But as the crowds thronged together, he began to say, This generation is a wicked generation it seeks a sign, and a sign shall not be given to it but the sign of Jonas.
The crowds press in around Jesus, and He answers with a verdict, not a welcome. Why is asking for proof called evil? And why is Jonah the one sign He gives?
One writer points out what they were choosing over God's word.
Instead of keeping the Word of God, they were seeking outward signs. They wanted something they could see, something they could touch and have among them — not only present, but earthly and suited to the world.
They asked as though Jesus had shown them nothing. Their plea of missing proof put the blame for their unbelief on God.
The Lord had given signs in plenty (John 2:23). His works were well known, and they proved that the Father had sent Him (John 5:36). But stubborn unbelievers would make God responsible for their sin. They claimed they could not believe because the evidence so far was not enough. Now the people Luke writes about tested the Lord and asked Him for a sign from heaven. But they did not know who they were dealing with. The One they asked read their hearts and searched them through and through.
What they wanted was a sign from heaven. What He offers comes from the opposite direction.
The sign of Jonah was not a sign from heaven but a sign from the deep, from the depth of the sea! Jonah in the fish's belly pointed to Christ going into death (Matt. 12:40). The sign they needed was not a jaw-dropping miracle but the Son of Man enduring death for the sins of others. Even against such hardness and opposition, the Lord graciously presents Himself as the One who had come to suffer for sinners and save them.
Jesus also takes a title for Himself here. One writer points out that Jonah prophesied in Israel but was sent to the Gentiles at Nineveh. In the same way, the refused Messiah takes the place of Son of Man, despised and rejected by people (William Kelly).
Matthew and Luke press the Jonah sign in different directions.
Matthew 12 speaks of Jonah spending three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish. That pictures the death and resurrection of Christ — a great sign indeed, yet ignored by Israel. Luke stresses instead that Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites. Here his preaching comes first, the preaching that produced repentance, and that among Gentiles. In the same way, the emphasis here is on the Word of God, which works in power to produce repentance and faith.
That changes where responsibility falls. Nineveh turned with no miracle at all, so a spoken message is enough to leave hearers accountable.
Jonah was a sign here, not as in the whale's belly, but as preaching without any miracle to the Ninevites, who repented even though they were uneducated pagans. In the same way the pagan Queen of Sheba wanted wisdom so much that she came to Solomon to hear him, with no miracle or sign as evidence — and one greater than Solomon was there. The first point is who are blessed, then the responsibility, and then the reason for its rejection and darkness.
One writer draws out what Jonah's presence meant for Nineveh, and what it meant for the people around Jesus.
Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites. His presence among them meant that judgment was coming, and only their repentance could turn it away. It was the same with that generation. The Son of Man was to that generation what Jonah had been to the people of Nineveh.
The phrase does not just mean the people alive that decade. It describes a type of person, and that is why the words reach beyond the first century.
The word "generation" is used in a moral sense and not a literal one. It means people of a certain type and character, just as the Lord used the word in Mark 9:19 and in Luke 11:29. The unbelieving generation will not pass away until the Lord's second coming, and neither will the generation of those who seek the Lord.
- Wanted: a sign they could see and touch, asked for in place of hearing and keeping God's word.
- Refused: saying the proof was not enough made God answerable for their unbelief. Christ read the heart behind the question.
- Given: one sign only, and not from heaven as they demanded, but from the deep — the Son of Man going into death for sinners.
- Widened: Jonah prophesied in Israel, but God sent him to Nineveh. The refused Messiah takes the name Son of Man, and Luke points to the preaching that turned Gentiles.
- Weighed: Nineveh repented with no miracle at all, so a word alone leaves hearers responsible. And "this generation" names a character, not an era.
For as Jonas was a sign to the Ninevites, thus shall also the Son of man be to this generation.
The crowd wanted proof — something they could see before they would believe. Jesus gives them one sign only, and it points to a prophet sent to a foreign city, and to Himself.
They were not short of God's word. What they wanted was something for the eyes.
Instead of keeping the Word of God, they were seeking outward tokens. They wanted something they could see and touch, an object right there among them — not only present, but earthly and suited to the world.
The sign was not a wonder Jonah performed. It was the man himself, and where he had come from.
They were asking for a sign as though no signs had been given to them. Only one sign remained for them. He calls it "the sign of the prophet Jonah." Jonah preached to the Ninevites, but he was also a sign to them. He appeared among them as one who had come up out of what looked like certain death. The Son of Man was about to go into actual death and come forth in resurrection, and that was the greatest of all signs.
Jonah's arrival in Nineveh was itself a warning. It told them what was coming, and what they had to do.
Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites. His presence among them meant judgment was coming, to be turned away only by their repentance. So it was with that generation. The Son of Man was to that generation what Jonah had been to the people of Nineveh. Now, the Ninevites had repented. But the people in the Lord's day, as a people, had not.
Jesus names Jonah — the prophet sent away from Israel to a foreign city. One writer draws out what that choice meant for Israel.
What was the special feature of Jonah as a prophet? To whom did he prophesy? He was sent away from Israel to the Gentiles. And more than that: before Jonah could carry out his message rightly, he had to pass through the figure of death and resurrection… This is the sign which the Lord puts before the Pharisees. The Jewish nation was in such a state that He must leave them and go to the Gentiles — and that after a real death and resurrection, when Israel's hopes had perished.
Jesus calls Himself "the Son of Man" here, not Son of David. Writers see a reason behind the name.
A quick look is enough to teach us why the Lord took this title. The people of Israel did not accept the kingdom of God which He proclaimed. On the contrary, He Himself was met with personal hatred. That hatred reached its peak in His crucifixion under a coalition of Jews and Gentiles, and in view of this He took the name Son of Man — a title of wider limits than Son of David.
Nineveh answered its sign by repenting. One writer says Israel has not yet answered its own.
The sign of Jonah, or of the Son of Man, must be fully answered in them, as the sign of Jonah was in the Ninevites. It is not yet answered, and so the Ninevites still judge them. But we know that it will be by and by. As Jonah's sin has been the sign of Israel's sin, so will his repentance be of their repentance.
Nineveh heard Jonah and turned. One writer puts the same question to the reader.
If these men repented at the preaching of this risen man who brought them the Word of God, my friend, what will be the effect on you? You hear of Jesus, God's only Son, who died for sinners such as you.
- Sign refused — they wanted "outward tokens" they could see, and would not keep the word God had already spoken.
- Sign given — not a miracle, but a man who "had come up out of what looked like certain death."
- Sign meaning — his presence announced judgment, "to be turned away only by their repentance."
- Sign widened — Jonah was sent away from Israel to the nations. "Son of Man" is likewise a title "of wider limits than Son of David."
- Sign answered — Nineveh repented. Israel's answer, one writer says, is still ahead.
A queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and shall condemn them for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, more than Solomon is here.
Jesus answers a crowd demanding a miraculous sign by pointing back to a foreign queen who needed no sign at all. Her long journey to Solomon sets the standard for His own generation. The test is not knowledge, but desire.
Their demand for a sign says more about them than about the One they questioned. One writer sets the queen's hunger beside their hardness:
Her coming tested the state of her soul. It proved the love of wisdom was in her heart, since a mere distant report about it moved her so much. The Pharisees had asked for a sign, the sure witness of a bad state of mind... they were starving in a land of plenty, simply because they had no desire. They were asking for signs right in the middle of the wonders of the hand of Christ. She took a long journey from a barren land, at the mere report of God's provisions in a distant country. With a true thirst of soul she used what she had, though it was little. They were reproaching the Lord, as though He had given them nothing, while His bounties were all around them.
The title Jesus gives her points to a real place and a real journey.
The country from where the queen came who visited Solomon. She brought gold, precious stones, and a great store of spices. The Lord spoke of her as "the queen of the south." 1 Kings 10:1-13; 2 Chr. 9:1, 3, 9, 12; Matt. 12:42; Luke 11:31.
She was no insider. Whatever advantages Israel enjoyed, she had none of them:
As to herself, we may presume she had never heard the voice of a prophet, or seen the oracles of God. She had no advantages (as we speak) from education, and was a complete stranger to the God of Israel. Her soul had, therefore, only a slender stock to trade with. She had simply, in her own land, heard of Solomon, his acts and his wisdom. This was all she had; but with such small provisions, she was ready to take a long untried journey.
Some readers stumble here. They picture Solomon's splendour next to the lowliness of Jesus. But that misses what drew her:
Some have found the words about someone greater than Solomon difficult, because they did not read them closely. I remember someone asking me about it. They contrasted the glory of Solomon with the lowliness of Jesus. I pointed out to him, she did not come to see the glory of Solomon but to hear his wisdom. It is not glory here but wisdom. It does say about the fame of Solomon that it was "concerning the name of the LORD". So Christ was here concerned with the name of God and all that was due to Him.
She had none of the proof the crowd was demanding:
This showed her earnestness of purpose to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Solomon, the wise and wealthy son of David, did not speak as the vessel of the Word of God in his ordinary talk, as the Lord Jesus did. Yet she came with no miracle to attract her and no sign to guide or confirm her, and she heard the wisdom of Solomon.
Her hard road throws their easy refusal into relief. She travelled; they only had to listen.
The Queen of Sheba came a long way to hear the wisdom of a servant of God. The men standing around Jesus as He spoke were unwilling to listen to the wisdom of the Son of God. They needed no hard journey at all. The Eternal Son had come from Heaven into their very streets. The rejection of Him, greater than Jonah, and greater than Solomon, is the ruin of men. "Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God" (John 3:18).
The verdict falls because outsiders valued what insiders would not:
Poor, ignorant Gentiles understood the wisdom of God in His word better than His beloved people did. That was true whether His word came through the prophet or the king. It was true even when the Great King and Prophet was among them.
The point is not geography but appetite:
We may desire for ourselves, though in a land of plenty and not in distant Sheba, that we may have the same hearty value for everything of God. This is the most excellent condition. "To love what is good is better than knowing much about it." It is better to desire wisdom than to have gathered a large store of knowledge or information. It is better to have quick and lively spiritual tastes and senses than to have a great supply of food for them.
- Small light. She had no prophet, no Scriptures, no miracle — only a report, and she acted on it.
- Long journey. Desire, not evidence, carried her from the ends of the earth. A mere report proved that the love of wisdom was in her heart.
- Wisdom sought. She came to hear, not to see splendour — the comparison is about wisdom, not display.
- Greater present. Those around Jesus needed no journey. The greater One had come into their streets, and they would not listen.
- Sure verdict. She used little light, and she will condemn those who despised much. Valuing God's word counts for more than a store of knowledge.
Men of Nineveh shall stand up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and behold, more than Jonas is here.
A crowd presses in on Jesus and demands a sign. He answers by pointing to a pagan city that believed a far smaller message. The men of Nineveh become witnesses against His hearers. Why should hearing God's word count for more than seeing wonders?
The people around Jesus had God's word speaking to them, and asked instead for something they could see. One commentator names what they really wanted:
Instead of keeping the Word of God, they were seeking outward tokens. They wanted something they could see, an object they could touch, right there among them — not only present but earthly and suited to the world.
Nineveh was a foreign city under sentence, warned by a prophet who first ran from the job. That is what makes the comparison bite:
Then, again, there are the men of Nineveh themselves, from that great city which came to destruction in the end. "The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah." They were willing to own their own evil, their sinfulness, their forgetful ignorance of God. And they did this at the preaching of Jonah — a prophet far from faithful himself, who tried to escape from the mission on which God sent him. "And behold, something greater than Jonah is here." But where were the men of this generation, and what were they? Did they repent?
Jonah's whole sermon was eight words of warning. The response ran from the king downward, and one writer traces what happened inside the people:
Jonah preached a remarkable sermon to the Ninevites: "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown." They all "put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them" (Jonah 3:5). There never was a sermon in the world's history that produced such an effect as Jonah's eight words. The whole people of Nineveh, from the king and his nobles downward, repented. The Book of Jonah says they "believed God" (3:5), and the Lord Jesus says they "repented" (Luke 11:32)... They believed God when He warned them of coming judgment, and so they repented. As has been well said, "Repentance is the teardrop in the eye of faith."
The sign of Jonah is usually pictured as three days inside a fish. One writer puts the weight somewhere else, and draws out what that costs the hearer:
Jonah was a sign here, not in the whale's belly, but as a preacher without any miracle to the Ninevites. They could not read and did not know God, yet they repented... The point of this passage is to show the responsibility that rests on the preaching of Christ.
Jesus does not put Himself one step above Jonah. He puts Himself in another category. Two writers press this from different ends. The first weighs the comparison:
Jonah was a preacher without miracles to Nineveh, which repented and was saved. Solomon, too, did no signs; yet the queen of the south came from far to hear his wisdom. Does not all this condemn that generation? A greater than Solomon or Jonah was there. What was the preaching of the one or the wisdom of the other compared with the light of God in Christ?
The second draws out where refusing such a Speaker leaves a person:
The Queen of Sheba came a long way to hear the wisdom of a servant of God. The men around the Speaker were unwilling to listen to the wisdom of the Son of God. No hard journey was necessary in their case; the Eternal Son had come from Heaven into their very streets. The rejection of Him, greater than Jonah, and greater than Solomon, is the ruin of men.
The warning is not sealed inside the first century. One commentator turns the verse on his own readers, and on what refused light brings:
The Ninevites were heathen; the Jews were God's chosen people, and He who came to His own was their own Messiah... but they turned a deaf ear to His pleading cries. What clearer demonstration could there have been of the utter depravity of their hearts? And are "the men of this generation" any better?... A few here and there, through grace; but the mass, the world, is as unfeeling today as it was in the days of our Lord... If only people understood better that light and privileges only bring greater responsibility, and greater condemnation, when the light is refused and the privileges are despised.
- Less light, more response. Nineveh had no miracle, no knowledge of God, and a reluctant preacher — and repented anyway.
- Faith first. They believed God first, and repentance followed. It is the teardrop in the eye of faith.
- Word over wonders. The sign here is preaching with no miracle. That puts the responsibility on the hearer.
- Greater than Jonah. Jonah's preaching and Solomon's wisdom are nothing beside the light of God in Christ. He stood in their own street.
- Condemned by comparison. Those who repented on less will rise as witnesses. Refused light only adds to what we must answer for.