The Sign of Jonah

Hello everyone.

I will continue my exegesis of Luke 11.  Today, we will look at verses 29-32.  Here is my translation: 

29 As the crowd gathered, he began to speak, “This is a wicked generation. It looks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it, except for the sign of Jonah. 30 For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so the Son of Man will be a sign for this generation. 31 The Queen of the South will rise up in judgment of the men of this generation, and will condemn them, because she came from the far reaches of the Earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and someone greater than Solomon is here. 

32 The people of Nineveh will rise up in judgment of this generation, because when Jonah preached to them, they repented, but someone greater than Jonah is here.

To remind of what has been going on, we would back verse 14. Jesus has cast out a demon from a man that was mute. Some had accused Jesus of being in league with Satan, while others tested him, asking for a sign. Jesus has dealt with the accusers, but now will talk to those who wanted a sign. They will be given a sign, but they will also be given judgment.

Jesus is very straightforward with these sign-watchers. He starts by telling them that their generation is wicked. They are pressing Jesus for some kind of sign that he is from God. He has shown them countless miracles and yet they do not believe and still ask for a sign. What kind of sign is going to be good enough for them to believe?

So, he tells them that they are only going to get one sign, the sign of Jonah. Remember Jonah? Jonah spent three days in the belly of a fish and then he appeared to the Ninevites. Jesus, soon enough, will spend three in the tomb and then rise.

Jonah’s reappearance led the Ninevites to repent. Jesus’ resurrection and reappearance does lead some to repent, like his brother James, but most do not. Truth be told, they asked for a sign and Jesus gave them an incredible sign, he came back from death. That is a sign that is hard to beat, but was still not a good enough sign for them. What were looking for? Were they looking for Jesus to create lightning flashes across the sky or turn the sun into darkness? Jesus could have done those things, but his resurrection was a far better sign than that.

So Jesus states that this generation was going to be judged harshly. He also makes reference to the Queen of Sheba. The Queen had come a long distance just to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Jesus says that both she and the Ninevites would all rise up in judgment against that generation, because rather than seek wisdom, refused to listen to Jesus’ wisdom and they refused to repent.

The people of Nineveh repented when they heard the message from Jonah, and the Queen of Sheba had traveled a great distance to seek wisdom from Solomon, but Jesus is greater than both Solomon and Jonah, but they were refusing to listen to him. These words must have been very difficult for Jesus’ audience, as he tells them that a Gentile queen and a Gentile city would judge them, God’s chosen people.

If nothing else, at least generation can serve as a bad example for us. They show us how not to be. They asked for some miraculous sign, while ignoring what was right in front of them. So let's sure that we do the opposite of what they did, and diligently seek the wisdom of Jesus, and let that lead us to repentance.

Tom