Adulterous
On two different occasions, Jesus said, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” (Matthew 12:39 and 16:4) Both times, it was in response to religious leaders; the first time they asked, and the second time they demanded, a sign to prove who he was.
Another time, Jesus stated, “For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:38) This was directed to his followers, part of his class that included, “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it.” (Aside: Mark’s parallel account of what Jesus says in Matt 16:4 is earlier in Mark 8, but it would appear that there was some time in-between.)
And then there’s James, who writes, “You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” (James 4:4) The context is reproving believers for quarreling and for coveting.
There are some other usages, clearly referring to the actual sin of adultery. But these don’t seem to be literal. What’s he getting at? Three times, Jesus is very harsh, seeming to condemn an entire generation. And another question: Why “evil and adulterous”, instead of, say, “evil and murderous” or “evil and lying” or “evil and thieving”, or any other specific sin?
I think it’s likely that Jesus is making reference to the many instances when Old Testament prophets accused Israel of spiritual adultery. God speaks of Israel as his bride, and accuses her of being unfaithful to him—referring to their repeated falling away from the Living God and serving false gods. And of course those prophets foretold the destruction of first Israel and then Judah. Essentially condemning their entire generation.
But if this is truly what Jesus was referring to, how is it that asking for a miraculous sign is evidence of spiritual adultery?
And what would Jesus have to say to us, to me? I don’t think I’m alone in having yearned for a sign sometimes.
A possible answer to the first question is that Jesus was doing miracles right in front of them, and yet they’re demanding more! Jesus makes this very point in John 5:36 – “For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me.” If they couldn’t see the true God active in the miracles, then they were as bad as the generations spoken to by the prophets.
Does this ease our minds about our own wishing for some kind of sign? Maybe, since we don’t have miracles in front of us. But maybe not—because we too have the sign of the prophet Jonah: the resurrection of Jesus. If you need a refresher on how tremendously powerful this sign is, down to this day, take a look at Who Moved the Stone?, or Evidence that Demands a Verdict, or The Case for Christ, or some other examination of the credibility of the resurrection.
The passage from James that I quoted earlier might seem the hardest, but might actually be the easiest, to wrap our minds around. How can James, writing to believers, disparage them in such strong language? Well, if we’re cultivating friendship with the world, that’s not any different from what Israel did, is it? Note: James puts quarreling and fighting among us in the same category. And there’s more things he puts in the same basket. Take a look again at the whole passage, James 4:1-12.
We certainly don’t want to be part of an “evil and adulterous generation”. Or I should say, since it actually seems like we are part of such a generation, we don’t want to share the fate of adulterous Israel or adulterous Pharisees. Nor adulterous followers of Jesus in the ways James describes. Makes you stop and think. As James most certainly intended.
Love, Paul