Lent 1 Midweek - Ember Wednesday, 2023

Rev. Thomas Van Hemert

Lent 1 Midweek - Ember Wednesday

St. Matthew 12:38-50

March 1, 2023

In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit.

At that time, some of the scribes and Pharisees came to Jesus saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” They could have been asking a genuine question. After all, all the prophets of old, spanning all the way back from Moses to Malachi were given divine authority to perform signs and miracles, which would accompany their preaching so that those who heard them knew their preaching came directly from God.

But in this case, the scribes and Pharisees were not being genuine. Nor did they come to Jesus in faith, believing that He was the Messiah. They came to Him with contempt, with distain and disrespect. They did not believe Jesus, nor did they trust His preaching. Perhaps, they simply wanted Jesus to be their bread king or some miracle worker for them, because just as Herod would ask for a trick from Jesus when He was sent to him during the trial, so also do the scribes and Pharisees ask for a sign.

We live in the midst of an adulterous generation—a generation that seeks not after the mercies of God in Christ Jesus, but after worldly and earthly things: comfort in this life, a nice secure job, money, perfect health, pleasure where and when we want it. Of course, many within this adulterous generation may appear to be seeking after Christ. To be sure, many may be seeking after Him, but they only desire a sign or a trick from Him to please and amuse themselves. To this end, often times Church is turned into a social club, where entertainment becomes the most important thing. God forbid we become slightly bored at church so that the style of worship is valued over faithful preaching, Law and Gospel, reverence, and the Lord’s Supper.

Thus, Jesus answers and says 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.” What is the sign of Jonah? Jesus answers the question, “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.” You know to what Jesus is referring. He is speaking of His three-day rest in the tomb. But as Jonah was expelled from the great fish, so also will Jesus burst forth from the tomb on the third day.

What does the Sign of Jonah mean for us?

Evil and adulterous men and women, who turned from their sins, who heeded the Word of God, who did repent of their sins, who received this Word in faith—the men of Nineveh—will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah. 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 behold, there’s something more that comes with the Sign of Jonah: a great family is given to the Christ—those who do the will of His Father in heaven are called His brother and sister and mother. 

This ought to provide us with great comfort. The family of which we are included is Christ’s family. It is a heavenly, divine, holy family, which is distinct and set apart from the adulterous generation of which Jesus speaks. Though we are not related by blood, the Christian family is closer-knit, more friendly, more caring, and more loving than any earthly family. Not only that, but the Christian family is also larger. And together, we partake of holy things, things that cannot be experienced at places and events such as at a family reunion or anywhere outside the Church.

Many, if not all of us, have experienced strife, terrible arguments, possibly even estrangement within our own earthly families. This might be because of our own sins. And if that’s what has happened, then repent. Go be reconciled to your brother. But problems and strife within our own earthly families may also have arisen because we do the will of our Father in heaven and they do not. It might be the case that we have family members who have long rejected Holy Scripture’s obvious teaching concerning topics such as holy marriage and the dangers of homosexuality or abortion or cohabitation or even the necessity to be in church every Sunday. They may not want anything to do with you because you believe in these things and you have taken up your cross to follow Jesus. You are doing the will of your Father in heaven.

In this regard, our Lord gives to us a warning but also comfort. First, Jesus says that divisions will occur because of Him. He warns us, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be those of his own household. He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:34-39) 

This means that if we tolerate everything and every type of behavior of our own family members, if we give into their rhetoric, even though they are living in obvious and grievous unrepentant sin and we turn a blind eye because we don’t want to be offensive or be thought of as intolerant or a bigot, then we are being hypocrites. We are not practicing what we believe to be the truth and therefore, we are not worthy of Jesus. For if we love them more than Jesus and if we desire and desperately seek their company and their companionship and their love and thus placate their shibboleths, then we are not worthy of Jesus. Of course, we are not worthy of Jesus because of what we do. But we have been made to be worthy because He has declared us to be. And yet, it is possible to be rejected by Christ for following after and seeking after the lies and fallenness of this world. This is a sad warning because no one wants to lose the relationship he has with his family member. It’s a sad warning but it’s still a warning. Because this earthly life is not all there is. 

Therefore, Jesus also gives comfort. In the midst of all this, He gives the Sign of Jonah. But it is more than a sign. It is a present reality. The Sign of Jonah itself—Jonah being in the belly of the great fish pointed toward the greater thing: Jesus will rest in the tomb after being crucified. But then He will rise. Thus, He draws us all of us to Himself and welcomes us into His family, which is greater, in which there is more love than the love we feel from our parents or from our children or grandchildren. Who are His mother and His brothers? We are. Here, you, me, us, we are His mother and His brothers because we do the will of His Father in heaven and we trust in Him. And even though because of sin, there are problems in all of our earthly families in this day and age, even today, we who are not related by blood worship together as adopted sons and daughters, brothers and sisters by grace. We are part of God’s family. Jesus is our Brother and His Father is our Father.

Thus, it is meet, right, and salutary that we celebrate the Sacrament today. It is often called “communion.” It’s not only communion with God, though it is. We commune with each other as God’s adopted family by grace. For something greater than Jonah is here. Behold, even something greater than Solomon is here. This is also more than a sign. It is a promise. Jesus is here, living and risen from the dead to come to you and to comfort you in His Body and Blood.

In +Jesus’ name.