Spirit, of God present in our world, or all our worship and knowledge and practice means quite little.  We can make an idol of anything; it is living faith that Christ asks of us, a true communion of love with God the Holy Trinity.  How do we make that faith living and active?  Where do we find the place of love in hearts where that communion lives?  This is the powerful question we are asked, and warned about, in today's reading.  Let us be aware that these men know Scripture and practice, the Law and the Prophets, and practices of worship better than anyone else.  They are indeed the religious authorities and the keepers of all that is held holy.  But Christ asks of us not to be like them.  The whole of the Scripture honors those with the humility to have eyes to see and ears to hear, and who respond to the love and presence of God in the heart.  The focus is on the heart; it is the Holy Spirit's presence that creates the whole of the Church and the reality of the Kingdom in the world.