When we come to Luke 11:28-32, it appears that Jesus has finishedHis lessons on the subject of prayer and a crowd of both curious people and contentiousreligious leaders have “thickly gathered together” around Him and His disciples. It appears at the point thecrowd really begins to press in upon Jesus on every side and then He gives thema message of condemnation and judgement (vv. 29-36).
Jesus was not impressed by the big crowds, but most likely,the disciples were. And because Jesus knew what was in their hearts of thereligious leaders and the crowd, in order to keep the Twelve from being swayedby "success," Jesus gave them some insights into what was reallyhappening as they ministered the Word to the large crowds of people thatsurrounded them. He reveals the unbelief of their hearts despite the signs thatHe had already given them over the past three years of His ministry in Galilee.
Like so many people today who say, “Show me a miracle and Iwill believe”, the Jewish leaders kept asking Jesus for a sign to prove that Hewas the Messiah. The only sign He promised was "the sign of Jonah theprophet." What was the sign of Jonah? What was his story? Remember he disobeyGod’s command to go to Nineveh and went the opposite direction to Tarshish. Godpunished him by putting him the belly of whale for three days and three nights.He repented and went to Nineveh with a message of coming judgement, and theyrepented. How interesting that Jonah was as displeased by the repentance ofNineveh as the religious leaders of the Lord's generation were at therepentance of people in all parts of the country!
Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites. He had been three daysand nights in what he called "the belly of hell." When he marchedthrough their streets, it was with a face livid and terrifying from the fierceaction of the gastric juices of the great fish. The man himself was as much themessage as the words that he proclaimed; he was a sign. "God will punishsin!" It was written all over the disobedient prophet. But there he was,alive from the dead, a living epistle. They could infer from that the fact that"God will pardon sinners."
But Jonah was also a sign of the coming death, burial andresurrection of Jesus Christ! This is the greatest sign given by “a greaterthan Jonah”, Jesus Christ! It is the resurrection of our Lord that proves He isthe Messiah, the Son of God (Rom. 1:4), and this is what Peter preached toIsrael on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:22ff). The witness of the early churchwas centered on Christ's resurrection (Acts 1:22; 3:15; 5:30-32; 13:32-33).Jonah was a living miracle and so is our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus also reminded them of Solomon and the “Queen of theSouth”. The emphasis here is on the wisdom of a king, not the works of aprophet. The Queen of Sheba traveled many miles to hear the wisdom of Solomon(1 Kings 10), but here was the very Son of God in their midst, and the Jewswould not believe His words! Even if Jesus had performed a sign, it would nothave changed their hearts. They needed the living wisdom of God, but they werecontent with their stale religious tradition. When Jonah preached to theGentiles in Nineveh, they repented and were spared. When a Gentile queen heardSolomon's wisdom, she marveled and believed. If, with all their privileges, theJews did not repent, then the people of Nineveh and the Queen of Sheba wouldbear witness against them in the last judgment. The Lord gave Israel so manyopportunities, yet they would not believe (Luke 13:34-35; John 12:35-41).
Today, we have the complete Bible, and the historical factsof the resurrection of Jesus Christ, yet still so many chose their sins andreligion over believing and putting their faith in Jesus Christ. How great willtheir condemnation and judgment be?
