God in the ordinary!

Luke 11:29-32

Now as the crowds were [increasingly] thronging Him, Jesus began to say, This present generation is a wicked one; it seeks and demands a sign (miracle), but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of Jonah [the prophet]. 30For [just] as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will also the Son of Man be [a sign] to this age and generation. 31The queen of the South will arise in the judgment with the people of this age and generation and condemn them; for she came from the ends of the [inhabited] earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and notice, here is more than Solomon. 32The men of Nineveh will appear as witnesses at the judgment with this generation and will condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, here is more than Jonah.

Food for thought!

Great number of people kept coming to Jesus, not to get Jesus but his miracles. Sounds familiar? Many people today go to Jesus not because of Jesus himself but in search of the miracles of Jesus; many go to church not of Jesus but because of someone. This is what Jesus is condemning in the Gospel reading.

People want what is sensational; what is emotional; what is entertaining. This is what Jesus is condemning. "This present generation is a wicked one; it seeks and demands a sign (miracle), but no sign shall be given to it." God comes in the ordinary, just as He did in Jesus of Nazareth. The best way to serve the Lord is to do our ordinary and daily duties extraordinarily well. If we had the eyes of the queen of Sheba or of the people of Nineveh, we would see God all in all the ordinary. Yes, God is not only in the churches but everywhere, including in our offices, homes, streets and neighbourhood.

Long ago, the queen of the South came from the far away just to listen to Solomon; and later the prophet Jonah preached to the people of Nineveh, and because of his sermons, the people repented. In other words, the people were able to go beyond Jonah to whom Jonah represented. The people knew how to go beyond the man of God to the God of the man.

Jesus is saying that he is more than Solomon and Jonah. Jesus is more than kings and prophets. Jesus is God made visible. Jesus "is the image of the unseen God coming into existence before all living things; 16For by him all things were made, in heaven and on earth, things seen and things unseen, authorities, lords, rulers, and powers; all things were made by him and for him; 17He is before all things, and in him all things have being." (Col. 1:15-17).