– Entertain Me, God!

Matthew 12:38-41

³⁸ Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” ³⁹ But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. ⁴⁰ For just 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. ⁴¹ 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.”

I have never been able to read of this encounter between Jesus and the Pharisees without thinking of Herod’s Song from the musical, Jesus Christ Superstar (Andrew Lloyd Weber 1970). This song is part of the trial of Jesus in the musical.

Jesus I am overjoyed to meet you face to face

You've been getting quite a name all around the place
Healing cripples raising from the dead
And now I understand you're God
And least that's what you've said

So you are the Christ you're the great Jesus Christ
Prove to me that you're divine - change my water into wine
That's all you need do and I'll know it's all true
C'mon king of the Jews

Jesus you just won't believe the hit you've made round here
You are all we talk about the wonder of the year
Oh what a pity if it's all a lie
Still I'm sure that you can rock the cynics if you try

So you are the Christ you're the great Jesus Christ
Prove to me that you're no fool walk across
My swimming pool
If you do that for me then I'll let you go free
C'mon king of the Jews

I only ask things I'd ask any superstar
What is it that you have got that puts you where you are
I am waiting yes I'm a captive man
I'm dying to be shown that you are not just any man

So if you are the Christ yes the great Jesus Christ
Feed my household with this bread - you can do it
On your head
Or has something gone wrong? Why do you take so long?
C'mon king of the Jews

Hey! Aren't you scared of me Christ? Mr Wonderful Christ!
You're joker you're not the Lord - you are nothing but a fraud
Take him away - he's got nothing to say!
Get out you king of the Jews! Get out of My Life!

The words are irreverent but perfectly descriptive of the sentiments expressed by the Pharisees. They are completely unbelieving in Jesus as the Messiah and their request makes that abundantly clear. Show us a sign! We need proof that you are something other than a fraud. In fact, they had already seen healings, demons cast out, and Jesus’ mastery over nature. But they demand something more – maybe a big light show in the sky.

Jesus chooses an interesting “sign” for them. He points to the events in Jonah’s life where he was swallowed by a great fish and held captive in its belly for 3 days, finally being regurgitated onto the beach so that he could obediently go to Nineveh and preach repentance to the people there. Jesus Himself will spend three days in darkness, inside of the earth after His death. He too will return from that dark place just as Jonah did; rescued from death to live again. (No, Jonah didn’t actually die – but the point remains.) That Jesus would even bring up the Ninevites was a bold move. These were not the favorite people of the Pharisees, for while they were not Hebrews they were spared by God because they had repented – unlike the Pharisees Jesus is speaking to! These are also the people who finally carried off the citizens of the Northern Kingdom of Israel into slavery. That they should be named as those who would rise up in judgment of the Pharisees was quite a charge!

Finally, Jesus pours salt on the wound by pointing out that those who are spiritually empty (those with Jesus Himself in their lives) are not subject to being inhabited by Satan. I won’t belabor this, but if you look at the conversation just a few moments prior to this one, Jesus and the Pharisees discussed whether or not Jesus was of Satan Himself. He establishes that He is clearly not in Satan’s camp – but they might be! So much for your sign!

Asking God to prove Himself to us is a dicey path to walk. It certainly isn’t prohibited in the Scriptures (see the stories of Gideon or King Hezekiah to mention only two), but it is something we need to be careful with, for it can quickly fall into the category of arrogance. God invites us to test Him and see how good He is to us. But He does not invite us to demand proof of His greatness, as the Pharisees do in today’s reading. That’s why I think of Weber’s song for in it King Herod displays nothing but unbelief and derision. God is good, and He delights in providing for His children. But we can’t look at Him with derision and hatred and then expect Him to entertain us.