The Sign of Jonah

Jesus answered them, "An evil and ungodly people looks for a miraculous sign but the only sign that will be given is the sign of Jonah the prophet. Exactly the same way Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights the Son of man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights."

He also gave them comparisons to show just how evil and ungodly they were:

Nineveh was a thoroughly ungodly city and the capitol of Assyria, the nation that had conquered and deported all of Israel.

"The people of Nineveh will stand in the great day of judgment with this nation and will condemn it because they repented when Jonah told them God was going to destroy them, and a greater prophet than Jonah is here.

"The queen of the South will stand in the great day of judgment with this nation and will condemn it because she traveled from a great distance to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and a wiser one than Solomon is here.

"When a demon has been cast out of a man, it wanders through desolate places seeking rest but it doesn't find any. So it decides to return to its former dwelling. It finds the man's mind unoccupied, cleaned and tidied. So it goes out and finds seven other demons more evil than itself and they all go and live in the man's mind and he is much worse off than he was before. So it is with this wicked and ungodly generation."

Just then someone told him told Him that His mother and brothers were outside and wished to talk to Him. Bur He answered, "Who is my mother and who are my brothers?" He indicated His disciples and the other followers around Him, "These are My mother and brothers and sisters; these who are doing and practicing the commands and desires of My Father in heaven.

Also around this time He went to the city of Nain with His disciples and a great crowd was about them. As the were approaching the city gate, a funeral procession was coming out. A young man had died who was the only son of his widowed mother and there was a large crowd of people with her.

Jesus felt very sorry for her; the only way for a widow with no sons to support her to survive in those days was to beg on the streets. He said to her, "Don't weep." He reached out and touched the bier and said, "Young man, I command you to rise." The dead son sat up immediately and began to talk and Jesus presented him alive to his mother. This produced great awe and fear in everyone there and they glorified God. They said, "A great prophet has certainly come among us; God is visiting His people." And the news of this spread throughout Judaea and all the surrounding countries.

Some of John the Baptist's disciples brought word of it to John who was in prison. John sent two of his disciples to Jesus to ask Him if He was the Messiah. (We don't know exactly why; perhaps his faith was not strong at the time or perhaps the two disciples he sent needed a lesson.) When they arrived, Jesus was in the midst of healing a number of people, casting out demons and restoring the sight to many blind. When they asked Him, Jesus said, "Go and tell John what you have just seen and heard for yourselves; the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the poor have the Gospel of the Kingdom of God preached to them.

As the disciples left, Jesus asked the crowd, "When you went out to the wilderness to see John, what did you expect to see, a reed blowing in the wind? A man dressed in elegant clothing? Those men live in luxury in palaces. Did you go out to see a prophet? Yes - John was far greater than a prophet. It was John who was written about in Malachi, 'Behold, I send my messenger out ahead of you to prepare the way before you.' No man born of woman has ever been greater than John the Baptist, but even the least person in the Kingdom of God is far greater then he. He is the fulfillment of the Elijah to come.

"So what shall I compare the people of this society to? They are just like little children playing in the marketplace. Some complain to others, 'We played a tune for you but you didn't dance.' John the Baptist came to you eating little and drinking no alcohol and you said he was possessed by a demon, but the Son of man comes eating well and drinking and you say, 'Look at him! a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners!'"

Life of Christ Part Fifteen - Teachings and Healings

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