Humble Sign, Glorious Savior—Matthew 12:38-45

Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.”

By this point in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus has done a lot of miracles. The scribes and the Pharisees had seen, or heard of, plenty of healings and that sort of thing. But they demanded something more. I guess they wanted to see something more dramatic, like the signs that Moses gave to Pharaoh. Maybe they would have been more impressed if Jesus turned the Jordan river into blood.

Jesus’ answer to them boils down to this: Jesus' life, death, and resurrection will prove that he is the trustworthy prophet and wise king that every sinner needs.

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. 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.

Jesus denies and grants their request at the same time. On the one hand, he says he will give them a sign. On the other hand, the sign he picks is not the kind they are looking for. It will be like a miracle that happened to an Old Testament prophet, Jonah -- not a miracle that Jonah did, but a miracle that happened to him. Jonah was swallowed by a sea monster of some kind because of his rebellion against God -- not very impressive -- even shameful! Likewise, the sign that Jesus will give is not impressive: it is humble, even pitiful: He will spend three days in the tomb. (“Three days and three nights” was a normal Hebrew way of saying, “day and night, for three days in a row.” Jesus only spent two nights in the tomb, and Jonah likely spent only two nights in the whale.)

And yet, this “sign of Jonah” will be greater than all the signs that God did to Egypt. It will prove not only God’s power, but also his mercy, when Jesus gives himself up to die in the place of his sinful people, and God, accepting his sacrifice, raises him from the dead to eternal life.

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.

The men of Nineveh repented at the preaching of Jonah. Evil Nineveh, a wicked city, repented when this prophet appeared, no longer dripping with seawater, but possibly still smelling like fish, crying out, “Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” and hoping that they would not repent but would be destroyed. Yet they repented.

And, Jesus says, something greater than Jonah is here. He may have said it with a twinkle in his eye. “Greater than the reluctant, swallowed prophet” is an odd title to claim. And yet, he may have said it with sorrow, too, knowing that his sufferings would also be greater than Jonah’s.

Jesus’ generation did not repent at the preaching of Jonah, but you should repent at the preaching of Jesus. And don’t just repent of the sins of your former life. Repent of yesterday’s and today’s sins too.

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.

The queen of the South (the Queen of Sheba) heard reports of Solomon’s wisdom from a great distance, and she understood that his wisdom was a special gift from the true God. The Pharisees had seen Jesus with their own eyes, but they didn’t appreciate his wisdom at all. And you have read some of his wisdom, maybe a lot. Do you recognize it, as the Queen of the South did, as God's wisdom come down to earth?

Jesus says, “Something greater than Solomon is here.” Jonah was a prophet, Solomon was a king, and earlier in Matthew, Jesus said, “Something greater than the temple is here.” Jesus claims it all. “Gentle and lowly” though he is, he claims to supersede all the institutions of the Old Covenant, which serve their purpose when they point to him.

So come to Jesus, like the Queen of the South came to Solomon. Don’t miss out on the source of true wisdom.

But Jesus has one more caution word for the scribes and Pharisees:

“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.”

In this illustration, an outcast demon checks on his old home, and finds it empty and ready for his return. It looks so nice that he tells all his friends, and brings them too. It’s a funny but chilling thought. And all the while that Jesus tells this, the Pharisees are wondering, “Why is he saying this? Is this about the man he cast the demon out of earlier in the chapter?” (Of course, they didn’t know they would be in a chapter at all -- but they knew about the man.)

No, Jesus says, it isn’t about him. It’s about you. It’s about the evil generation as a whole, which generally rejected him. Jesus has brought heaven down to them, and for a while he has made Galilee like heaven on earth. But most of them haven’t repented and believed. Jesus says, when I leave, because you didn’t repent, it will be worse for you than it was before I came.

People need more than miracles, signs, healings, and help. You need more. You need evil out, but you also need Jesus in. You need to be filled with his Holy Spirit. And you can be. Throw out your own ideas of God and how he ought to help you, and come face to face with the Savior he sent: humble, lowly, suffering, willing and obedient and loving, unlike Jonah, but walking in Jonah’s painful footsteps, suffering as Jonah suffered. Wise like rich Solomon, but poor like a beggar on the streets. And yet, triumphant, stepping out of the tomb, resurrected, vindicated, the trustworthy prophet, his word proven true, the glorious king, his throne secure forever. Invite him in. Never ask him to leave.

And walk as he walked -- not seeking glory for yourself, but obedient to God, showing the mercy of God to those around you, who need it like you.

Pastor Nate Jeffries