Pastor Scott Andrews | August 31, 2025
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Luke 11:27-32
There is a story told of a young boy who gave his life to Christ. He was so excited he took his Bible wherever he went. One day, he boarded a bus and sat next to an older man who turned out to be an atheist. The atheist noticed the Bible and asked the boy – I see your Bible, do you believe what you read in there? Yes, the boy replied, every word. So, I suppose you believe in the resurrection of Jesus? Yes I do. And the man asked, so you believe all the fantastic miracles in there, like the one about a whale swallowing Jonah? If it’s in here, I believe it. So, the man continued his attack, I suppose then, when you get to heaven, you’re going to ask Jonah about it? I sure am. And the man said, what if you get to heaven and Jonah isn’t there? The boy thought for a moment and replied, then you ask him.
I share that story as it illustrates the two possibilities of responding to truth. To faith. To Jesus and His gospel. To the stunning evidence of all the above. You can deny it, or you can believe it. I’m sure you’ve noted many today want more evidence as to the truth of the Christian faith. Hence, the growth of the field of apologetics. We hear things like, I wish I’d been alive when Jesus walked the earth. If I’d heard His teaching, seen His miracles, I think I would believe. Of course, many, in fact most, who were alive then and saw those things, denied Him anyway.
They, like many today, wanted more proof, more evidence – others simply denied the proof they had. We’ve seen over the past couple of weeks, when presented with the indisputable truth and the undeniable evidence that Jesus was the Messiah, the religious elite reached their final objection: He’s a demon. He does what He does by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons. It was full rejection in the face of full revelation. They’d heard it all, they’d seen it all, and they rejected Him. And so, we are reviewing what Jesus said to those who vehemently rejected Him in Luke 11. It was a ringing judgment for their denial of both His words and works.
And so, I have a question I want you to consider. How much evidence do you need to believe? Maybe you’re awaiting some sign in the sky, some personal miracle before you’ll commit your life to Jesus. Or, maybe you have, and you struggle with persevering faith. The doubts assail you. And then, of course, I suspect many of you have believed and are settled in that belief. Wherever you find yourself, I want faith to be expressed, or faith to be strengthened.
We began this narrative a couple of weeks ago. In response to the accusation that He was demonically inspired, Jesus said, your logic is untenable. It’s ridiculous to think a house divided against itself would stand. If Jesus was casting out demons by the ruler of demons, then Satan’s house was divided and won’t stand. Which led to the only logical conclusion – Jesus was casting out demons by the power of God, which in turn could only mean the kingdom of God had come.
From there, Jesus continued demonstrating the illogic and absurdity of the Pharisees’ argument. Last week, we saw Jesus tell a couple of stories. You say I’m driving out demons by Beelzebul, but the truth is, I’m the stronger man, binding Satan and plundering his house. I’m releasing those he has held captive. You’re mistaken, to be clear, you’re either for Me or against Me.
Then Jesus told the second story – a demon left a man and returned to find the house swept and put in order – but still unoccupied. So, the demon reoccupied the empty house – bringing more demons with him. The point of the story was self-reformation will not work. Any attempts to clean up your act will ultimately fail. The truth is, you need a new master – Jesus Christ. Pretty strong words to the moralistic, self-righteous, house-cleaning Pharisees.
You know, at this point, we might ask a question: did Jesus just hate the Pharisees? It seems like He was so mean to them. The answer, of course, is no. But here’s the problem. Sinners know they’re sinners. Jesus didn’t have to convince prostitutes and tax collectors and other sinners they were sinners; that they needed a Savior. They knew that. It’s why they flocked to Him. He was full of grace, healing and forgiveness – just what they needed.
But self-righteous people who wear the garb of religion, who do some good things – well, they think themselves alright. They don’t long for forgiveness – they don’t think they need it. The Pharisees thought they were okay – they thought they were keeping the Law – they were pleasing God. And when God showed up in the person of Jesus and said, you don’t get it – they didn’t like it, and they opposed Him.
Think about it. If Jesus had arrived on the scene and said, sinners need a Savior – prostitutes and tax collectors are evil people who need forgiveness – He’d probably been okay. The Pharisees would have said, amen – He’s our kind of guy. Especially if He would have rubbed shoulders with the religious and joined them in looking down their spiritual noses at sinners. But instead, He rubbed shoulders with sinners and condemned the religious. He wasn’t condoning the lifestyles of the sinners – remember, they were crying at his feet, washing His feet with their hair. They were breaking expensive vials of alabaster and anointing Him. They were taking the taxes they extorted and giving back to the ones they had cheated. Their lives were changed.
But the Pharisees were self-righteous. They didn’t see the need to repent, to mourn, to change. They didn’t see they’d done anything wrong. They didn’t understand they, too, were sinners in need of saving. That was the problem. And unless Jesus confronted them forcefully with their self-righteous piety, they would never see it. And they would die in their sin. Jesus’ words to the Pharisees were really an act of grace. Firm, yes – but grace nonetheless. People who are complacent in their sinful lives, feeling proudly pious, wearing the garments of religion, often need a kick in the pants – to have the hypocritical garments stripped off so they can be seen for what they really are.
That’s one of the challenges of living in the Bible-belt South; bringing up our children in the church. They grow up going to church, doing good things, knowing all the rules. And they never really do anything that bad, they think. And if we’re not careful, we can raise little Pharisees, careful to polish the outside of the cup – careful what they say and hear and do – but never dealing with the heart. And they grow up and walk away – turn from the faith. We’re bewildered, what did we do wrong? We took ‘em to church. And it’s possible we just dealt with external behavior and not the internal issues of the heart. Perhaps, we never exposed the blackness of their hearts and their need of a savior. They never had a heart change, and so eventually, what’s in here, comes out – and they walk away.
So, I would say to you, high school students – you’re approaching a pivotal point in your lives. Because when you leave home, you’ll have a decision to make – will my parents’ faith be my faith? And I say to you, college students: you are at that pivotal point. Many of you went to church all your lives because, well, that’s what you did. Just like you played the piano or soccer – you did because it was expected. You never did the church thing because you had the heart to do so – your parents made you. And now, you get to choose. The only reason you’re here this morning is habit – it’s early in the semester. The day will come when you wake up on a Sunday morning and realize – mom isn’t here to wake me up. Dad isn’t here to make me go. They’ll never know. And even if they do, what difference does it make? Before you know it, one Sunday will stretch to two, two to three, one semester to two, two to three. And you’ll be a casualty just like hundreds of others on campus who used to go to church – like good little Pharisees, but you never had a changed heart. To be clear, going to church doesn’t do it – it’s only Jesus by His Spirit.
You see, some of you will say – I’m going to church, because it’s the right thing to do. And it is – but if you go just because it’s the right thing to do, and not because it’s in your heart to gather with God’s people for worship and fellowship and discipleship, then it’s possibly a pharisaical observance. I want you to know Jesus and grow in your love for Jesus. Don’t pursue moral transformation – pursue Christ.
Jesus attacked the Pharisees at the heart of their problem – you’re dead on the inside, and you don’t even know it. You’ve polished the outside of the cup, but the inside is full of vileness and death. All your rule-keeping is of no value, and it infuriated them. So, they continually conspired to catch or trap Him, ultimately to destroy Him.
There’s an interesting passage in John 15 that addresses the issue. Jesus was in the upper room with His disciples, about to go to the Garden of Gethsemane, to be betrayed, tried, and crucified. So, He had some final things to say to His small band of disciples. He starts, if the world hates you, remember it hated Me first. And why did they hate Me? Because of what I said and did. Look at these verses (22-24). “If I had not come and spoken to them [to those who hated Me], they would not have sin, [stop there. If Jesus had not come, the Pharisees would have no sin? No – His coming didn’t make them sinful, it exposed their sinfulness – they would not have sin], but now they have no excuse for their sin.” The idea is – through my words, I have exposed their sinfulness, and now they have no defense.
Verse 23, “He who hates Me hates My Father also. If I had not done among them the works which no one else did [catch that – Jesus’ works were unique – only the Messiah could do them], they would not have sin [again, they would not have had their sin exposed]; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well.”
The point is, Jesus said what He said and did what He did to the Pharisees because of their self-righteousness – to pull off the mask of their hypocrisy to expose them. He stripped away their cloak of decency and garb of religion. And they hated Him for it. Which brings us finally to our text this morning. Jesus has thoroughly exposed them as illogical, blasphemous, evil people. And so, we read in Luke 11:27-32, as we continue the story.
This seems like such a disjointed passage, but remember, when Jesus healed the mute man back in verse 14, in the next verse, the religious said He did so by the power of Beelzebul while others said, verse 16, that’s impressive, but show us a sign from heaven. If there was any question about the deadness of their hearts, it was now laid to rest. He drove out a demon, as He had done many times before, and their only response is, “Show us another trick.” What do you think He was doing for the first ten chapters of the book? He healed people of every disease, even leprosy. Blind people saw, deaf people heard, cripples walked, shriveled hands were restored. He drove out demons by the power of God. He calmed storms with a word; He fed thousands with a boy’s lunch. He even raised the dead. He spoke with an authority and understanding of Scripture no one had ever heard before. He was fulfilling prophecies left and right, and they have the audacity to say, “Show us another trick – give us a sign from heaven, then we’ll believe.”
What did they mean by testing Him, demanding a sign from heaven? They were asking for a sign of worldwide magnitude – maybe cause the sun to go dark, like Moses did or cause the sun to stand still as Joshua did. You see, in Jewish history, there was a certain Rabbi Eliezar who was challenged as to the authority of his teaching. To prove himself, it is said he made a locust tree move about 450 feet away. Then, he supposedly caused a stream to flow backwards. Finally, he exclaimed, “If the law is as I teach, let it be proved from heaven.” At that moment, the story goes, a voice came out of the sky saying, “What have you to do with Rabbi Eliezar? The instruction is as he teaches.” He proved – do what he did.
The Pharisees and crowds wanted just that kind of celestial sign to authenticate the message and person of Jesus Christ. But think about it – the whole time they were gazing at the sky, they were missing all the good things Jesus was doing. And notice something else – Jesus wasn’t into doing miracles for miracles’ sake. He said you could say to that mountain, be cast into the sea, but He didn’t do it – what would be the purpose? Jesus did miracles for a purpose. He healed people because they needed healing. He drove out demons because they needed deliverance. He raised people from the dead because they were dead. He fed 5,000 because they were hungry. He even calmed the storm, not just to show off, but as a teaching moment – that is, the disciples lacked faith. He wasn’t doing miracles just to do miracles – they had a purpose.
Here, the crowds say, do a nonsensical miracle for us – cast a mountain into the sea, give us a sign in the sky, then we’ll believe. And by the way, when Jesus died, there were some celestial things that happened – the earth quaked, the sky turned dark – but they didn’t believe any of that either. So, how did Jesus respond to their request? With another scathing denunciation that forms a teaching moment for us – especially if we are wanting more in order to believe.
But, we must start with those first couple of verses – which is in stark contrast to all that is going on. Jesus has just responded to the accusation of being empowered by Beelzebul with those two stories we looked at last week. There was a growing crowd of people and some were demanding another sign. But in that overwhelming unbelief, an unnamed woman – of course – Luke is always elevating women in this culture which demeaned them – this woman says, “Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts at which You were nursed!”
While the religious were leveling their accusations, while the unconvinced crowd is seeking yet another sign, get that – everyone is turning on Him – this unnamed woman expresses incredible faith. Listening to Jesus, she recognizes, He’s not satanic, I don’t need more. Now understand, women then would not speak up in a crowd like this. Certainly not in front of scribes and Pharisees who had just denounced Him. Further, then women was judged by their children – particularly the sons they raised. And so, this woman was culturally blessing Mary for bearing and raising Jesus. Your mother is blessed. You’ll remember in the Magnificat in Luke 1 Mary said, all people will call her blessed. And here is a woman doing just that. Mary was special, in that she, of all women, was chosen to bear the Messiah. Anyway, when most around her, like most around you, were denying Jesus, doubting Jesus, she’s expressing faith in Jesus. Is that what you need to do? Declare your allegiance to Jesus in the midst of a culture that in increasingly denying Him?
Well, notice what Jesus says, “On the contrary,” stop right there. Jesus is not necessarily correcting this woman’s blessing – He’s realigning and enlarging it. Yes, bless mom, but blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it. The people all around that day, weren’t. They refused to hear the Word of God and obey it. Now, Jesus has already said this several times in Luke. For example, specifically concerning His mother Mary and His brothers, when told they were outside the house wanting to see Him, Jesus responded, “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.”
Several other places: Luke 6 where He contrasts the one who builds on the sand and the one who builds on the rock – the wise man hears the word and acts on them; Luke 8 after the parable of the sower – the good soil is the one who receives the word of God, holds it fast, and bears fruit. But don’t miss it: Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem to be crucified for the sins of the world, and the opposition is rising. The religious elite blaspheming Him; the crowds doubting Him, seeking greater signs – and this woman appears and declares her faith. It’s what He wants of those who would seek to follow Him.
But Jesus still had to deal with those denying Him. First, the religious and their blasphemy, and now even the crowds demanding a sign. As the crowds were increasing, He began to say, “This generation is a wicked generation – Matthew says He calls them an evil and adulterous generation craving a sign. This is incredible. They were the chosen people of God, to whom came the Law, and through whom came the Christ. And yet, they are wicked, because they neither kept the Law nor accepted the Christ. Instead, they were seeking a sign. But you’ll not get it, Jesus said, only the sign of Jonah.
Which is why I began my sermon today with that little story – illustrating that Jonah himself is a sign as to the truthfulness of Jesus. And so, you can accept the sign, or reject it. For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. How was Jonah a sign to the Ninevites? Two ways. First, Jesus says clearly back in Matthew 12, as Jonah was in the belly of the sea monster, the great fish, for three days and three nights, so also will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth. Of course, we know what that means: the resurrection of Jesus on the third day after He was buried will be the sign of all signs that He was who He said He was. Raising others from the dead was quite spectacular – predicting your own resurrection after three days was the ultimate proof. But of course, they didn’t even believe that when it happened: they paid off the guards at the tomb to say, “We fell asleep, and His disciples came and stole His body.” Even the greatest sign of all time, His own resurrection, would be rejected by these men. And people have since been coming up with all kinds of theories to explain away the resurrection – the swoon theory, the stolen body theory, the wrong tomb theory. Anything but believe it. Here, because they had hardened their hearts to the point of no return, they denied it. But, Jesus says to those asking for a sign from heaven, here it is. It’s all you’ll get. There is none greater – the resurrection. Romans 1:4 says He was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead. What more proof do you want?
Jesus turns His attention in the story to the men of Nineveh. He’s actually returning to His scathing denunciation for unbelief in the face of proof. You see, Jonah had gone to the people of Nineveh to tell them God’s judgment was about to come. Jonah’s exact words were, “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” And in response, the people of Nineveh repented, and the city was spared. In that way, Jonah is a sign to you. I’m preaching repentance as well, and judgment is indeed coming if you don’t repent. They had the sense to repent, will you? Because this is all you’ll get. If you believe, you will know the joy of sins forgiven. If you don’t, those who did believe and repent will rise up and condemn you for not repenting and believing.
Jesus says, even these hated, pagan Gentiles which later carried off the Jews into captivity, had the sense to repent at the preaching of Jonah. And yet, verse 32, something greater than Jonah is here – of course, speaking of Himself. And yet, you just level blasphemy and ask for more signs. Therefore, the men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment and condemn you. Meaning, not that they would carry out the sentence – only God does that. But meaning their repentance would serve to condemn them.
You have to understand the force with which Jesus’ words would have hit these people. They hated the Ninevites. Jonah didn’t even want to go – that’s why he ran the other way. He boarded a ship and went out to sea to run from God. When the storm came, Jonah knew it was for him – but he would rather die than go to Nineveh. So, he told the men to throw him overboard. They hated the Ninevites.
But God wasn’t finished with Jonah. He prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah up and deliver him off the coast of Nineveh. So, with no choice, Jonah preached. And when the people repented, Jonah pouted – I knew this would happen, he said. I’d preach, they’d repent, and you’d relent. That’s why I didn’t want to go. The Jews hated the Ninevites. And yet, those very Ninevites would rise up in the judgment and condemn blaspheming Pharisees and unbelieving crowds. Their blood had to be boiling.
But Jesus wasn’t finished. While we’re talking about people who will rise up and judge, let’s talk about the Queen of the South. He was speaking of the Queen of Sheba in I Kings 10, who, when she heard of the wealth and wisdom of Solomon, came all the way from the south of Arabia, possibly modern-day Yemen, to hear him. Even she had the sense to travel some 1,200 miles to listen to the wisdom of God through Solomon.
Now, the Pharisees tolerated that story in I Kings because the way it’s told there, it exalts their great King Solomon. But here, Jesus uses the story to speak of this queen who will rise with this generation and condemn it. Again, know the force with which this would have hit them: she was a pagan, a Gentile, and a woman – three strikes against her, as far as the Pharisees were concerned. Her actions in coming to see great King Solomon – having an interest in truly spiritual things – the things of God, would condemn them. And know, something greater than King Solomon is here. Their denunciation was complete. They were left sputtering and speechless. What about you? What more do you need to believe?
As we close this morning, what’s the point? In their hardness of heart, they were unable to see the reality of God’s word and His work through His Son, Jesus Christ. Even pagan Gentiles in the past were able to see it. So, they will rise in the judgment, and condemn the religious, and frankly anyone else who knows the gospel, has seen and experienced gospel truth, but never received it for themselves. Remember when I suggested high school students, college students, you’re at a pivotal point? Here it is – will your faith truly be your faith? Because you can’t ride your parents’ coattails. Will you believe for yourself?
Jonah had come preaching a message of doom and judgment. No grace, no promise of life, no love, no miracles, no promise of deliverance. Just judgment. And they were pagan people. It was a vile city – they were awful by anyone’s standards. No religion, no covenants, no law. And yet they repented. The Queen of the South didn’t even have anyone come to her – she had to make the trip herself. No benefit of birth, no law, no prophets, no covenants of promise. No invitation to come, yet she came.
Jesus, on the other hand, came to them. And when He came, His was a message of repentance, yes – but it was full of love, grace, peace, healing, forgiveness. He came to them, performing literally thousands of spectacular miracles. They had seen it all, they had heard it all. And they chose to reject it. He came unto His own, and His own did not receive Him. Their condemnation would be great.
The message for us is much the same as we’ve heard over the last couple of weeks. We’ve seen the gospel, we’ve heard it. We’ve experienced the gospel life in those around us. We, like them, are without excuse. How much more evidence do you need? You have the verifiable resurrection of Jesus Christ. (About a hundred years ago, English journalist and unbeliever Frank Morrison set out to disprove the resurrection. The title of his book? Who Moved the Stone?) To you I would say the same thing the author of Hebrews said, “Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts… Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called ‘Today,’ so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance, firm until the end.”