Focus: Jesus’ death and resurrection is a sign from heaven, calling us to respond with faith and repentance to Jesus and his Word.
Function: The death and resurrection of Jesus propels us to put our faith in Christ as the Son of God, the Savior of the world.
Text: Matthew 12:38-42; Luke 11:29-32
My grandparents on my mother’s side had a total of 10 children. A number of these children, including my mother, have lived as Christians all their lives. They believed in the Lord Jesus Christ and they worshiped the triune God. A few of my uncles, however, did not profess Christ; they disassociated themselves from the church. They never grew hostile to the Christian faith, but they never thought it was important or relevant to them.
How do you explain the faith of some of my aunts and uncles, and how do you explain the unbelief of the others? Oh, I know, we could go the route of divine election and acknowledge God’s sovereign grace and electing love as the foundation of faith. And we may conclude that God did not predestine my other relatives to salvation in Christ Jesus.
That salvation in Christ Jesus is God’s work of grace from the beginning to the end—I wholeheartedly affirm. But I also affirm that God calls for a response of faith by all people. And that God holds us
all accountable for our unbelief and sinful acts of rebellion, I also affirm in light of Scripture. No one will perish eternally without having to blame himself or herself for their sins and rejection of faith in the triune God. Many Christians, then, are mystified or puzzled by the mystery of faith and unbelief.
Of course, there are many unbelievers who also are puzzled or mystified. They can’t figure out why you and I can believe in such stories as Jonah being swallowed by a huge fish, and then being spat out three days later, alive and well! “How can you believe that?” they ask. Or, they point to the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection, and they think that we are insane or infantile in our thinking to claim that Jesus really conquered death and walked out of that tomb. “That’s impossible,” they say. For many unbelievers, then, the scripture’s teaching of the resurrection from the dead is a stumbling block of faith.
Yet, the scripture tells us today that Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is a sign from heaven, calling us to respond with faith and repentance to Jesus and his Word. In other words, Jesus’ resurrection from the dead should function—NOT as a stumbling block, but as a positive sign propelling us to put our faith in Christ as the Son of God, the Savior of the world.
Let’s make some observations from the two gospel texts:
a. First of all, the two gospel passages that we read are more or less identical in length and content. Yet, Both Matthew and Luke give us some specific clues to highlight Jesus’ teaching. For example, both gospel writers make reference to Jesus’ audience. Matthew specifies that Jesus’ audience consists of “some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law.”
Luke, however, simply informs us that Jesus was addressing a multitude of people. In his response to the Pharisees and teachers of the law, and in his response to the large crowds mentioned in the gospel of Luke, Jesus equates his audience with “this is a wicked generation.” In other words, the large crowds and the specific Pharisees and teachers of the law are representative of Jesus’ contemporaries. Jesus refers to the people of Israel in his days as a wicked generation. Secondly,
b. Jesus’ miracles are not enough to convince his contemporaries. The Jews are asking for a miraculous sign. But where were they when Jesus turned water into wine? When Jesus fed a large multitude with five loaves of bread and two fish? And where were they when Jesus drove out an evil spirit from a mute man? What more signs of heavenly or divine power must Jesus display in order to convince the religious leaders that he, indeed, is the Son of God, and that they must respond with faith to Jesus?
The religious leaders decided that Jesus’ earlier miracles were not from heaven, but from hell, that is, done by the power of Beelzebub, the lord of the flies. They explained Jesus’ miracles as demonic acts. They refused to see the divine hand or finger of God at work in Jesus. So, they sought a miraculous sign—a bonafide sign from heaven. Thirdly,
c. Jesus’ response is very telling and gets to the core of the Jews’ religious beliefs. For example, in Jesus’ response to his audience, Jesus appeals to their history. He speaks of Jonah and the Ninevites; he points to King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba—all historical figures who do not need an introduction. Jesus’ contemporaries know these characters and their stories.
Also, the Lord Jesus points to the final judgment day. The people of Israel believed in the coming of the “Son of Man,” a great, divine figure who would come at the end of time and execute judgment over all the earth. The prophet Daniel spoke of this coming of the Son of Man. And the people in Jesus’ days accepted that prophecy as part of their faith.
Thus we see Jesus connecting himself with the Jewish story of faith. Jesus inserts himself in the narrative, the religious story or faith of God’s people, and thus Jesus confronts his audience with a very challenging reply to their request for a miraculous sign: “This is a wicked generation. It asks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of man be to this generation…The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here.” Yes, Jesus gets to the heart of the Scriptures and the Jewish faith.
THE SIGN OF JONAH
In the gospel of Luke, we do not find a further explanation of the “sign of Jonah.” But Matthew elaborates on Jesus’ teaching saying “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
Here is what I find so striking in Jesus’ response to his audience:
Here’s another striking thing in Jesus’ response:
This is what Jesus implies when he says to his audience that Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites. And just as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so Jesus will be a sign to his generation (and to us today). For as Jonah was delivered from a certain death, so Jesus was raised from the dead. And just as the Ninevites took seriously that sign, namely Jonah’s word and story, so you and I must take seriously Jesus’ word and story. For Jesus is greater than Jonah, greater than Solomon. Jesus is the Son of God.
As Jonah’s death and resurrection story was an impetus of faith for the Ninevites, so Jesus’ death and resurrection is the driving force for us to take Jesus’ word and works seriously. Do not stumble over Jesus’ death and resurrection; rather, embrace it as a sign—that Jesus is greater than Jonah. That Jesus is truly who he says he is: the Son of the living God!
In fact, as one commentator has pointed out (Hendriksen, p. 535): Jesus’ contemporaries should have repented even more so than the Ninevites. Why? Consider. Jonah was a minor figure, an unknown, foreign prophet from Israel. Jesus, however, is the Son of God who reveals himself as such even with divine miracles.
Again, Jonah was a sinful, foolish and rebellious person. But Jesus is completely sinless, filled with wisdom and compassion. Again, Jonah’s message was one of doom. Jesus, however, presents a word of grace and pardon, of salvation full and free. Again, Jonah did not do any miracles or authenticating signs to confirm his message. Jesus, however, performed miracles many times to reinforce his message.
And again, Jonah’s message was addressed to a people with none of the advantages that the scribes, Pharisees and their followers had enjoyed. In other words, Jesus’ own countrymen enjoyed so many spiritual advantages over the Ninevites. Clearly, the people of Jesus’ days have no excuse. Jonah’s sign and story points to Jesus’ story. And Jesus is far greater than the prophet Jonah. Therefore, take Jesus seriously!
What about us today? What about some of my aunts and uncles? Do they have a good excuse for NOT believing in the Lord Jesus Christ? I don’t think so.
On the final judgment day, the Son of Man will not let them off the hook. Neither will you and I have any valid excuse for not putting our faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Take his death and resurrection seriously. It is a sign. It is a driving, compelling, mighty act of God that should drive us on our knees and beg God for mercy and forgiveness. For the death and resurrection of Jesus opens up the way of eternal life, the way of forgiveness, the way of reconciliation and healing and wholeness. Jesus’ resurrection from the dead makes all the difference in how we face life, and in how we go through the circumstances of life.
One final comment: faith in the risen Lord Jesus Christ is vigorous, not passive, not half-hearted, half baked, half this or half that. Faith in the risen Christ calls for true repentance. My unbelieving aunts and uncles never claimed to be atheists and they never thought of themselves as non-believers. They simply did not think that Jesus’ life and story was very relevant to them. So they thought of Jesus as a “good man,” a profound teacher, and philosopher perhaps.
A living faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, having died for my sins, and having been raised from the dead, however, propels us to live for Jesus with every fiber of our being. Faith in Jesus calls for a life of gratitude that reveals itself in acts of worship, service, and love.
Faith in Jesus is meant to be robust, vibrant, energizing, passionate, and tenacious, steadfast and ever focused on that wondrous core act of the Christian faith: “Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again!” To him we belong! Him we shall serve, in life and in death. And that’s why we pay attention to the sign of Jonah!
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.