March 13 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Matthew 12:31-41:

³¹Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.
³²And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.
³³Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.
³⁴O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
³⁵A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.
³⁶But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
³⁷For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
³⁸Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee.
³⁹But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas [Jonah]:
⁴⁰For as Jonas [Jonah] was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
⁴¹The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas [Jonah]; and, behold, a greater than Jonas [Jonah] is here.

Devotional

God commanded the prophet Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach against it. But he disobeyed, and went down to the sea, and took ship to flee from the Lord. A great storm overtook the ship and Jonah was cast into the sea. And God prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. He prayed unto God out of the fish's belly. And God spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land. Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites. He was a type of Christ. Christ, having assumed our human nature, came into the very depths of our misery, yea into our very death. The waves of God's wrath swallowed him up. He suffered death, and was buried; but He was not to see corruption. Death could not hold him. He brought life and immortality to light. The Ninevites believed the word of Jonah and repented, and God spared them. But the Jews of Jesus' time believed not. And here was a greater than Jonah. Jesus says, Even as Jonah became a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation. And further, the men of Nineveh shall stand up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and, behold, a greater than Jonah is here.

But what about us? We have heard the Gospel from childhood. Have we brought forth fruits worthy of repentance?

Prayer

Our Father, we thank Thee that Jesus Christ humbled himself to the very depths of death and hell, in order to deliver us from all the power of the devil; that He tasted death, and experienced the anguish of hell, so that we might go free; that He conquered death and hell, so that we might have life and immortality, and heavenly glory. We thank Thee that Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life; that whosoever liveth and believeth on him shall never die; shall not even see death. Father, we thank Thee for such complete redemption. Strengthen our faith, we pray for Jesus' sake. Amen.

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Scripture in Devotional: Luke 11:30, 32.

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