“The men of Nineveh shall stand up with this generation at the judgment and shall condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than John is here. The Queen of the South shall rise up with this generation at the judgment and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.”
“Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places, seeking rest, and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came;’ and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation.”
Matthew 12:41-45
I think there might be a connection between Jesus’ rebuke, and his illustration of the unclean spirit. In the illustration the man who had the unclean spirit had his life cleaned, swept, and in order. One might think this is a worthy goal for any of us; to have a stable, clean, and well ordered life. But Jesus warns that such a person is in danger and at risk because he is unoccupied. His life is empty even while being balanced, and by all outward appearances – in good shape. However, it is not filled or occupied with anything greater, and so the unclean spirit may return and bring others. The connection I see between this illustration and the previous rebuke has to do with the question “what should the man be filled with, so as not to end up in a worse condition?”
What was Jesus’ rebuke to his generation? That they did not recognize that something greater than Jonah or Solomon was in their midst. Nineveh repented in sack cloth and ashes at Jonas’ preaching. The Queen of the South traveled far and brought valuable gifts in order to hear Solomon’s wisdom. Both Nevada and the Queen of the South were captivated by these people. They recognized something great, or urgent, or essential about Jonah’s message and Solomon’s wisdom. Yet Jesus’ preaching is far more urgent, and far more weighty. It is eternally significant, yet His generation did not recognize it. Jesus is far wiser, and more compelling, and fascinating than Solomon, yet they were blind to it
Just as Nineveh was filled with fear and desperate repentance at Jonas’ preaching, we need to have our houses (our souls) struck by an appropriate fear and awe at the preaching of Jesus. Just as the Queen of the South was enamored and fascinated and found marvelous the wisdom of Solomon, we need to be filled, all the more, with fascination and wonder at Jesus.
O Lord let your Holy Spirit fill the house of my life such that I find Jesus Christ to be more compelling, and urgent, and awesome, and fascinating, and interesting, and captivating than any of the lesser things that do, I confess, take hold of my attention. Weaken my desires, O Lord, for such lesser things, and enlarge my heart to lay hold of the glorious things of Christ. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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