Old Testament Reading:
[Jonah 1:7-17 ESV] 7 And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 Then they said to him, “Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?” 9 And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” 10 Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, “What is this that you have done!” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them. 11 Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?” For the sea grew more and more tempestuous. 12 He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.” 13 Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. 14 Therefore they called out to the LORD, “O LORD, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O LORD, have done as it pleased you.” 15 So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. 16 Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows. 17 And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
New Testament Reading:
[1 Corinthians 1:18-25 ESV] 18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” 20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
Gospel Reading:
[John 2:13-22 ESV] 13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. 15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18 So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
Sermon Text:
[Matthew 12:38-42 ESV] 38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” 39 But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. 42 The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.
Introduction
An initial reading of our passage might lead you to conclude that Jesus refuses to give the Pharisees a sign to prove that he is from above. BUT, if you look closer, you’ll see that in fact he promises THE GREATEST SIGN. One that cannot be missed, nor discounted. He calls it the Sign of Jonah. Its meaning: Jesus will die and three days later RISE from the dead. That is The Greatest Sign. The resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The context of our passage is that Jesus is still speaking with the scribes and Pharisees. He has corrected them on their accusation that he is casting out demons by the power of Satan, and has called out their evil ways saying “the tree is known by its fruit.” That same phrase then is used also in a positive way to say that Jesus is producing GOOD fruit.
I. The Pharisees Demand a Sign (v. 38-39)
And despite the good fruit of all the miracles Jesus has already done, even one just moments before in the very view of the Pharisees (when Jesus cast out a demon), they say to him “teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” They really should say “another sign.”
And they only pretend to give Jesus respect in calling him “teacher” (or “master” in the King James version). “Teacher” is the term Jesus’ own disciple use of him (didaskalos in the Greek), and so the Pharisees repeat only as a title, not a reality they accept. One can hardly be YOUR TEACHER if you refuse to learn anything from him.
The Pharisees simply don’t believe in Jesus, and so they ask again for a sign. For some people, there is never enough. If they haven’t believed yet, how will they ever believe? As Jesus says elsewhere, “If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.” (Luke 16:31)
I wonder, asking Jesus for a miracle, is that perhaps like asking a comedian for a joke? It just doesn’t work on command. A comedian needs his own timing. And Jesus will perform miracles, and gives signs, when He chooses. He can’t be pressured. If Jesus did what the Pharisees wanted, it would be as if the Pharisees were in control, if he bowed to their whims.
So Jesus says “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign.”
Why do you think he says that? “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign?” It is because Jesus knows that they don’t believe. Believers don’t need a sign. Believers don’t go around constantly looking for affirmation from God about his existence, or need dig in archaeological sites to “prove” the Bible. We BELIEVE. Simple as that.
But they are “an evil generation.” Jesus often speaks of “this generation.” It is an evil generation. It was not a high point in Israel’s history.
Jesus said earlier:
[Matthew 11:16-17 ESV] 16 “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates, 17 “‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’
That is, they don’t recognize Christ. He came to his own people, but his own people did not recognize him.
I take it that “this generation” is a loosely defined term. It is the Jewish people who are there at the time. It encompasses what we might call multiple generations: grandparents, parents, and children. And it is throughout the world, but especially the Jewish people in mind who should know better because they have “the oracles of God.” (the Scriptures of the Old Testament) And yet, in that same “generation,” we will see MANY come to faith in Christ; both Jew and Gentile. Not all is lost.
But these Pharisees have persistent unbelief despite witnessing his miracles.
They should know from the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy, “You shall not put the Lord God to the test.” (Deut 6:16)
But yet, they ask for more.
Pauls speaks of that unbelieving attitude when he says “Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom.” (1 Corinthians 1:22)
This isn’t a one-time doubt. They do the same thing in the Gospel of John:
So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” (John 2:18-19)
That’s the same reference as we have in our text – Jesus is speaking about HIS resurrection. “In three days I will raise it up.” Now he says “but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.”
II. The Sign of Jonah (v. 40)
What is the Sign of Jonah?
The book of Jonah is all about the need for repentance. Jonah himself needed to repent; he had gone astray from the Lord, doing his own thing, and going in the opposite direction of where the Lord wanted him to go. And the course correction, by means of a “dag gadol”—a giant fish—, brought Jonah to repentance; to a change of mind and a change of heart. Then, the people of Assyria, of Nineveh its capital, they hear the message of Jonah’s preaching: repent. Jonah was to “call out against their evil” and say “In forty days, Nineveh shall bd overthrown.” But, God spared the city as the people turned from their evil ways. “God relented of the disaster that he said he would do to them, and he did not do it.” So there is repentance of Jonah and repentance of Nineveh.
God now calls the Pharisees to repent, and indeed all people everywhere. And to prove that this call for repentance is from God, Jesus speaks of the Sign of Jonah.
In this, Jesus predicts his own death and resurrection, spaced THREE days apart.
To go down in the belly of the fish is to die and be put in a tomb.
To yet come back up to dry land, is to be resurrected from the dead.
Three days later Jonah is spit out on dry land; and three days later Jesus rises from the dead.
And Jesus’s case is even more remarkable. Jonah didn’t truly died; it was just “as if” he were dead. Jesus DIES and yet is raised back to life. THAT is a sign.
The pharisees wanted a sign. And when Jesus comes back to life, does that suffice? For most of them, no.
A double miracle. Jesus is resurrected AND his prophecy is fulfilled.
You want a sign? I’ll give you THE GREATEST SIGN. More than you’re even asking for.
That is “over-performing.” Going beyond what is asked for.
III. Behold, Something Greater. (v. 41-42)
In the last two verses of our passage, Jesus emphases that he is “something greater” that is now here on earth. This greatest person will give the greatest sign.
Jesus says;:
“behold, something greater than Jonah is here”
“behold, something greater than Solomon is here”
This is like the book of Hebrews. There the author speaks of the superiority of Christ over Abraham, Melchizedek, etc. Here we have Jesus in his own words saying the same thing.
So great, so momentous will be the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day that it will do more than bring the Queen of Sheba to travel to Israel. It will, in fact, change the whole word.
The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the singular most important event to ever occur in human history. This, I would think, must even be admitted by secular historians. Of course, they don’t believe Jesus rose from the dead; they do know that he died on the cross; they admit that. And so profound were these events that history changed. A new movement, the religion of God now came to the Gentiles and transformed the world. But even more than the political structures of the world changing because of Christianity, we have the changed heart of man because of Christ. And we have the forgiveness of man because of the cross.
You want a sign? Here is the greatest sign.
So we have a call to repentance.
Here’s what that looked like for Jonah: “I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me.” (Jonah 2:2-6)
And for the people of Nineveh here is what it looked like: “And the people of Nineveh believe God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.” (Jonah 3:5)
What does it look like for you?
The greatest proof, the greatest sign of who Christ is, is now known to us. What shall we do? Repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.
That is the good news, the great news. He who died, rose again. He bore your sons on the cross and conquered death that we would have eternal life.
Application 1: Jesus treats Jonah as a historical real figure, and the account of him as factual.
Application 2: The modern obsession with signs and wonders obscures and detracts from looking at Jesus.
I said previously, “Believers don’t go around constantly looking for affirmation from God about his existence, or need dig in archaeological sites to “prove” the Bible. We BELIEVE. Simple as that. “
We aren’t to be looking all over the world and interpreting things that happen as part of some prophecy; we are to look to the Scriptures.
I call this a modern obsession, but perhaps it has plagued man throughout the centuries. We have the Word of God, and yet people look to astrology or some televangelists prediction of the end of the world, rather than reading the Word of God and trusting in the Lord.
There are prophecy conferences; people following news for anything that looks like a fulfillment of the Bible.
We are instead, to look to Jesus.
Conclusion
There is a strong connection with 1 Corinthians 1:22-24.
There, not only do we have that warning that “Jews demand signs” but we find what the right alternative is: “be we preach Christ crucified.”
You want a sign?
Jesus says: Christ crucified.
He will die and rise again.
That is the greatest sign.
So no one can doubt that he is from above.
Know that the Lord is good. And the fruit of his good tree is our very salvation, as Jesus died and rose again for me and for you.