Welcome to the “But first, Bible.” daily devotional podcast with Dave Miers.
Today’s readings are Genesis 38-40 and Matthew 12:22-50.
I’m getting ready to preach at a youth conference from the book of Jonah, so thought I’d focus in on the paragraph in Matthew 12 where Jesus refers to the sign of Jonah.
Let me read it first,
[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. (ESV)
The religious leaders are demanding a sign from Jesus to prove his credentials. But Jesus responds sharply to their request condemning their generation. You want a sign? You’ve already been given signs, including the sign of Jonah.
What’s the sign of Jonah? Jesus says a couple things.
First, he links the time that Jonah was in the fish to the time that he will be buried in the ground. This is a remarkable statement from Jesus. It may not seem obvious if you were to go back and read Jonah, but it shows that Jesus knows the explicit reason that he has come. Jesus knows that central to his mission will be his crucifixion, burial, and resurrection. The events of the cross were not just a tragic sequence of events that caught Jesus by surprise, but this was all part of God’s plan to bring salvation to all who trust in him.
Second, Jesus says that the people of Nineveh will put this current generation to shame if they continue to reject him and his message. When Jonah finally went to Nineveh in obedience to God’s command, he spoke an 8-word sermon in Jonah 3. How did the Ninevites respond to this sermon? They believed and repented. They would have been judged if they rejected God’s message, so how much worse will it be for the generation standing before Jesus, because Jesus is so much greater than Jonah.
Remember Jesus’ audience: these are the scribes and Pharisees. They were experts in the law of God. Their job was to study the scriptures and see the many signs in the Old Testament pointing forward to the coming of Jesus.
For us today, it matters how we respond to Jesus. We can’t make demands of God that he will show us a sign. Christ has already come, there is nothing more we need to repent of our sin and trust in Jesus as our Saviour and King.
Until tomorrow, keep trusting Jesus.