Matthew 12:33-42--A WIcked and Adulterous Generation

​Matthew 12:33-42 English Standard Version (ESV)
LISTEN:  https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/esv/Matt.12.33-Matt.12.42
A Tree Is Known by Its Fruit
33 “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. 34 You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. 36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, 37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

The Sign of Jonah
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. 42 The queen of the South will rise up at 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, something greater than Solomon is here.

---

We return to one of the teachings from the Sermon on the Mount---there are only two types of trees....good trees and bad trees.  It is the nature of a good tree to produce good fruit and the nature of a bad tree to produce bad fruit.  A good tree cannot produce bad fruit and a bad tree cannot produce good fruit (at least in the eyes of God, because God sees the "root" and the "fruit" and "our good deeds are as filthy rags" to Him if we are a "bad tree.")

Jesus is talking here to the Pharisees and calling them hypocrites because he knows they are "bad trees" that are trying to look like they are producing "good fruit," that they think is pleasing to God.  Jesus is telling them that God is not impressed and they need to fix their heart first.  He then tells them their identity as He sees them--a brood of vipers.  Remember that Satan is closely connected to the image of a snake because of what happened in the Garden of Eden, so calling anyone a "snake" or "viper" would be like Jesus saying "You are of your father, the devil," which He will say very clearly in a debate with the Pharisees in the book of John.

Jesus asks them how what comes out of them can be good when they are full of evil?  The idea is that a viper is full of poison or venom and that anything that comes out of the vipers mouth is dangerous and toxic and might even kill you.  The key verses of this part of the passage is right here---"Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.  The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil."  What they don't realize at this point is that there is only one good person and that is Jesus because only God is good and Jesus is the only person who is God in the flesh.  So Jesus will bring forth much good out of the good treasure that He has stored up inside of Him, but no man has anything good inside of himself to present before God because we are full of evil.  We are all "bad trees" producing "bad fruit" until Jesus changes our nature and identity

Jesus will continue to come back to this lesson throughout his ministry and will tell them things like "You clean the outside of the cup, but the inside is filthy" or "You whitewash the outside of the tomb (to make it look pretty), but the inside is full of dead men's bones (and the stench of death)."  He will continue to point out their hypocricy, not just for them, but for the people that follow them and think they have the answers and that the Pharisees know the right way to get to God, and remember that the power of God and His gospel can change anyone even a Pharisee--because we'll see later that's exactly what happened with Saul of Tarsus (better known as the apostle Paul).

Jesus wraps up this part by reminding them that on judgment day they will give an account for every idle and careless word and that their words will reveal what's in their hearts.  It is by our words we will be justified (if we have made a profession of faith in the salvation provided by the Lord Jesus Christ) and by our words we will be condemned if the words that best summarize our life are the lyrics of an old song--"I Did It My Way."

Jesus then broadens His focus off of the Pharisees to the entire generation of people and those that are following after Jesus for the wrong reason.  In this case, the people continued to ask for more and more signs (miracles) to authenticate who Jesus was, but Jesus said that at this point more than enough signs had been given to them and no more signs would be given to this wicked and adulterous generation (they had given their hearts to the world when they had committed their hearts to a lifelong commitment to God) other than the sign of Jonah.  Then Jesus explains that as Jonah was in the belly of the fish for 3 days and 3 nights, so the Son of Man (that's Jesus) would be in the belly of the earth for 3 days and 3 nights.  What's not said is that Jonah was spit up out of the belly of the fish after this time and it was an image of the coming resurrection where Jesus would come out of the tomb alive after the 3rd day.  This is one of the clearest prophecies that Jesus makes about knowing that He's not only going to die, but that He's only going to be dead for a short time and that He's going to be brought back to life afterwards.  This truth was concealed though until the resurrection happened and then the Holy Spirit brought back these words to those who belonged to Christ and they understood while those who did not belong to him were deluded and believed lies and made up other stories--some of which are still circulated to this very day.

Jesus then has some harsh words for the people that the citizens of Ninnevah that Jonah preached to recognized their spiritual condition and they cried out to God for mercy and salvation and that it was granted to them--a very wicked, Gentile nation.  Not only is Jesus saying that these people would be in the same heaven as the Jews, but that these people would sit as judges condemning those of this generation that had God in the flesh walking among them and they refused to admit their spiritual condition and cry out to the Son of God (or the Father) for mercy and forgiveness because it would have been freely offered to them.  Then another person referred to as The Queen of the South (probably Cleopatra) is also someone mentioned as a person who would sit in judgment over this generation because she recognized the wisdom of God and sought it out by going to Solomon, but Jesus is giving them even greater wisdom than Solomon could ever know and is far greater than Solomon, but they have no desire to hear these words of wisdom--they just want more "magic tricks" as they ask Jesus to "show them another sign."  These are their words that show their heart and will condemn them because these words reveal their nature and their root issue which Jesus addresses by calling them "wicked and adulterous."  They were unable to respond and produce good fruit because they were bad trees, and nothing would change that apart from the power of the resurrection which brings new life and a new nature to all who believe and call upon the name of the Lord.