Matthew 12:38-50, The Sign of Jonah

Consider words spoken by people in the Bible that condemned or justified them.

CONDEMNED	JUSTIFIED
Mt. 12:24: He casts out demons by Satan.	Mt. 16:16: You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.
Mt. 19:22: (no words)	Lk. 19:8: I give half my money to the poor, restore 4-fold.
Lk. 18:11-12: I'm glad I'm not like others.	Lk. 18:13: God be merciful to me, a sinner.
Lk. 23:39: If you are the Son of God, save yourself and us.	Lk. 23:40-41: We are sinners; Lord, remember me.
Lk. 12:45: My master is delayed in His coming.	Mt. 27:54: Truly this was the Son of God.
Acts 24:25: When I have a more convenient time I'll listen.
Acts 26:28: You almost persuade me to become a Christian.

Now compare these to the request of the leaders in Mt. 12:38: Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.  Jesus has shown many signs and they rejected them all.  To ask for more is obvious hypocrisy or simply trying to start an argument.  Jesus knows their evil hearts.  Thus, He says they will get no sign except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 

Before we talk about the sign of Jonah, note that Jesus refers to two OT stories with a similar theme.  In the first (Jonah) the people of Ninevah, gentiles, Israel’s enemy, repented at Jonah’s preaching.  In the second (Solomon) the queen of the South (Queen of Sheba, 1 Ki. 10:1-13) sought out the wisdom of Solomon who spoke for God.  Then, as Jesus always does, He made those two stories about Himself and the current situation: a greater than Jonah/Solomon is here!  Jesus is not bragging; He is speaking essential truth.  Again, if they reject Jesus, they have no Savior.

This is born out in the sign of the prophet Jonah.  What is that sign?  Of course, Jesus is referring to His resurrection.  As Jonah was three days and night in the belly of the fish, so will Jesus be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.  Keep this in the context of the rejection Jesus is seeing in Matt. 12.  He knows that the result of their rejection of Him will be His suffering and death AND RESURRECTION. Jesus is acknowledging they will reject Him and that their only hope will be to acknowledge Him when He is raised from the dead.  That is, if fact, the greatest sign of Jesus’ identity as the God-Man, as the Savior of the world, as Lord and Christ. 

What does this mean to us today, two thousand years after His resurrection?  It means we have all the proof we need, all the proof we will be given, that salvation is found only in Jesus of Nazareth.  You may have turned over a new leaf.  You may claim some kind of family privilege.  None of this matters.  The only question is and will be: have you believed on the Lord Jesus Christ?