Something Greater
Luke 11:29-36 ·November 26, 2023· Joel Passmore
Part of: Luke
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So we are going through the book of Luke together. We're in Luke 11. And think about this as we start. How do you respond? How do you feel when someone says to you, prove it, about something you just said?
Earlier this year, around January or so, maybe February, I opened up a piece of mail addressed to New Creation, and I found a toll violation notice from Baltimore, Maryland. I checked it, I flipped it back around, I looked, yeah, sure enough, it says New Creation Presbyterian Church, and I looked at the picture. Actually, there were several toll violations all kind of bundled up together. I looked at the picture, and some of the pictures were of a BMW.
Some of the pictures were of a Volvo going through the tolls at around midnight or so up in Maryland. And I looked at the plate, and it was the same plate on both of the cars. So I called the, it was a temporary tag from Virginia. So I called the customer service of this toll company. And I said, look, there's been some mistake. Nobody from our church lives up there. We don't ever drive up there. We don't own either of those vehicles. There's some mistake.
And they said, well, I'm sorry, but that plate is registered to New Creation. And I was just about to say, no, it isn't. And then I went to the files to look at any plates we've been issued for our truck or for our trailer. And sure enough, it was the same plate number that had been registered to our trailer. Now it was on a Volvo or a BMW up in Maryland going through tolls. And so I explained, okay, look, it's obviously been stolen. You know, it was not registered to either one of those vehicles.
It was registered to a trailer. So I just thought that would be the end of it. They would say, oh, I'm so sorry, sir. You know, we'll take care of this. But they're like, well, you're going to have to prove that. And I was, I thought, wait a minute, like, I can prove that it was registered for a trailer. I can't prove that we didn't put it on some other car and drive through those tolls. But that's what they were asking me to do, to prove that. I thought to myself, well, the biggest proof of that is the picture that you sent me.
But I was kind of caught. They were like, well, you have to prove that it was stolen. Well, thanks to Stephen for kind of getting that resolved. But it took a lot of his time. It took a lot of my time, and then I handed it off to Stephen. It took his time to finally push it over the finish line. It's been resolved now. All of the fines have been wiped away.
But when she said to me, you're going to have to prove it, I immediately, I felt a little offended. I was like, why don't you just believe me? I thought, well, there really is no, not much difference at the end of the day between saying, prove it, and saying, I don't believe you.
Well, the reason why I tell that story is because that's what this passage is, that's what's happening in this passage. Jesus encounters a crowd, and the crowd is basically saying, prove it to us, Jesus. Prove it. And we're going to see what Jesus, how Jesus responds to this, to this demand for proof. So turn with me to Luke 11, starting at verse 29. This is the word of the Lord for us today. Let's hear it and receive it for what it is, coming from a holy God, a truthful God, a God that is the sure foundation upon which we can build our lives.
So let's hear the word of God together today. When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, this generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. The Queen of the South will rise up at 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 behold, something greater than Solomon is here.
The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. No one, after lighting a lamp, puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness.
Therefore, be careful, lest the light in you be darkness. If then, your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light. Pray with me.
God, my prayer today is that we would see your Son Jesus for who he is, for how great he is, that we would be compelled to give over anything else in us that we have left in our own hands, clutching onto ourselves, that we would let it go and yield it to you, God, because of the greatness of your Son, because we can trust him. I pray that you would help us to see you, Jesus, and that we would be filled with light, for that's the promise that you hold out in this passage.
We pray this, Jesus, in your name. Last week, the title of the sermon was Someone Stronger. Today, Something Greater. Something Greater. Look carefully at Jesus, because he is great and brings you light. Look carefully at Jesus. Look carefully with me at the front of your bulletin.
This is a quote I heard this week, which I found to be really appropriate for today's sermon. This is Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones, a preacher, I believe, from Scotland. Christianity is not primarily a teaching, nor a philosophy, nor even a way of life. In the first instance, it is before all a relationship to a person. Indeed, the New Testament comes to us and says, I am not interested in your views about anything until we are clear about your views about him.
So, this passage is one time of many in the New Testament when we are confronted with the most important question that anyone could ever consider. What is Jesus to you?
Before you can answer that question, you have to look at him carefully. You have to take him in. And that's what Jesus himself invites us to do today, to see him as he is and to respond to him. So, let's start with this. Let's see his greatness. Seeing his greatness. Last Sunday, if you remember, Jesus cast a demon out of a man. Some people marveled, and other people were not so impressed. We looked at the cynical people last week, the people who made a really nasty accusation at him.
But there was another group, a group that, from verse 16 from this chapter, it says they were seeking a sign from heaven. Knock our socks off, Jesus. We're ready for it. Give us something to really amaze us.
In response, Jesus says, this generation is an evil generation. Whoa, Jesus. Isn't that a little harsh? Kind of coming on strong, aren't you? Is it so wrong to ask for some evidence? I mean, listen, you can't walk into the FDA and say, look, I've invented a new drug for migraines. Trust me.
Just give me the approval. You're going to see that it's awesome. Just trust me. There's an old phrase in the scientific community, in God we trust, all others must provide data.
That's the attitude of these crowds, right? Jesus, these are big claims that you're making. It's a big impact on our life. You've got to give us some proof. Do something greater.
And Jesus condemns it. Flat out. Why? Because it dismisses all that he's already done. He's demonstrated his power over the natural world, over the supernatural world. Everything you can see and everything you can't see, he has already shown he's in control over it. He overcomes disease, death, demons, all of it. His teaching had also stood out. If you think back, you remember how people heard him teach and they marveled. He's teaching as one that has authority.
Not one of our ordinary teachers. He refutes the Pharisees and their shallow legalism over and over and over. Any one of these things should have convinced them. In fact, for some people it had. In Luke 5, Jesus told Peter, put your nets on the other side of the boat. Peter says, all right. And then he and his fellow fishermen pull up a catch so much that the boats began to sink. And Peter immediately cried out, depart from me for I am a sinful man, O Lord.
He saw Jesus' greatness. It just took one thing. He sees it. In John 4, a Samaritan woman, met Jesus at a well. He told her all about her life and relationships, even though they had just met. And she went and she told the townspeople, come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Could this be the Christ? One encounter, one conversation. And she saw Jesus' greatness. And she wanted other people to see it. Come and see, she said. I want you to see this man.
Peter and the Samaritan woman are just a couple of examples of people who recognized the greatness that was before them. It did not take Jesus pulling out all the stops. It was one thing. But Jesus goes further back in history to give examples of people who responded to God's work. First is the Queen of the South, the Queen of Sheba. Hosea read this earlier from 1 Kings. Here's the gist of it. The Queen from a foreign nation heard about Solomon's wisdom and the glory of his kingdom and she came to check it out.
It can't possibly be true. And she was completely blown away. The splendor, the wealth of his kingdom, of Israel, the peace, the flourishing of the people that lived there.
There was no other nation like it on earth. Not just in its wealth, but in its wholeness, in its shalom, in his wisdom. She traces it back to Solomon. She knows this has not come ultimately from Solomon, but did you see in the passage she blesses the Lord? She says, bless the Lord. Bless the Lord who has done this for you.
And now Jesus tells the crowd, look, that queen is going to judge you. For she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Behold, something greater than Solomon is here right now.
It would be too small to say that Jesus is the wisest person on earth. That's too small of a thing to say. More accurately, he is the embodiment of divine wisdom. He is wisdom on two feet. In 1 Corinthians 1.24, Paul calls Jesus the wisdom of God. Paul says, Christ, the wisdom of God. 1 Corinthians 1.24. And then Colossians 2.3, Paul says, in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Wisdom is beyond intelligence. I don't have to really say much to prove that to you or to make you believe that. We all know people who are maybe incredibly smart but have done very foolish things. So wisdom is not just book smarts or the ability to learn. Biblically speaking, wisdom is living in agreement with God's created design and his redemptive work. Living in agreement with God's created design and redemptive work. Or, I like this even more, theologian John Frame puts it like this, wisdom is the skill of godly living.
Young people, you should be writing this down. Wisdom is the skill of godly living. You know, matter of fact, old people, you know, everybody, let's all write this down. We all need this. The skill of godly living. So to be wise, you have to know God. That's what Proverbs tells us. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. No one knows the Father like the Son. No one. He delights in the Father. He depends on the Father. He glorifies the Father.
He trusts the Father. He says, I don't do anything. Without the Father telling me to do it. Their relationship is indescribably close. There's no daylight between them. This makes Jesus uniquely able to reveal the Father to us. And that's exactly what he does. He makes God known to us. That's why he said, no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. He reveals God the Father to us. That's what makes him the wisdom of God.
And if wisdom is the skill of godly living, we also need to know about life and know about this world, right? Well, Jesus knows all about that too. He was there with the Father and the Spirit at creation. He was on the design team and the construction team for this world. He knows all about it.
You remember that book, The Way Things Work? I don't know when it came out, but I had one when I was a kid. It was a really fun book that showed you how all these machines would work with all these fun illustrations. Jesus could write that book. Not just about every institution on earth. Not just about how a blade of grass grows, but how the human heart works. He knows it all. He knows the way things ought to work and how things don't work. He knows about relationships and justice and right and wrong.
He knows the complexities of ecosystems and the depth of each human heart. From nations to cities to communities to individuals, He knows it all. He knows how it's supposed to work. He knows how sin has impacted us and how it doesn't work now.
And wisdom is also living in agreement with God's redemptive work and Jesus is at the center of that too. He didn't just come to explain the gospel. He came to be the gospel. He is the good news. He accomplished it. He fulfilled what God had promised. The queen recognized God's work in Solomon, that he is wise, and here's Jesus standing before them, the embodiment of wisdom. And they say, you know what, can you just do something else?
The next example that he gives is the people responding to Jonah, the people of Nineveh responding. Jonah preached about God's coming judgment and this passage says that Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh. This means that his story was part of his testimony. He himself, walking around, was a sign to them of the same message that he proclaimed. The people heard about him being cast into the sea for disobeying God and how God graciously sent along a fish to save him from certain death to preserve him and protect him and then deliver him back onto dry land.
All of this signified to the people of Nineveh God's right to judge and his ability to save. That is all embodied in Jonah, his message, and his story. And they responded to it.
Jesus tells the crowd, those Ninevites are going to judge you for they repented at the preaching of Jonah and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. Now what does that mean?
Well, like Jonah, Jesus was sent by God but not just to one city but to all humanity. Not just to one nation but to all nations. Like Jonah, Jesus comes with a message of God's wrath and God's salvation but the rescue of Jesus is better by far than the rescue of Jonah. Jonah was rescued in spite of his sin because he ran and refused to go to his enemies. Think about Jesus, my friends. Jesus came for the sake of his enemies. He came towards them. He moved towards them to take on their sin.
Jonah was brought back from near death. Jesus knows that he will be brought back from actual death. He didn't nearly die. He really died. This is a rescue story that is more dramatic, more powerful. Jonah was merely a symbol of God's rescue. Jesus is the real McCoy. He actually is the rescue of God.
Jesus says, you ask for something greater, look at me. I am something greater. Why do you look past me? Why do you look past me? Look at me. I am something greater. Why seek a sign from heaven when he is the sign from heaven?
He is true wisdom and real rescue. Better than Solomon, better than Jonah. Now he has reminded the crowd of how great he is and he's right to do it. And now he challenges the crowd. He tells them how important it is for them not to look elsewhere. Don't look around. Jesus says, look at me. Let's talk about seeing his light.
Now I'll be the first to admit in this last section Jesus speaks a little cryptically. A little hard to understand what it is that Jesus is talking about. He's using a metaphor, it seems like, of lamps and light and darkness and somehow we're involved and he's involved and Jesus, what are you talking about? It's kind of hard to follow.
We're going to break this down but once we see it for what it is, it's clear that he's emphasizing the same point as he was earlier. Look to me. And that comes with a warning and with a promise. So look at verse 33. He says, No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket but on a stand so that those who enter may see the light. Now he's talking about himself. The first lamp is Jesus. He is the source of light. He won't be put in some obscure place.
He won't be hidden away. His light is seen everywhere. It's up on a stand. Everyone can see it. The light of the world. That's what Jesus calls himself. Everyone can see it. But there's another way that the light can be hidden. The lamp can be put somewhere obscure. That's not going to happen. Jesus is in nowhere obscure. But there's another way the light can be hidden by our eyes. Your eye is the lamp of your body. Eyes don't produce light but they can keep light from getting in, right?
If your eyes are shut you might as well be in a dark room. There's no light getting in. If they aren't healthy or if they're closed no light gets in. I remember being at a birthday party a long time ago for a small child and he was let out into the room where everyone was waiting that it was darkened and his eyes were shut and he was let out and then everyone popped out and the lights were turned on and everyone said surprise! And he was like mommy, mommy I can't see anything!
And his eyes were still squeezed shut. To him it's like the room was still dark. In Jesus' metaphor a healthy eye is open to the light his light. His light. The second lamp is our eyes. They can block the light. When your eye is healthy your whole body is full of light but when it is bad your body is full of darkness. Now here's the point that Jesus is making and it's a really important point. Spiritual illumination enlightenment understanding whatever you want to call it it's only found by looking at him.
It's not found anywhere else. Spiritual enlightenment illumination understanding it's only found by looking at him. this confronts right away a deeply held belief in all of us and if you don't feel it there search yourself a little harder because it's there somewhere. It's the belief that truth can be found by looking inside. By looking inside us. That we can guide ourselves. Ever since the enlightenment in the late 1700s we have been telling ourselves and preaching to ourselves all the time and everywhere that guidance and authority does not come from outside of ourselves it comes from inside of ourselves.
From our intellect from our reason from our feelings those things are the north star for us. That's what we tell ourselves and that's what we tell each other. That's what society tells you. That's what culture tells you. That's why follow your heart and be true to yourselves they sound so compelling because we've all been raised to believe that.
In 1979 Bob Marley sang this emancipate yourselves from mental slavery none but ourselves can free our mind. Now just let that sink in. That's a dramatic philosophical statement to be making. People sing things like this all the time. Check your playlist sometime. I found a bunch of examples that I had to cut for time.
Here's another one. A song from Sesame Street. Go where you want to go. Do what you want to do. Believe in yourself. Believe in yourself. Bob Marley Sesame Street. Covers the gamut. If you find some other examples this week send me a text or an email. I'm telling you it's everywhere. And I'm telling you that the warning Jesus gives is that that is not only that that's not only wrong but when you trust yourself you will be led into darkness.
Trusting ourselves leads us into confusion. When your eye is bad which means not seeing him rightly not seeing the only light that there is rightly your body is full of darkness therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness. If we aren't seeing Jesus clearly then we are in the dark. We can't make heads or tails of anything spiritual and therefore anything else about the world. The very things that we call light the thoughts the feelings that we have which seem to us to be so sure so trustworthy without Christ their darkness.
be careful lest the light in you be darkness. The things we label as light they're darkness. They can never ever lead us beside still waters or into green pastures. They never can and they never will.
They will only lead us astray. And this is not Pastor Joel saying this. This is the one who made you. The one who made the world saying this. The only enlightenment comes by seeing him rightly. By taking in his light.
Follow your heart. Be true to yourself. That is terrible advice. But look we're going to end with this. There's a promise that Jesus says. He's not going to say boy you guys are hosed and just walks away. He gives a promise. Look if you look to me if you trust in me instead of confusion there's clarity. There's light. You can walk in light. And not just a little bit of light but complete light. If your whole body is full of light having no part dark it will be wholly bright.
He's speaking cryptically I know but he's trying to say look when my light comes on it floods all of you. It's like when the sun rises. If you go into your house tonight and you turn on a light you get a little bit of light. Jesus coming into your life is like the sun rising. It illuminates everything. Everything. Once you look at Jesus rightly everything else looks different. Listen you can face difficulty and you know now that you're not alone in it.
You're not by yourself that you belong to him. You can face big decisions in your life and instead of the clouded thinking about how can I make the most money? How can I make the biggest name for myself? How can I set up myself in a life that's going to be comfortable and exciting? You can think clearly. You can think how can I best serve God and serve others? That's right thinking that comes when you look at Jesus. You can resist temptation when you have the light of Christ flooding your life because now you see how small and unfulfilling those things are.
They don't give me real life and they never will. What was I doing messing around with that? I don't want that anymore because the light has shone on it.
Trusting Jesus is like putting on a pair of glasses when you've been nearly blind. The only way to prove a pair of glasses works is to put them on. Right? You can't prove and evaluate them until they're on your face. You can't hold them and touch them and turn them over and really evaluate them. You've got to put them on. And that's what Jesus is saying to do. Look in the light of my light and then you will see everything illuminated around you. You'll walk in my wisdom.
They prove themselves to be right when you put them on. And that's what Jesus does. So church, look at him. Look at his greatness. Take it in. Every relationship in your life. Every facet of who you are, the different callings that you have, the challenges in your life, the joys in your life, look at all of them through Christ and they will be illuminated.
The more you do that, the more you'll understand God, understand yourself, understand the world, you'll become wise, you'll become equipped for godly living. And you'll receive the real rescue of Jesus. Greater than the rescue that Jonah experienced is the rescue that Jesus offers. So look at him. Don't look at yourself. Look at Christ and take in his greatness. Let's pray.
Jesus, I confess that I oftentimes look away from you. And most often, Lord, I look to myself. I look around at my circumstances and I look to myself and what I can do about them. I look back and forth between those two things and I forget to look to you to see things in your light. Lord, I forget about your greatness, how wise you are, the truth of your proclamation, the depth of your rescue. I live like those things don't matter, but they do, Lord.
They matter for me and they matter for everyone here. Lord, I pray that you would help us to have clear vision, healthy eyes, that take you in, that take in your light. I pray that you would put away skepticism from our hearts, that we would see you and what you have done as being sufficient. Lord, you are something greater and all we have to do is rest in you. And then the light floods us and we're helped. We are really helped. we are brought into new life and we can follow you with a changed pattern of living.
Jesus, would you please help us to look to you. We pray this, Jesus, in your name.