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.