Then certain of the scribes and Pharisees answered, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.”
Parallel Translations
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Then certain of the scribes and Pharisees answered, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.”
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Then answered certeyne of the scribes and of the Pharises sayinge: Master we wolde fayne se a sygne of the.
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Then answered certaine of ye Scribes and of the Pharises, saying, Master, we would see a signe of thee.
Cross-references (8)
Passages linked to Matthew 12:38 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 Corinthians 1:22 For Jews ask for signs, Greeks seek after wisdom,
- Mark 8:11-12 The Pharisees came out and began to question him, seeking from him a sign from heaven, and testing him. He sighed deeply in his spirit, and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Most certainly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.”
- Luke 11:16 Others, testing him, sought from him a sign from heaven.
- Luke 11:29 When the multitudes were gathering together to him, he began to say, “This is an evil generation. It seeks after a sign. No sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah, the prophet.
- John 2:18 The Jews therefore answered him, “What sign do you show us, seeing that you do these things?”
- Matthew 16:1-4 The Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing him, asked him to show them a sign from heaven. But he answered them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ In the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but you can’t discern the signs of the times! An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and there will be no sign given to it, except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” He left them, and departed.
- John 4:48 Jesus therefore said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders, you will in no way believe.”
- John 6:30 They said therefore to him, “What then do you do for a sign, that we may see and believe you? What work do you do?
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Against froward desires of miracles.
Against froward desires of miracles.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 38 Then certain of the scribes and of the…
38 Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee.
Ver. 38. Then certain of the scribes and Pharisees] Had not these, as one said of Nero, os ferreum, cor plumbeum, an iron face, a leaden heart, that could call for a sign after so many signs? But it is a sign from heaven they would have (as Moses called for manna from thence, Samuel for rain, Elijah for fire, &c.), and much the nearer they would have been should our Saviour have gratified them. But he never meant it. They were now so clearly convinced of their blasphemy that they had nothing to say for themselves, but fawningly to call him Master, whom before they had called Beelzebub; and to pretend themselves to be willing to learn, if they might see a sign. They could not see wood for trees, as they say. And who so blind as he that will not see? Sic fit, ubi homines maiorem vitae partem in tenebris agunt, ut novissime solem quasi supervacuum fastidiant, saith Seneca. Men that have lived long in the dark may think the sun superfluous.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain We read the like to this Mat 16:1, and…
We read the like to this Mat 16:1, and Luke seemeth to relate the same history, Luk 11:29.
Master was the usual title which they gave to any whom they owned as a teacher. By
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a sign they mean something that might confirm unto them that he was sent of God; they expected that an extraordinary mission should be so confirmed: so Joh 6:33, What sign showest thou then, that we might see and believe thee? What dost thou work? Moses showed them signs, (as they there go on), he brought down for them bread from heavens. Had not Christ showed them signs enough? What were all the miracles he had wrought in their sight? They either speak this out of a further idle curiosity, (their eye being not satisfied with seeing), or else they speak it in direct opposition to the whole scope and tendency of our Saviour’s former discourse, which was from his miracles to prove himself truly God, and sent of God: if the latter, which seemeth from our Saviour’s sharp answer most probable, the sum of what they say is this, Master, we have seen thee do wonderful works, but no other than what impostors may do by the assistance of the devil; we would see something done by thee which magicians cannot do, such as Moses did, Exo 8:19, when the magicians confessed they were outdone, and cried, This is the finger of God.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain Observe here, 1. The request which the Pharisees make…
Observe here, 1. The request which the Pharisees make to Christ; Master, we would see a sign from thee. But had not Christ showed them signs enough already? What were all the miracles wrought in their sight, but convincing signs that he was the true Messias? But infidelity mixed with obstinacy is never satisfied.
Observe, 2. Our Saviour’s answer to the Pharisees’ request: he tells them that they should have one sign more, to wit, that of his resurrection from the dead: For as Jonas lay buried three days in the whale’s belly, and was then wonderfully restored, so should (and did) our Saviour continue in the grave again.
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Observe, 3. How Christ declares the inexcusableness of their state, who would not be convinced by the former miracles he had wrought that he was the true Messiah; nor yet be brought to believe in him by this last sign or miracle of his resurrection.
The Ninevites shall condemn the Pharisees, they repented at the preaching of Jonas; but these would not be convinced by the preaching and miracles of Jesus.
The queen of Sheba, who also came from the south to hear and admire the wisdom of Solomon, shall rise up in judgment against those that reject Christ, who is the Wisdom of the Father; and the doctrine delivered by him, which was the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
Learn, That the sins of infidelity and impenitency are exceedingly heightened, and their guilt aggravated, from the means afforded by God to bring a people to faith and obedience. The sin of the Pharisees in rejecting Christ’s miracles and ministry, was by far greater than that of the Ninevites, had they rejected Jonah’s message and ministry sent by God amongst them.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain It is probable that these Pharisees with whom Christ…
It is probable that these Pharisees with whom Christ is here in discourse were not the same that cavilled at him (Mat 12:24), and would not credit the signs he gave; but another set of them, who saw that there was no reason to discredit them, but would not content themselves with the signs he gave, nor admit the evidence of them, unless he would give them such further proof as they should demand. Here is,
I. Their address to him, Mat 12:38. They compliment him with the title of Master, pretending respect for him, when they intended to abuse him; all are not indeed Christ's servants, who call him Master. Their request is, We would see a sign from thee. It was highly reasonable that they should see a sign, that he should by miracles prove his divine mission: see Exo 4:8, Exo 4:9. He came to take down a model of religion that was set up by miracles, and therefore it was requisite he should produce the same credentials; but it was highly unreasonable to demand a sign now, when he had given so many signs already, that did abundantly prove him sent of God. Note, It is natural to proud men to prescribe to God, and then to make that an excuse for not subscribing to him; but a man's offence will never be his defence.
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II. His answer to this address, this insolent demand,
1. He condemns the demand, as the language of an evil and adulterous generation, Mat 12:39. He fastens the charge, not only on the scribes and Pharisees, but the whole nation of the Jews; they were all like their leaders, a seed and succession of evil-doers: they were an evil generation indeed, that not only hardened themselves against the conviction of Christ's miracles, but set themselves to abuse him, and put contempt on his miracles. They were an adulterous generation, (1.) As an adulterous brood; so miserably degenerated from the faith and obedience of their ancestors, that Abraham and Israel acknowledged them not. See Isa 57:3. Or, (2.) As an adulterous wife; they departed from that God, to whom by covenant they had been espoused: they were not guilty of the whoredom of idolatry, as they had been before the captivity, but they were guilty of infidelity, and all iniquity, and that is whoredom too: they did not look after gods of their own making, but they looked for signs of their own devising; and that was adultery.
2. He refuses to give them any other sign than he has already given them, but that of the prophet Jonas. Note, Though Christ is always ready to hear and answer holy desires and prayers, yet he will not gratify corrupt lusts and humours. Those who ask amiss, ask, and have not. Signs were granted to those who desired them for the confirmation of their faith, as to Abraham and Gideon; but were denied to those who demanded them for the excuse of their unbelief.
Justly might Christ have said, They shall never see another miracle: but see his wonderful goodness; (1.) They shall have the same signs still repeated, for their further benefit, and more abundant conviction. (2.) They shall have one sign of a different kind from all these, and that is, the resurrection of Christ from the dead by his own power, called here the sign of the prophet Jonas this was yet reserved for their conviction, and was intended to be the great proof of Christ's being the Messiah; for by that he was declared to be the Son of God with power, Rom 1:4. That was such a sign as surpassed all the rest, completed and crowned them. "If they will not believe the former signs, they will believe this (Exo 4:9), and if this will not convince them, nothing will." And yet the unbelief of the Jews found out an evasion to shift off that too, by saying, His disciples came and stole him away; for none are so incurably blind as those who are resolved they will not see.
Now this sign of the prophet Jonas he further explains here; (Mat 12:40) As Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, and then came out again safe and well, thus Christ shall be so long in the grave, and then shall rise again. [1.] The grave was to Christ as the belly of the fish was to Jonah; thither he was thrown, as a Ransom for lives ready to be lost in a storm; there he lay, as in the belly of hell (Jon 2:2), and seemed to be cast out of God's sight. [2.] He continued in the grave just as long as Jonah continued in the fish's belly, three days and three nights; not three whole days and nights: it is probable, Jonah did not lie so long in the whale's belly, but part of three natural days (nuchthēmerai, the Greeks called them); he was buried in the afternoon of the sixth day of the week, and rose again in the morning of the first day; it is a manner of speech very usual; see Kg1 20:29; Est 4:16; Est 5:1; Luk 2:21. So long Jonah was a prisoner for his own sins, so long Christ was a Prisoner for ours. [3.] As Jonah in the whale's belly comforted himself with an assurance that yet he should look again toward God's holy temple (Jon 2:4), so Christ when he lay in the grave, is expressly said to rest in hope, as one assured he should not see corruption, Act 2:26, Act 2:27. [4.] As Jonah on the third day was discharged from his prison, and came to the land of the living again, from the congregation of the dead (for dead things are said to be formed from under the waters, Job 26:5), so Christ on the third day should return to life, and rise out of his grave to send abroad the gospel to the Gentiles.
3. Christ takes this occasion to represent the sad character and condition of that generation in which he lived, a generation that would not be reformed, and therefore could not but be ruined; and he gives them their character, as it would stand in the day of judgment, under the full discoveries and final sentences of that day. Persons and things now appear under false colours; characters and conditions are here changeable: if therefore we would make a right estimate, we must take our measures from the last judgment; things are really, what they are eternally.
Now Christ represents the people of the Jews,
(1.) As a generation that would be condemned by the men of Nineveh, whose repenting at the preaching of Jonas would rise up in judgment against them, Mat 12:41. Christ's resurrection will be the sign of the prophet Jonas to them: but it will not have so happy an effect upon them, as that of Jonas had upon the Ninevites, for they were by it brought to such a repentance as prevented their ruin; but the Jews will be hardened in an unbelief that shall hasten their ruin; and in the day of judgment, the repentance of the Ninevites will be mentioned as an aggravation of the sin, and consequently the condemnation of those to whom Christ preached then, and of those to whom Christ is preached now; for this reason, because Christ is greater than Jonah. [1.] Jonah was but a man, subject to like passions, to like sinful passions, as we are; but Christ is the Son of God. [2.] Jonah was a stranger in Nineveh, he came among the strangers that were prejudiced against his country; but Christ came to his own, when he preached to the Jews, and much more when he is preached among professing Christians, that are called by his name. [3.] Jonah preached but one short sermon, and that with no great solemnity, but as he passed along the streets; Christ renews his calls, sat and taught, taught in the synagogues. [4.] Jonah preached nothing but wrath and ruin within forty days, gave no instructions, directions, or encouragements, to repent: but Christ, besides the warning given us of our danger, has shown wherein we must repent, and assured us of acceptance upon our repentance, because the kingdom of heaven is at hand. [5.] Jonah wrought no miracle to confirm his doctrine, showed no good will to the Ninevites; but Christ wrought abundance of miracles, and all miracles of mercy: yet the Ninevites repented at the preaching of Jonas, but the Jews were not wrought upon by Christ's preaching. Note, The goodness of some, who have less helps and advantages for their souls, will aggravate the badness of those who have much greater. Those who by the twilight discover the things that belong to their peace, will shame those who grope at noon-day.
(2.) As a generation that would be condemned by the queen of the south, the queen of Sheba, Mat 12:42. The Ninevites would shame them for not repenting, the queen of Sheba for not believing in Christ. She came from a far country to hear the wisdom of Solomon; yet people will not be persuaded to come and hear the wisdom of Christ, though he is in every thing greater than Solomon. [1.] The queen of Sheba had no invitation to come to Solomon, nor any promise of being welcome; but we are invited to Christ, to sit at his feet and hear his word. [2.] Solomon was but a wise man, but Christ is wisdom itself, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom. [3.] The queen of Sheba had many difficulties to break through; she was a woman, unfit for travel, the journey long and perilous; she was a queen, and what would become of her own country in her absence? We have no such cares to hinder us. [4.] She could not be sure that it would be worth her while to go so far on this errand; fame uses to flatter men, and perhaps she might have in her own country or court wise men sufficient to instruct her; yet, having heard of Solomon's fame, she would see him; but we come not to Christ upon such uncertainties. [5.] She came from the uttermost parts of the earth, but we have Christ among us, and his word nigh us: Behold he stands at the door, and knocks. [6.] It should seem the wisdom the queen of Sheba came for was only philosophy and politics; but the wisdom that is to be had with Christ is wisdom to salvation. [7.] She could only hear Solomon's wisdom; he could not give her wisdom: but Christ will give wisdom to those who come to him; nay, he will himself be made of God to them Wisdom; so that, upon all these accounts, if we do not hear the wisdom of Christ, the forwardness of the queen of Sheba to come and hear the wisdom of Solomon will rise up in judgment against us and condemn us; for Jesus Christ is greater than Solomon.
(3.) As a generation that were resolved to continue in the possession, and under the power, of Satan, notwithstanding all the methods that were used to dispossess him and rescue them. They are compared to one out of whom the devil is gone, but returns with double force, Mat 12:43-45. The devil is here called the unclean spirit, for he has lost all his purity, and delights in and promotes all manner of impurity among men. Now,
[1.] The parable represents his possessing men's bodies: Christ having lately cast out a devil, and they having said he had a devil, gave occasion to show how much they were under the power of Satan. This is a further proof that Christ did not cast out devils by compact with the devil, for then he would soon have returned again; but Christ's ejectment of him was final, and such as barred a re-entry: we find him charging the evil spirit to go out, and enter no more, Mar 9:25. Probably the devil was wont sometimes thus to sport with those he had possession of; he would go out, and then return again with more fury; hence the lucid intervals of those in that condition were commonly followed with the more violent fits. When the devil is gone out, he is uneasy, for he sleeps not except he have done mischief (Pro 4:16); he walks in dry places, like one that is very melancholy; he seeks rest but finds none, till he returns again. When Christ cast the legion out of the man, they begged leave to enter into the swine, where they went not long in dry places, but into the lake presently.
[2.] The application of the parable makes it to represent the case of the body of the Jewish church and nation: So shall it be with this wicked generation, that now resist, and will finally reject, the gospel of Christ. The devil, who by the labours of Christ and his disciples had been cast out of many of the Jews, sought for rest among the heathen, from whose persons and temples the Christians would every where expel him: so Dr. Whitby: or finding no where else in the heathen world such pleasant, desirable habitations, to his satisfaction, as here in the heart of the Jews: so Dr. Hammond: he shall therefore enter again into them, for Christ had not found admission among them, and they, by their prodigious wickedness and obstinate unbelief, were still more ready than ever to receive him; and then he shall take a durable possession here, and the state of this people is likely to be more desperately damnable (so Dr. Hammond) than it was before Christ came among them, or would have been if Satan had never been cast out.
The body of that nation is here represented, First, As an apostate people. After the captivity in Babylon, they began to reform, left their idols, and appeared with some face of religion; but they soon corrupted themselves again: though they never relapsed into idolatry, they fell into all manner of impiety and profaneness, grew worse and worse, and added to all the rest of their wickedness a wilful contempt of, and opposition to, Christ and his gospel. Secondly, As a people marked for ruin. A new commission was passing the seals against that hypocritical nation, the people of God's wrath (like that, Isa 10:6), and their destruction by the Romans was likely to be greater than any other, as their sins had been more flagrant: then it was that wrath came upon them to the uttermost, Th1 2:15, Th1 2:16. Let this be a warning to all nations and churches, to take heed of leaving their first love, of letting fall a good work of reformation begun among them, and returning to that wickedness which they seemed to have forsaken; for the last state of such will be worse than the first.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain When the unclean spirit is gone out of a…
When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man,.... By "the unclean" spirit, is meant Satan, the old serpent, the devil; who by the Jews, is wont to be called as here, , "the unclean spirit" (x); and that, because he is by sin become so, though he was not so originally; is the cause of uncleanness in men, and delights in unclean persons, places, and things: his "going out of a man", is not to be understood of his being dispossessed of the bodies of men; nor of the ejection of him, and his going by force, through the power of divine grace, out of the souls of men; but either of his leaving the Jews for a while, in some sort, whilst Christ and the Gospel continued among them; and of his going out of the Scribes and Pharisees; not really, but putting on another form, appearing as an angel of light, and under the guise of holiness and righteousness: and so he may be said to go out of men, when any outward reformation is made in them; and they take up a profession of religion, though destitute of the grace of God:
he walketh through dry places; referring to a prevailing notion, that unclean spirits walk in, and haunt, desert and desolate places; and may have regard to the Gentiles, among whom Satan might go, seeking rest and satisfaction among them, in their idolatries and other wickedness, till he was there also disturbed by the Gospel sent among them: or by these "dry places" may be meant the saints, whom he takes his walks among, in order, by tempting, to distress them, being secure of pharisaical persons: and these may be so called, not for what they are in themselves; not because the sun of righteousness shines upon them: or because thirsty and desirous of divine and spiritual things; much less as if they had no moisture, since they have a well of living water in them, and are watered by the Lord; or were unfruitful, as dry places usually are; but for what they were to the unclean spirit, there being nothing in their grace, and the exercise of it, and in their spiritual performances, grateful to him; nothing to quench his thirst, and satisfy his sinful appetite; nor were there in them the mire and dirt of iniquity to roll in, as in unregenerate persons: wherefore he is represented as
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seeking rest, and findeth none: his view in walking in these places, or among such persons, is rest; not the rest of the saints, he seeks their disturbance, but his own rest; which is to do all the mischief he can, by stirring up corruption, tempting to sin, and discouraging the exercise of grace; but is not able to do so much mischief as he would, and so cannot find the rest he seeks for, nor satisfy his envious, spiteful, and malicious temper: and this being the case, it follows,
(x) Zohar in Gen. fol. 77. 2.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain We would see a sign - Else we will…
We would see a sign - Else we will not believe this. Matt. xvi, 1; Luke xi, 16, 29.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 38. We would see a sign from thee.]…
Verse 38. We would see a sign from thee.] That is, we wish now to see thee work a miracle. Pride, vain curiosity, and incredulity, have never proof sufficient of the truth: for they will not be satisfied.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Mat 12:38-40. Then certain of the scribes, &c. —…
Mat 12:38-40. Then certain of the scribes, &c. — Now present, upon hearing how plainly Christ admonished, and how severely he rebuked them, answered — Probably with a view to divert the discourse to another topic, We would see a sign from thee — As if they had said, Otherwise we will not believe this doctrine. Thus they insinuated that the ejection of devils was but a trifling miracle, which, for all he had said to the contrary, might be done by the help of devils, and that no signs of that kind, however numerous, should convince them; for that they would not believe unless he would prove his mission by what is here called a sign, and in Luk 11:16, a sign from heaven, meaning, probably, some such celestial appearance as several of the ancient prophets gave; particularly Moses, Joshua, Samuel, and Elijah. But he answered, An evil and adulterous generation — A spurious breed, which has degenerated from the faith and piety of their great progenitor, Abraham; or, a generation whose heart wanders from God, though they profess him to be their husband. Such adulterers are all those who love the world, and all who seek the friendship of it. Seeketh a sign — After all the signs they have had already, which were abundantly sufficient to have convinced them, had not their hearts been estranged from God, and consequently averse to the truth. And there shall no sign be given to it, but [or, unless it be] the sign of the Prophet Jonas — Who was herein a type of Christ. For as Jonas was three days and three nights, &c. — It was customary with the eastern nations to reckon any part of a natural day of twenty-four hours for the whole day. Accordingly, they used to say a thing was done after three, or seven days, &c., if it was done on the third or seventh day from that last mentioned. Instances of this may be seen, 1Ki 20:29; 2Ch 10:5; 2Ch 10:12, and in many other places. And, as the Hebrews had no word exactly answering to the Greek νυχθημερον, to signify a natural day of twenty- four hours, they used night and day, or day and night, for it. See also Est 4:16; Est 5:1; Gen 7:4; Gen 7:12; Exo 24:18; Exo 34:28. In the whale’s belly — Or, in the belly of the great fish that swallowed him. See note on Jon 1:17. So shall the Son of man be — in the heart of the earth — That is, in the earth; for the expression does not imply that he was to be buried in the middle of the earth, but in the earth simply. Thus, in Eze 28:2, Tyre is said to be in the heart of the sea, though it was so near the continent, that, when Alexander besieged it, he carried a causeway from the land to the city.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain We would see a sign from thee - See…
We would see a sign from thee - See Luk 11:16, Luk 11:29-32. A “sign” commonly signifies a miracle - that is, a sign that God was with the person or had sent him. Compare the notes at Isa 7:11. Luke adds that this was done “tempting him;” that is, trying him, doubting if he had the power to do it. If these persons had been present with him for any considerable time, they had already seen sufficient proofs that he was what he claimed to be. They might have been, however, those who had recently come, and then the emphasis must be laid on “we” - we, as well as the others, would see a proof that thou art the Christ. In either case it was a temptation. If they had not seen him work a miracle, yet they should have believed it by testimony. Compare Joh 20:29. Perhaps, however, the emphasis is to be laid on the words “from heaven.” They might profess not to doubt that his miracles were real, but they were not quite satisfactory. They were desirous of seeing something, therefore, that should clear up their doubts - where there could be no opportunity for dispute. A comet, or lightning, or thunder, or sudden darkness, or the gift of food raining upon them, they supposed would be decisive. Possibly they referred in this to Moses. He had been with God amid thunders and lightnings, and he had given them manna - “bread from heaven” to eat. They wished Jesus to show some miracle equally undoubted.
Mat 12:39
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An evil and adulterous generation - The relation of the Jews to God was often represented as a marriage contract - God as the husband, and the Jewish people as the wife.
See Isa 57:3; Hos 3:1; Eze 16:15. Hence, their apostasy and idolatry are often represented as adultery. This is the meaning, probably, here. They were evil, and unfaithful to the covenant or to the commandments of God - an apostate and corrupt people. There is, however, evidence that they were literally an adulterous people.
There shall no sign be given to it ... - They sought some direct miracle “from heavens.” Jesus replied that no “such” miracle should be given. He did not mean to say that he would work no more miracles, or give no more evidence that he was the Christ, but he would give “no such miracle” as they required. “He would give one that ought to be as satisfactory evidence to them that he was from God, as the miraculous preservation of Jonah was to the Ninevites that he was divinely commissioned.” As Jonah was preserved three days by miracle and then restored alive, so he would be raised from the dead after three days. As on the ground of this preservation the Ninevites believed Jonah and repented, so, on the ground of his resurrection, the people of an adulterous and wicked generation ought to repent, and believe that he was from God. “The sign of the prophet Jonas” means the “sign” or “evidence” which was given to the people of Nineveh that he was from God - to wit, that he had been miraculously preserved, and was therefore divinely commissioned. The word “Jonas” is the Greek way of writing the Hebrew word “Jonah,” as “Elias” is for “Elijah.”
Mat 12:40
For as Jonas was three days ... - See Jon 1:17
This event took place in the Mediterranean Sea, somewhere between Joppa and Tarshish, when he was fleeing from Nineveh. It is said that the “whale” seldom passes into that sea, and that its throat is too small to admit a man. It is probable, therefore, that a fish of the “shark kind” is intended. Sharks have been known often to swallow a man entire. The fish in the book of Jonah is described merely as a “great fish,” without specifying the kind. It is well known that the Greek word translated whale, in the New Testament, does not of necessity mean a whale, but may denote a large fish or sea-monster of any kind. - Robinson, Lexicon.
Three days and three nights - It will be seen in the account of the resurrection of Christ that he was in the grave but two nights and a part of three days. See Mat 18:6. This computation is, however, strictly in accordance with the Jewish mode of reckoning. If it had “not” been, the Jews would have understood it, and would have charged our Saviour as being a false prophet, for it was well known to them that he had spoken this prophecy, Mat 27:63. Such a charge, however, was never made; and it is plain, therefore, that what was “meant” by the prediction was accomplished. It was a maxim, also, among the Jews, in computing time, that a part of a day was to be received as the whole. Many instances of this kind occur in both sacred and profane history. See 2Ch 10:5, 2Ch 10:12; Gen 42:17-18. Compare Est 4:16 with Est 5:1.
In the heart of the earth - The Jews used the word “heart” to denote the “interior” of a thing, or to speak of being in a thing. It means, here, to be in the grave or sepulchre.
Mat 12:41
The men of Nineveh - Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian empire.
It was founded by Asshur, Gen 10:11. It was situated on the banks of the River Tigris, to the northeast of Babylon. It was a city of vast extent, and of corresponding wickedness. It was 48 miles in circuit; its walls were 100 feet high and 10 thick, and were defended by fifteen hundred towers, each 200 feet in height. It contained in the time of Jonah, it is supposed, six hundred thousand inhabitants. The destruction of Nineveh, threatened by Jonah in forty days, was suspended, by their repentance, two hundred years. It was then overthrown by the Babylonians about six hundred years before Christ. During the siege a mighty inundation of the river Tigris took place, which threw down a part of the walls, through which the enemy entered, and sacked and destroyed the city. This destruction had been foretold one hundred and fifteen years before by Nahum Nah 1:8; “But with an overwhelming flood he will make an utter end of the place thereof:” and Nah 2:6; “The gates of the river shall be opened, and the palace shall be dissolved.” Its ruins have been lately discovered by Layard, and have contributed much to the establishment of the truth of Scripture history. Those remains are on the east side of the river Tigris, nearly opposite to the city of Mosul.
Shall condemn it - That is, their conduct, in repenting under the preaching of Jonah, shall condemn this generation. They, ignorant and wicked pagan, repented when threatened with “temporal” judgment by a mere man - Jonah; you, Jews, professing to be enlightened, though threatened for your great wickedness with eternal punishment “by the Son of God” - a far greater being than Jonah - repent not, and must therefore meet with a far heavier condemnation.
Mat 12:42
The queen of the south - That, is, the Queen of Sheba, 1Ki 10:1
Sheba was probably a city of Arabia, situated to the south of Judea. Compare the notes at Isa 60:6.
From the uttermost parts of the earth - This means simply from the most distant parts of the habitable world “then known.” See a similar expression in Deu 28:49. As the knowledge of geography was limited, the place was, “in fact,” by no means in the extreme parts of the earth. It means that she came from a remote country; and she would condemn that generation, for she came “a great distance” to hear the wisdom of Solomon, but the Jews of that age would not listen to the wisdom of one “much greater” than Solomon, though present with them.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain We would see a sign. They wanted to see…
We would see a sign. They wanted to see some new and unusual miracles. They wished, says St. Jerome, either that he would call down fire from heaven, like Elias; or, like Samuel, cause it to rain, to thunder and lighten in summer, contrary to the nature of the country. (Menochius) --- That they might be assured he was sent by God, and acted by his Spirit.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain A SIGN DEMANDED AND THE REPLY--HIS MOTHER AND BRETHREN…
A SIGN DEMANDED AND THE REPLY--HIS MOTHER AND BRETHREN SEEK TO SPEAK WITH HIM, AND THE ANSWER. ( = Luk 11:16, Luk 11:24-36; Mar 3:31-35; Luk 8:19-21). (Mat 12:38-50)
Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master--"Teacher," equivalent to "Rabbi."
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we would see a sign from thee--"a sign from heaven" (Luk 11:16); something of an immediate and decisive nature, to show, not that His miracles were real--that they seemed willing to concede--but that they were from above, not from beneath. These were not the same class with those who charged Him with being in league with Satan (as we see from Luk 11:15-16); but as the spirit of both was similar, the tone of severe rebuke is continued.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 38. Master, we would see a sign — This…
38. Master, we would see a sign — This asking for a sign seemed to be a standing demand, made at different times; by the scribes and Pharisees, as here; by the Pharisees with the Sadducees in Mat_16:1; Mat_16:4; and by the people in Luk_11:16; Luk_11:29. See also Joh_6:30; 1Co_1:22. Our Lord uniformly not only refused compliance, but rebuked the request. From this, some skeptics have boldly inferred that our Lord could not furnish the sign; and that he really performed no miracles; since miracles are signs. To these cavils, perhaps answers will appear in the course of our remarks. But we may here remark that although a miracle is in a true sense a sign, yet there is a difference between a miracle and a sign. A miracle is a work going forth from our Lord’s own power and act. A sign would be some divine token, given from some other source, as a confirmatory seal of his Messiahship. Now, as miracles going out from our Lord’s power were proper and true manifestations of himself, it was upon proof of those that our Lord rightly held that he was to be received. He claimed to be accepted for what he himself was or did. What the Jews at this time sought, as appears from Luke, was a sign from heaven; and it is probable that they had in their minds what in Mat_24:30, is called “the sign of the Son of man in heaven;” that is, the glory of his approaching presence, preceding and betokening him. And this is explained in Dan_7:13, where the Son of man, with his glory in the heavens, is described, exhibiting the Lord in the same array of state, though not upon the same occasion. The Jews may have identified this glorious manifestation in the skies with the Messiah’s first advent or coming. And as it was, possibly, this sign of the Son of man, or manifestation in the heavens, which the Jews now had in their thoughts in asking a celestial sign, so hence we have a good reason why our Lord does not grant their request. It was out of the divine order; inasmuch as that glorious appearing belonged to his second coming in power and judgment, and not to his first coming in humiliation and for salvation. But see notes on Mat_16:1-4.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 38. we would see a sign from thee] This…
38. we would see a sign from thee] This is the second expedient taken by the Pharisees after their resolution to destroy Jesus.
38–42. The Pharisees ask for a Sign
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St Luk_11:16; Luk_11:29-32. St Luke omits, or at least does not state explicitly, the special application of the sign given in Mat_12:40, to understand which required a knowledge of the Jewish prophets which would be lacking to St Luke’s readers.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (38) Master, we would see a sign from thee.—The…
(38) Master, we would see a sign from thee.—The order varies slightly from that in St. Luke, in which the demand for a sign follows on the parable of the unclean spirit returning to his house. In both, however, the sequence of thought appears the same. The tone of authority, as of one who is the judge of all men, leads to the challenge—“Give us a sign by which you may convince us that you have a right thus to speak.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 38-42. Before entering on this difficult passage, it…
Vers. 38-42. Before entering on this difficult passage, it seems necessary to make some preliminary observations.
(1) Luk_11:29-32 is the recognized parallel.
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(2) According to Luk_11:16, our Lord had been already asked for a sign, in what would be the middle of our preceding discussion, i.e. between the accusation by the Pharisees (our ver. 24) and the Lord"s answer to it (our ver. 25, sqq.). This shows that either the demand was in fact made at some time during this discussion, or at least that it was such a demand as our Lord"s opponents were likely to make when they were hard pressed, and such as they did in fact make on a somewhat similar occasion. Notice that in Luk_11:16 it is expressly attributed to others than those who had brought the accusation.
(3) Very similar verses are found in Mat_16:1-4; (parallel passage: Mar_8:11-13) Luk_11:16 agrees more verbally with the demand as described there than with our ver. 38.
(4) Thus Mark and Luke relate such an incident once, but Matthew twice.
(5) The four passages (Mat_12:38-42 Luk_11:16, 29-32 Mat_16:1-4 Mar_8:11-13) contain so much similarity of language that we cannot suppose them to be absolutely independent of each other.
(6) Hence two hypotheses present themselves:
(a) The demand was made twice (in itself exceedingly probable), and our Lord"s answers were to a great extent identical in substance (in itself not very probable), and when identical in substance were closely identical in language (distinctly less probable). Or perhaps we might suppose that this identity of language was rather due to the narrator than to our Lord himself; familiarity with one answer may in the curly Church have moulded the record of the other.
(b) The demand and tile answer, as recorded, refer to one and the same occasion. But the account existed in more than one of the sources used by St. Matthew, and as each form of it had its own peculiarities, (especially our ver. 24 and Mat_16:2, Mat_16:3) he retained them both. Anyhow, Mat_16:1-4 seems to have belonged to the Framework, and our passage to the Discourses.
(7) It will be noticed that all the passages except Mar_8:11-13 speak of "the sign of Jonah." How was Jonah a sign? Our ver. 40 seems to answer the question, and to say that it was by being in the whale"s belly three days and three nights. But there are serious difficulties in accepting this view as finally and alone right. For in Mat_16:4 no explanation at all is recorded (though, indeed, it might be urged that the evangelist might fairly expect his readers to remember our ver. 40), and in Luk_11:30 apparently a different explanation is found, "for even as Jonah became a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation words which, taken alone, would seem to refer to Jonah being a sign by the mere fact of his preaching. Thus our Lord would mean As Jonah preached, so I preach. The future is used in Luk_11:30 (estai), as bringing out more clearly than the present would have done the final relation in which Christ should stand to his contemporaries. Godet, indeed, urges that the future excludes any present reference to Christ"s work as preaching, and that the demand for a sign from heaven (Luk_11:16) can only be fully satisfied by Christ"s resurrection, "in which no human agency intervenes, and in which Divine power appears alone." He, therefore, makes Luke"s meaning identical with that of our ver. 40, and paraphrases thus: "It was as one who had miraculously escaped from death that Jonas presented himself before the Ninevites, summoning them to anticipate the danger which threatened them; it is as the Risen One that I (by my messengers) shall proclaim salvation to the men of this generation." But this would almost assume that Jonah told the Ninevites of his miraculous escape, though there is not a hint of his having done so. On the contrary, Jon_3:4, sqq., implies that the call to repentance on the basis of punishment threatened was the sole and only means employed by the prophet to accomplish his mission. Jonah the preacher became, by virtue of his preaching, a sign to the Ninevites (for, quite apart from his miraculous preservation, his appearance in Nineveh and his preaching there were no small portent and sign of Divine interest in the Ninevites" affairs), and they accepted him. Matthew"s addition, "the prophet," emphasizes this thought, even though he passes on to give what appears to have been the Lord"s secondary interpretation of the sign of Jonah.
Christ"s primary object, then, in his reply was to show to his opponents that heathen Ninevites and a heathen queen accepted the truth without any such sign as that which they were now demanding, and, if possible, to shame them into doing so. Thus ver. 40 is to be considered as parenthetical rather than as the main subject.
It has, indeed, been suggested that ver. 40 was in fact not spoken at all by the Lord himself, but is only the result of a very early interpretation by the Hebrew Christians of our Lord"s phrase, added before the formation of our Gospel. The explanation is tempting, but, in the entire absence of corroboration, cannot be accepted (cf. note there). So far as our present evidence goes, we must attribute ver. 40 to Christ, and consider that as he was mentioning the reception of Jonah by the Ninevites, the thought occurred to him that in Jonah"s history lay as it were a prefigurement of what he himself would be. Just as on another occasion he illustrated his death and resurrection by the figure of destroying and building the temple, (Joh_2:18, Joh_2:19) so now he uses the figure of Jonah in the whale"s belly.
(8) This is not the place to enter upon a discussion of the question whether the event here referred to literally happened or not, much less to examine the deep and mysterious subject of the Lord"s kenosis. (Php_2:7) But it should be observed that some at least of those critics who do not believe that the narrative of Jonah being in the whale"s belly is to be understood literally, consider that his preaching to the Ninevites at all is equally metaphorical (cf. C. H. H. Wright, "Introduction to Old Testament," p. 207, sqq.), so that not only ver. 40 but ver. 41 and Luk_11:32 are affected, and that indeed more seriously, since the Lord says that the Ninevites will stand up as witnesses. The reasons for taking the narrative as only metaphorical are far from convincing, yet even if they were overwhelming, the illustration in ver. 40 (though not ver. 41) would still remain valid, just as (with all reverence be it spoken) any one to-day might illustrate his action from that of one of Shakespeare"s characters whose historical existence is more than doubtful. While, however, the frequency of the allegorical and pictorial in Hebrew poetry and prophecy must be fully allowed for, there seems to be no strong reason (apart from the miracle) to doubt the historical character of the narrative. Further, as to the miracle, Jon_1:17 Jon_2:10 are so closely connected with Jon 1 Jon 3, and Jon 4, that it is best to understand the writer as intending to represent it (marvellous though it is) as literal history.
Vers. 38-45. Some of our Lord"s opponents try to defend themselves by asking for a sign of his authority to claim so much; e.g. ver. 30 (ver. 38). In his reply he refers them to their own histories for proof that such a demand is inexcusable. The Ninevites did not require one when Jonah became a sign to them and in mentioning Jonah he refers to his being in the whale"s belly three days and three nights as a symbol of what should happen to himself and "the queen of the south" took immense trouble to satisfy her craving after wisdom (vers. 39-42). Therefore let them beware; their present state was one of extreme danger; the improvement that they showed was only negative, and if they did not take care worse would happen to them in the future than in the past (vers. 43-45).
Then certain. The demand is only made by a portion of those present, who, according to Luk_11:16, were not the same as those who spoke our ver. 24. Of the scribes and of the (Revised Version omits the) Pharisees. They are represented as forming but one party. (Mat_5:20, note) Answered (him, Revised Version, with the manuscripts). It is worth noticing that the insertion of the pronoun makes the passage more like Mat_16:1 and parallels. Saying, Master (didaskale); Mat_8:19, note. Only in this place is their request given verbally. We would see (Yelomen ... idein). Observe that their language is rather brusque; they express their own wish regardless of him. But they may have intended it only as a plain statement of the difficulty they felt in believing him. They wished to see a sign first. A sign. More than a miracle of healing, however wonderful; they desired, as expressly said in Mat_16:1 Mar_8:11 Luk_11:16, a sign from heaven, presumably some portent in the sky, which should be a sign of his mission. (cf. 1Co_1:22Jo 1Co 4:48) From thee; i.e. happening, not accidentally, but at thy command.
Vers. 38-45. Further manifestation of unbelief.
I THE SIGN FROM HEAVEN.
1. The demand of the scribes and Pharisees. They had just witnessed a wonderful sign, a striking evidence of the Divine authority of Christ. Some of them wickedly accused the Lord of dealings with Satan; others, less brutal, but equally obstinate in their unbelief, demanded further proof. It must be some visible appearance in the sky, they said; (Luk_11:16) nothing else would satisfy them.
2. The Lord"s reply. He knew their hearts; it was an evil and corrupt generation; corrupt at heart and false to the living God who had betrothed the ancient Church to himself. He knew that they were only tempting him. They had had proof enough of his mission, his most holy life, his Divine teaching, his wonderful works. But they were obstinate; they hardened their hearts in unbelief, and now they prescribed the kind of evidence which they required. The Lord knew that it would not convince them; he would not work a miracle to satisfy unbelieving curiosity. He would work miracles in abundance to relieve the sick and helpless, but not one to amuse the curious and to display his power. Yet there should be a sign, and a mighty one. The Lord himself, his own incarnation, life, death, resurrection, ascension, was the stupendous Sign from heaven, sufficient, and more than sufficient, to convince the honest seeker after truth. As the Prophet Jonah lay hidden in the fish"s belly, so would he lie buried in the grave; and as Jonah was restored to the upper air by the power of God, so would he rise again in the majesty of his triumphant resurrection.
II CONTRAST OF THEIR UNBELIEF WITH THE BELIEF OF THE HEATHEN.
1. The men of Nineveh. Jonah preached to them; they repented. What was the preaching of Jonah compared with the Lord"s deep and holy teaching? The Ninevites had not the privileges of these scribes and Pharisees; their example condemned them; it was a presage of the coming judgment.
2. The queen of the south. She came a long toilsome journey to hear the wisdom of Solomon; her example condemned the Jews. Christ was with them, preaching in their synagogues; they would not come to him that they might have life. And he was greater than Solomon greater in wisdom, greater in royal majesty. Could he say this of himself without arrogance unless he were (what we know he is) the Word of God, who in the beginning was with God, and himself was God? We read the histories of holy men and women; they are full of interest; they are also full of solemn warning. What others have done by the grace of God, that we too can do. We have, perhaps, the same privileges, perhaps greater. Certainly we have the same grace to help us. Let us be in earnest; let us truly repent like the Ninevites; let us listen to the heavenly wisdom of Christ, as the Queen of Sheba listened to the wisdom of Solomon.
III WARNING OF INCREASING DANGER.
1. The miracle just wrought. Christ had cast out the evil spirit: would the man who had thus been saved from the presence of Satan give his heart to the merciful Saviour? If he would not receive the Holy Spirit into the heart that now was empty, the evil one might return; he was ever restless, seeking whom he might devour, burning always with unsatisfied malice; if he returned, the last state of that man would be worse than the first. Mercies despised expose men to sorer assaults of temptation.
2. Application to that wicked generation. God had been long-suffering with his chosen people; by his chastisements, by the teaching of his prophets, the old demon of idolatry had been cast out. The house was swept and garnished; it had outward adornments enough in the rites and ceremonies of the temple-worship, and the strict rules and formalisms of the scribes and Pharisees. But, alas! it was empty. There was One who claimed that house as his own, the true Lord of the dwelling, but him they would not receive. The evil spirit would return, and seven others with them the demons of hypocrisy and hardness of heart, and bitterness, and party spirit, and hatred of spiritual religion, and such-like. And the last state would be worse than the first; it would be more evil, it would end in more awful condemnation. Christ is knocking at the door of our hearts; if we receive him not, the evil spirit will surely enter in. The heart empty of God is ready for the presence of Satan; he will return in greater force than ever. The house may be swept and garnished by education and refinement; but the devil can be kept out only by the presence of him who is stronger than the strong man armed. Let us, then, receive Christ into our souls. The peace of God keepeth, as with a garrison, the heart and thoughts of those in whom the Holy Spirit dwelleth; the evil one cannot enter.
LESSONS.
There is evidence in abundance of the truth of Christianity; only receive it with an honest heart.
1. The histories of past conversions furnish a convincing proof of the power of God"s grace; read them, and try to profit by them.
2. Open the heart to Christ; seek his presence there above all things; trust nothing less.
Vers. 38-45, specially ver. 42. (see also Luk_11:16-18, Luk_11:24-26) One inevitable law of judgment.
In introduction, notice the displeasure expressed by Christ in respect of the scribes and Pharisees asking a sign. This may have been for an accumulation of reasons. First, because (see Luk_11:16) perhaps they asked a "sign from heaven," marking in their wish a craving of curiosity for the novel and the more striking, regardless of the quantum of instruction that the sign might be charged with, at any rate, for others. Secondly , whether it were a sign from heaven or not, in asking they asked without the higher wish, without any wish, probably, for the higher object of a sign, when it is granted. Thirdly, without asking, they had already had many a sign of the most effective and incontestable kind, and they were signs "nigh at hand, and not afar off;" and yet these signs had not been used, not improved had been seen, but resisted; and these men are the worst of all, who had "seen and yet believed not. " And once more, fourthly, because if this passage finds its correct place immediately on the narrative that here precedes, as seems certainly to be the case, they had just seen a sign, and had listened to what followed from the lips of Christ, and had been in the position to survey the entire scene, and to take awful warning from it. Note, further, that, true though it was that these doubters and unbelievers and disbelievers had had, and were still sure to have, numerous signs of the kind just given, yet Christ takes their meaning when he adds, "No sign shall be given but the sign of the Prophet Jonas;" and, alluding to this, he contrasts the practical conduct, the faith and repentance of Nineveh, on the preaching of Jonas, and the faith and zeal of the Queen of Sheba, when she heard the wisdom of Solomon, with the wilful unrepentingness of his hearers, and the cold deadness of their mind and heart. Note once more, from the closing portion of these verses, the link which holds them to the beginning of the passage. Their text is the "evil and adulterous generation;" and these last sentences forecast the" worse" state, to which they ever sink who, with all added light, gift, opportunity, shut, not eye and ear so much as mind and heart to them, while these are flung wide open for the evil spirits, who most ruthlessly victimize them. In the whole passage, select for special development the instance of the judgment and condemnation which the Queen of Sheba shall contribute, by the contrast of her example with that of the men to whom Jesus Christ was preaching, and manifesting forth his glory, his wisdom, and his mighty works. And learn that this example
I REMINDS OF THE CREDIT THAT IT IS TO HUMAN NATURE TO SEEK. It is one of the certain signs that its life and reality are not yet dried up and exhausted. We honour and admire the individual who seeks. Our admiration and honour grow when we see the seeking converted into thorough, earnest, persevering search. This, the onward, upward determination of our nature, constitutes one of the moral evidences of its immortality. Yet at the same time we cannot leave out of the question what it is which is the object of its search. Endeavour, labour, decision, and enthusiasm directed to a really worthy object when any one labours for the thing he knows to his best light to be the highest raise the whole scale of our admiration. Still, the man who exhibits these qualities may be wrong in not knowing a higher. It may be his fault, it may be even his sin, that he does not know a higher. Of how much of both our darkness and ignorance are we ourselves not unfrequently the guilty causes! Not, then, does any arrive at the best till he has made sure that what he and his heart and soul go in quest of is the truly highest that human mind may reach after, and human heart love. Though the visitor of Solomon was a queen, she journeyed far; and not for money nor for presents, though with both did she journey, but in quest of wisdom; this fired her soul"s desire, on this her imagination went to work, this her ears tingled to hear, this determined her journey. In her deed she was blessed blessed for her time of day. She acted up to an elevated and generous impulse, and she was not disappointed. And it is she, says Christ himself, who will rise up in judgment with those who, so far from being athirst for wisdom, and for the highest type attainable, refuse that infinitely greater wisdom, so near, so graciously pressed on them, of him who is greater beyond all count than Solomon. Search long, toilsome, and honourable for inferior blessings often reproves our wasteful heedlessness of that which is the greater; but never a millionth time so much as when it is "all the world" on the one hand, but Christ and his wisdom on the other hand, which are offered so freely, which plead for our regard so graciously, and which nevertheless are sought so feebly.
II REMINDS OF THE SUPREME OBJECT WHICH IS INCONTESTABLY THE ONE WORTHY TO BE SOUGHT. It is, indeed, in itself a most interesting thing, as the barest fact of history, the history of the time of the Queen of Sheba, that she longed to hear the wisdom of Solomon. To be anxious to see all his wealth and magnificence and state would have been a usual enough anxiety. Nor can there be any doubt, from what we afterwards read, that she did think of these, and was satisfied and rejoiced with the satisfaction and rejoicing that these could give. None the less is it to be noticed that the record is that she craved to hear his wisdom. Now, this wisdom was great in certain relations and comparisons, and it was very unusual; but what at the furthest was its compass and its range? Great memory, great knowledge, great gift of observation, great force of discernment all such Solomon confessedly had. How many proverbs did he write, and then repeat from memory! how much poetry did he compose and sing! what a natural historian he was, though science "in those days was very precious," and microscope there was none! "He spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five. He spake of trees also, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even to the hyssop that springeth out of the wall of Jerusalem. He spake of beasts also, and of fowls, of creeping things, and of fishes." But all this was it not knowledge of a very restrained sort? It was curious and entertaining and instructive, and capable certainly of leading from nature to nature"s God; but what was it in comparison of the antitype! Now for the reverse of the grand medal.
1. The "Greater than Solomon" brings his wisdom, and brings it from heaven"s highest heights. Thence brought, it descends to all of our various, deepest need. Thence brought, it spreads over all the wide compass of the various want of our life. Christ knows all that is.
2. The wisdom of Christ antedates all the present. All the past he knows, who" was in the beginning with God, and was God." So his wisdom was "from everlasting.
3. He knows all the future. Where our vision cannot reach, and where(could we glance) we should tremble to glance, which way soever our glance turned, there does his reaching, searching, steady gaze anticipate the direction, and swift as a morning ray travel to the end. How should men cleave for his wisdom"s sake to him who sees, who only sees, all that awaits them! "No eye but his might ever bear To look all down that vast abyss, Because none ever saw so clear The shore beyond of endless bliss. The giddy waves so restless hurled, The vexed pulse of the feverish world, He views and counts with steadfast sight, Used to behold the Infinite. Oh, with what strange, awful wisdom does all this invest Christ"!
4. The wisdom of Christ is so kind. It is not confessedly grand and awful things which can be depended upon to draw human hearts the most. But Christ"s wisdom is what we of all created things should most rejoice to call wisdom. It is so kind, so deep, so gentle, so quiet, that condescends to search all our needs, to stoop to view all our trials and sorrows, to come in contact with all that is most infinitely repulsive to him, our sin, and then to find the one perfect remedy for it. What justice even to our apprehension in that sentence of St. Paul, "Christ the Wisdom of God"! To "hear" the wisdom of Solomon did the Queen of Sheba travel from the uttermost parts of the earth, though there might not be one single word in it all for her self, for her life, heart, soul. But all the wisdom of Christ, so far as it is as yet revealed to us, gazes full on us; it has us for the objects of its expenditure. He has come to us. From the uttermost heavens has he descended to us. "How swift and joyful was his flight, On wings of everlasting love! He has worn our nature, borne our sins, carried our sorrows; has made himself known in our world, the very Pattern and Type of the seeking, watchful, compassionate Shepherd. And in the unfathomed marvels and mystery of the cross he has comprehended all the length and breadth, the height and depth, of wisdom. Against those who neglect this, it must indeed be that the Queen of Sheba shall rise in the judgment. B.
Vers. 38-45. Last state worse than first.
All that was implied in our Lord"s mode of working is here explicitly enounced. The miracles were only subordinately evidences of his Divine commission; primarily they were deeds of mercy. But to heal every one would have been to violate the constitution of man"s nature, and upset the equilibrium required for the harmonious co-operation of God and man. Those only who had faith were healed, and this secured that their character was purified and aided, not debauched. The Pharisees had the shallowest idea of miracles. They would have approved the devil"s suggestion that the convincing proof of Messiahship was to cast himself unhurt from a pinnacle of the temple, though why the possession of a mountain-sheep"s capacity for jumping should prove any one the greatest spiritual blessing to mankind they probably did not inquire. They had lost the capacity of knowing excellence could only measure him by their silly external tests, and scorned him for the very things that proved his greatness. A miracle wrought merely for the sake of convincing men, could not convince them, could only prove the possession of a certain unexplained power. But miracles wrought out of compassion for the wretched justly convinced men that God was nigh. We join the ranks of the Pharisees when we refuse to acknowledge Christ until he presents some more striking evidence. To us, as to them, it must be said Ye can discern the face of the sky, but ye cannot read the signs of the times. You know the sequences of nature, but you have no eye for spiritual sequences; you do not see that a clever feat which makes men stare has no natural connection with salvation from sin, but that the entrance into the world of such love and holiness, and the identification of their possessor with all human interests, portends more good to humanity than any physical marvel could portend. Could you rightly read the signs of the times, you would understand that a Greater than Jonas, a Greater than all men, the Greatest and Holiest and most Sacrificing, could not be in the world without changing its course for ever. And each of us may read our own individual future as here directed by our Lord, for it is impossible he should join himself to any one of us individually without bringing into our life an otherwise unattainable hope. Certain natural signs never deceive, because there is a rigid natural connection between the cause and the consequence. As rigid is the connection in the moral world; you cannot belong to Christ without receiving the utmost of human blessing. It means untold good to you; it is the spring of your life that promises endless harvest. All that is unworthy, weak, and wicked will be displaced, and you will be changed into his like ness. It is as certain as the shower that you see coming down the wind to the spot you stand on. But while our Lord refused any sign as a mere wonder proving his power, he assured them a sign should be given of the most astonishing kind. As if he said, "I will do no miracle of the kind you require; it would not convince you; you are not seeking conviction, but a plausible pretext against me. You think I am endangering the ship, and you will treat me as Jonah was treated; but as Jonah"s mission was expedited by what seemed to terminate it, so shall my mission, by your final action against me, receive its most convincing authentication." This sign of the resurrection of Christ is that which seals the truth of all he asserted regarding himself, but especially does it give us assurance that our Lord is now alive. Only when we believe in this do we attain to faith in our own immortality. In the little parable with which this passage closes, our Lord points out that, though they had cast out the devil of idolatry, the heart not being filled with love of God and holiness, the empty apartment of their soul was straightway filled with self-conceit, contempt for gross sinners, hatred of any light that made them suspicious of their state. Probably he pointed specially to the deterioration of "this generation." There had been a revival of religion under John, but John himself warned them that he could not baptize with the Holy Spirit. He saw that merely to cast out one or two devils of misconduct, and to leave the heart empty, was to place men in a perilous position. To the individual this little parable is full of significance. There are diseases in which there are periods of relief from pain, followed by severe relapse. So in the case here spoken of, the downward career is not steadily progressive, but is checked for a while, only to be resumed with sevenfold violence. The principle pointed at is that wherever an evil thing is not expelled by the invasion of good that enters and dispossesses it, the expulsion is ineffectual. Nature dictates and observes this law. If you wish to clear a room of bad air, you do not get an air-pump and exhaust it, but by opening the window you let the rush of pure air drive out the impure; were you to exhaust the air, you might produce a suction which would burst your gas-pipes and draw up foul air from your sewers. So in the moral world evil is to be ejected by soul-possessing love of good. Christ is set before us that we may learn to love him, and so have no room for any unworthy affection. To use religion only as a repressive and expulsive influence is fatal. There are persons whose hearts are emptied rather than filled by religion. There is a death of their old bad life, but there is no strong impelling power, no new and abundant life. Is there anything in you that would make it a pleasure to you to take your place by the side of Christ in his humble ministering to the poor and wretched? How can you relish the prospect of eternal life, if you have in you no hearty love for the style of life that will then prevail? The result of using religion merely as an instrument for repression is that the soul becomes possessed of greater iniquities than ever. The new sins may be sins, as our Lord expresses it, that find their suitable dwelling in a house that is swept and garnished, yet they are worse than the original iniquity. These sins are vanity; contempt of men; hatred of persons differing from them in doctrine and outward forms of religion, though having more love to Christ than they; hypocrisy and coldness of feeling. These new tenants are prim, decorous, church-going devils, that adapt themselves to the ways of respectable society. But none the less will they one day overwhelm the house in disaster. The history of the man whose religious experience is here given is this he has rid himself of some form of iniquity out of regard for self rather than for Christ; he plumes himself on the improvement instead of humbly thanking Christ, cultivates self rather than fellowship with Christ. Is your heart so filled and satisfied with the love of Christ that all that offends him is banished from it? D.
Vers. 38-45. The sign-seekers.
After Jesus had denounced the blasphemy of the scribes and Pharisees, and threatened them with the severity of the judgment, certain of their number demanded of him a sign to sustain his asserted authority. In his reply we notice
I THAT THE SINNERS ARE REBUKED IN MERCY.
1. They sought a sign, viz., from heaven.
(1) The sign of the Prophet Daniel was evidently that for which they looked. (cf. Dan_7:13 Mat_16:1 Luk_11:16 1Co_1:22) They were eager for the visible kingdom.
(2) In this clamour former miracles are ignored. He who is unconvinced by proofs so stupendous as those on which Christianity rests is an unbeliever, not from want of evidence, but from an evil bias upon his judgment and will which no additional demonstration can remedy.
2. But this sign was not for that generation.
(1) They were "evil." The Pharisees and scribes were eminently so. Speaking against the Son of man. Blaspheming against the Holy Ghost. A "generation of vipers.
(2) They were adulterous. Literally so. They were guilty of polygamy, frequent divorces, and other sensualities, which they covered by hypocrisy or defended by Immoral casuistry. About this time the Rabbi Joachim ben Zacchai abrogated the trial by the bitter waters of jealousy, because so many were found to be thus criminated.
(3) Figuratively. The Hebrews were by the Sinai covenant married to their Maker, as Christians become the spouse of Christ by the covenant from Zion. Idolatry and worldliness, which is a form of idolatry, are spiritual adultery. (see Jam_4:4)
(4) The clamourers did not consider that the sign from heaven is the signal for judgment. Had they faithfully read the Prophet Daniel they would have seen that the judgment precedes the visible kingdom. It is in his mercy that God does not answer the prayers of wicked men.
3. He gave them the sign from the earth.
(1) Jonah was a type of Christ in his burial. Jonah spoke of his position in the belly of the fish as that of one buried in the grave. He calls it "the belly of hell," Sheol, or the grave; and "the pit". (see Jon_2:2, Jon_2:6, margin) The type was all the more remarkable in the miraculous preservation of his life. For the Holy One must not see corruption. He cannot be holden of death.
(2) Jonah was a type of Christ in his resurrection.
(a) As to the fact.
(b) As to the time. (vide Exposition; see also Hos_6:2)
(3) Jonah preached to the Ninevites after his return from his burial in the sea-monster. The true preaching of the gospel followed upon the resurrection of Jesus.
(4) The miracle in the case of Jonah was a sign that he was a divinely commissioned prophet; and it authenticated his words to the Ninevites. So is the resurrection of Jesus the authentication of his mission and words. (see Luk_11:30) Those who will not accept this sign are in no condition to accept any sign, though it should be even "from heaven.
(5) In God"s order the sign of the Prophet Jonah must anticipate the sign of the Prophet Daniel. Messiah must first come in humiliation, in suffering and death and burial, before he can come in power and great glory.
II THAT THE SINNERS ARE ADMONISHED OF JUDGMENT.
1. The men of Nineveh will confront them there.
(1) The Ninevites repented at the preaching of Jonah. They credited the sign. Their faith saved them from vengeance. Note: God"s threatenings, as well as his promises, are conditional. No one goes to perdition by arbitrary predestination.
(2) How will the scribes and Pharisees appear in the judgment when confronted with the men of Nineveh? They repented not at the preaching of Jesus, who came to them authenticated by miracles and prophecies innumerable.
(3) Jesus is a "greater than Jonah." The Ninevites repented at the preaching of the lesser prophet. The scribes and Pharisees resisted the preaching of the greater. Note: Responsibilities are heavier as privileges and opportunities are greater.
2. The queen of the south will confront them there.
(1) She came to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Solomon was but a type of Jesus. He is Wisdom itself the Eternal Word of God. The Wisdom of God himself "came to his own" privileged people, "but they received him not.
(2) She came "from the uttermost parts of the earth." She came up out of a dark heathen land, far away from the light of the oracles of God. How strongly did her case contrast with that of the very doctors of the Law, who, in the "Valley of Vision," were visited by the God of glory!
(3) Gentile believers in general will come into judgment with the Jewish rejecters of the gospel. So will those who amongst the Gentiles improved inferior light rise up to confound those who have neglected or abused the superior. The rising up alludes to the custom of witnesses rising from their seats and standing in court to give their testimony.
(4) Opportunity and privilege will have their value in the judgment in determining the measure of the rewards and punishments.
III THAT THE SINNERS ARE WARNED OF DOOM.
1. The sentence is the sequel of the trial.
(1) The certainty of the trial cannot be disputed. It is certified in the sign of the resurrection of Christ. This is the very gist of the reference to the sign of the Prophet Jonah. In this sense also Paul cites the sign: "He hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath gives assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. (Act_17:31)
(2) Not only is the resurrection of Christ given for a sign of the judgment; it is, moreover, given to evince the certainty of the particular doctrine, viz. that men shall be then judged by their words, and by them justified or condemned. Let this great truth influence all our conversation.
(3) As certainly as there will be a judgment, so certainly will the destiny of the judged be determined. The judgment will be no mere parade. The doom of the wicked is portrayed in the parable of the unclean spirit.
2. Communities are punished in this world.
(1) This is obvious from the nature.of the case. They belong exclusively to it, and exist in it. So the parable sets forth the doom of the "generation" or race of unbelieving Jews.
(2) Their "first" state was melancholy, viz. when they were visited by the gospel. It is described under the similitude of a demoniac. The prevalence of demoniacal possession at that time was a consequence, and therefore fittingly a figure, of the wickedness of the nation.
(3) They had a season of merciful visitation in the preaching of John and of Jesus. There was a partial reformation through the preaching of John. Jesus, in consequence, appeared, and expelled devils to evince his power to drive them away from the hearts of the people.
(4) The reformation, however, was but partial. The people relapsed; and now their condition had become worse than ever. Instead of being the victim of one, they now became the victim of seven devils, and these more wicked than the former. Note: There are degrees of wickedness in devils. Hence the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. Hence also their filling up the measure of their iniquity in crucifying the Just One; and hence the consequent "days of vengeance" in the destruction of Jerusalem.
3. Individuals also are punished for sin.
(1) Sinners, as individuals, do not wholly go unpunished in this world. The wrath upon communities is felt by individuals. The condition of the backslider is itself a punishment.
(2) Satan finds his soul inviting. For out of humanity he is restless. He is uneasy when he can do no mischief. Hell is the devil"s heaven. There is nothing to keep him out.
(a) He finds it "empty" of God, of Christ, of his Holy Spirit.
(b) It is "swept" from love, lowliness, meekness, and all the fruits of the Spirit.
(c) It is "garnished" with levity and security.
The lodgings are furnished. "Servants make the house trim and handsome against their master comes home, especially when he brings guests with him, as here the devil brings seven more (Gurnall).
(3) The last state of the backslider is worse than the first.
(a) His powers were expanded under the heavenly influences of the gospel, and he is the more capable now of refinement in iniquity. He can now entertain "seven" devils, whereas formerly he had accommodation for one only.
(b) Evil habits are formed and strengthened by relapses. The condition induced by multiplied relapses is therefore the more incurable.
(4) The final doom of the sinner is at the judgment of the last day. Then balances are struck and arrears paid up. Then the severity of the tyranny of the "seven devils" is felt. J.A.M.
Sinful sign-seekers.
Sign-seeking may be either right or wrong. Gideon sought a sign from God for the confirmation of his faith; and to him the sign was given. These Pharisees asked for a sign which they could turn into a confirmation of their unbelief, and to them no sign was given; they must be content with a sort of enigma, or riddle, which they might puzzle over if they pleased. The state of mind of these sign-seekers is of great importance. It explains to us at once that it would Lave been worse than waste for our Lord to have yielded to their wish.
I THE SIGN THEY SOUGHT. Some miracle, wrought under conditions which they would appoint, anti submitted to tests which they would provide. Illustrate by the recent demand of the scientific man to have the question of "answer to prayer" submitted to what he called "adequate scientific tests." For them to seek a sign at all was to show that the miracles Christ had wrought had not produced their proper moral effect upon them. And anything like a demand for a sign showed that they did not realize their proper relations to a Jehovah-prophet, and to this Jehovah-prophet, who was the Messiah.
II THE SIGN THEY OBTAINED. Not at all the kind of thing they asked for. Something stated in such a paradoxical way as compelled them to think. The reference to Jonah"s being in the sea-monster"s belly is not the thing our Lord is using as a sign; that only introduces the sign of Jonah"s preaching repentance to the men of Nineveh. That was a sign, or illustration, of our Lord"s preaching to the Pharisees; and the sign became a solemn warning; for, while the Ninevites obeyed Jonah, they were resolutely setting themselves against all obedience to Christ; and as Christ was greater than Jonah, so their judgment for rejecting him would be proportionately severe. It is as if our Lord had said, "I will not give you a sign, but I will give you an illustration; and I will take it from the Old Testament history, which you pride yourselves on knowing so well; and from the conduct of a heathen people, whom you sublimely despise. "They repented at the preaching of Jonah;" "A Greater than Jonah is here." How are-you treating him and his message? Verily the men of Nineveh will rise and condemn you, you men of the superior privilege, in the day of judgment." They wanted a sign that they might use to condemn Christ; he gave them a sign which condemned them. R.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John A. Broadus 1886 · Public Domain Mat 12:38-50.
Mat 12:38-50.
Two Other Cases Of Opposition To Jesus
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These two instances of opposition belong together, (Mat 12:45) and clearly seem to have followed immediately upon the blasphemous accusation. The word then (Mat 12:38) does not certainly prove this, (compare Mat 12:22) but there is an obvious internal connection; and notice that in Mark (Mar 3:31) the coming of the mother and brethren immediately follows the blasphemous accusation, and the house and the multitude correspond. (Mar 3:20, Mar 3:31 f.)
I. Mat 12:38-42. The Scribes And Pharisees Ask A Sign
Compare Luk 11:29-32, which probably refers to a subsequent occasion, in Judea or Perea. (See above on "Mat 12:22")
Mat 12:38. Answered. This was their response to the severe and solemn words he had just spoken. (Mat 12:31-37) Certain of the Scribes and Pharisees (compare on Mat 12:24) did not concur with those he had reproved in ascribing his miracles to Beelzebul, (compare Luk 11:15 f.) but they intimated that the miracles he had wrought were insufficient to satisfy them of his divine mission, and as he had impliedly claimed to be the Messiah (Mat 12:28) they would like to see him present a sign[1] such as they would admit to be unmistakable. Their language was respectful, but their design was bad, as appears from our Lord’s reply; and Luke declares on the similar occasion that they did it ’tempting him.’ (Luk 11:16) Teacher, didasklos, see on "Mat 8:19". We would (wish to) see, as in Mat 16:24.
[1] There are three Greek words used in the New Testament to denote what we commonly and loosely call "miracles."
1. Teras signifies something portentous, suited to excite astonishment or alarm. The New Testament has it only in the plural, and always in connection with ’signs.’ It is uniformly translated in Com. Ver. ’wonders.’ (Compare Mat 24:24).
2. Dunamis strictly signifies power, whether physical or moral, whether natural, acquired, or bestowed, and is often translated ’power,’ (e. g., Mat 22:29, Mat 24:29 f.; Mat 26:64, and in Rev. Ver. Mat 14:2) It is in Com. Ver. translated ’miracle’ in Mar 9:39; Act 2:22, Act 8:13, Act 19:11; 1Co 12:10, 1Co 12:28-29; Gal 3:5; Heb 2:4. Of these passages Rev. Ver. gives ’mighty work’ in Mar 9:39 Act 2:22, ’powers’ in Heb 2:4, and retains’ miracle’ in the rest, always putting ’power’ in the margin. So Com. Ver. gives ’wonderful works’ in Mat 7:22 (Rev. Ver. ’mighty works’), and ’mighty works’ in Mat 11:20-23, Mat 13:54, Mat 13:58, Mat 14:2; Mar 6:2, Mar 6:5, Mar 6:14; Luk 10:13, Luk 19:37, which Rev. Ver. retains, except that in Mar 6:14 it changes to ’powers,’ as in Mat 14:2. And yet in all these places except Mar 6:2 it was already rendered ’miracles’ by Tyndale, Cran., Gen., and Rheims. So Noyes, except in Mar 6:14. This confusion might be almost entirely corrected by uniformly rendering this word ’miracle’ wherever it denotes a deed of supernatural power; since our word miracle, although in its Latin origin signifying a wonder, is now regularly used in the general sense of a supernatural deed.
3. Semeion, a ’sign,’ that by which something is signified or known, is used of things not supernatural in Mat 16:3, Mat 26:48 Luk 2:12, 2Th 3:17 (’token.’) In all other passages it denotes some more or less distinctly supernatural event. It is usually translated ’sign.’ But Com. Ver. has ’miracle’ in Luk 23:8, Joh 2:11, Joh 2:23, Joh 3:2, Joh 4:54, Joh 6:2, Joh 6:14, Joh 6:26, Joh 7:31, Joh 9:16, Joh 10:41; Joh 11:47, Joh 12:18, Joh 12:37; Act 4:16, Act 4:22; Act 6:8; Act 8:6; Act 15:12; Rev 13:14; Rev 16:14; Rev 19:20; and ’wonder’ in Rev 12:1, Rev 12:3, Rev 13:13. In all these passages Rev. Ver. has given ’sign,’ except Luk 23:8 Act 4:16; Acts 22, where it retains ’miracle,’ placing ’sign’ in the margin. In these last cases miracle seems in English a better word, but the other would suffice, and Rev. Ver. has often sacrificed much more than this to preserve uniformity of rendering. The Bible Union Revision renders uniformly the first word by ’wonder,’ the second by ’miracle,’ the third by ’sign.’ This uniform rendering would make the important subject of miracles in the New Testament appreciably plainer to the English reader.
All we are ere told is that they asked to see a ’sign’. Luke (Luk 11:16) says that on the similar occasion ’they sought of him a sign.’ from heaven.’ And on another occasion (Mat 16:1), it is likewise ’a sign from heaven.’ Moses gave manna from heaven, Joshua made the sun and moon stand still, Samuel caused thunder and hail in time of harvest, Elijah brought down fire from heaven, and rain at his word, Isaiah (speaking for Jehovah) bade Ahaz ask for a sign,"either in the depth, or in the height above." Some such sign as these the Scribes and Pharisees probably wanted. They may have taken literally the prediction of Joe 2:30. (Act 2:19.) Compare below on Mat 24:30.
Mat 12:39-40. An evil and adulterous generation, viz., one which has forsaken Jehovah, and demands a sign such as itself may dictate. ’Adulterous,’ when thus figuratively employed, is usually applied in Old Testament to idolatry (Isa 57:3; Eze 16:15; Hos 3:1, etc.), but it is applicable also to any sin by which the nation forsook her dirge husband. (Compare Jas 4:4, Rev. Ver.) The Jews had never been generally idolatrous since their return from the Babylonian captivity, but they were God-forsaking and wicked. And there shall no sign be given to it. Our Lord wrought many miracles, and these actually were, and ought to have been considered, signs of his divine mission, as Nicodemus early recognized. (Joh 3:2, Rev. Ver., ’signs.’) But when with a blending of idle curiosity and unbelief, they asked him to furnish a special ’sign’ (and of the precise kind that suited their fancy), he would not do it. So likewise in Mat 16:4, also at Nazareth, (Luk 4:23 ff.) and before Herod. (Luk 23:8 f) But the sign of the prophet Jonas. Jonah instead of Jonas, see on Mat 1:2. For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly, or, in the belly of the ’huge fish.’ The Greek word is used for any huge sea-creature, by Homer once for a seal, at a later period for the whale, the shark, the dog-fish, etc. The Hebrew simply says ’a great fish,’ and the Greek term does not enable us to say what kind of fish it was. It was translated ’whale’ because that is the largest of the huge creatures denoted by the Greek word; but the rendering was unfortunate, for the whale has not a throat sufficiently large to swallow a man, and this fact has given rise to some sneers from sceptics of the lower grade. The shark or the dog-fish could readily swallow a man, and entire human bodies have sometimes been found in the stomach of fishes of this kind. The prophet’s preservation was obviously miraculous; but it is useless to make the mere deglutition a miracle, when the language does not really so indicate. So shall the Son of man, i.e., the Messiah, see on "Mat 8:20". In the heart of the earth. This expression was probably used with reference to that of Jon 2:3, ’heart of the seas’; compare Deu 4:11, ’unto the heart of heaven,’ Psa 46:2, ’in the heart of the seas,’ (all these passages in Rev. Ver. and margin of Com. Ver.) The reference is to our Lord’s interment, and the passages compared show that there is no propriety in insisting, as many do, that the language is too strong for that simple idea, and must therefore be referred to what is called his "descent into Hades." Three days and three nights. See Jon 1:17. Our Lord was actually in the grave less than thirty-six hours, but it began before the close "of Friday, and closed on the morning of Sunday, and according to the mode of counting time among the Jeers, this would be reckoned three days, both the first and the last day being always included. (Compare on Mat 17:1, and on Mat 27:63 f.) The only difficulty is, that he not merely says "three days," but "three days and three nights," when he spent only two nights in the tomb. But the Jews reckoned the night and day as together constituting one period, and a part of this period was counted as the whole. Lightfoot quotes from the Jerusalem Talmud two Rabbis as saying, "A day and a night make an Onah, and a part of an Onah is as the whole." There was no way to express in Greek this period of twenty-four hours, except by day and night (or night and day) as here, or by the late and extremely rare Greek compound ’night-day’ (nuchthemeron) used in 2Co 11:25. It was natural to choose here the former phrase (even if we suppose the other known to Matthew), in order to state more strongly the similarity of the two cases. We find a parallel use in 1Sa 30:12 f., where it is first said that the Egyptian had eaten nothing "three days and three nights," and then, "my master left me because three days ago I fell sick." So also in Est 4:16, Est 5:1. Some have inferred from this passage of Matthew that Jesus must have remained seventy-two full hours in the grave; but some of the expressions used in speaking of his resurrection absolutely forbid this. See on "Mat 27:63". The only sign which should be given to that wicked generation was ’the sign of Jonah the prophet,’ a sign resembling the miracle which occurred in the case of Jonah, viz., the resurrection of Jesus after being three days in the tomb. Jonah’ s miraculous deliverance from the belly of the fish would naturally be made known by him to the Ninevites, in accounting for the zeal with which he proclaimed his message, (compare Luk 11:30; ’Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites’) and would contribute to their reception of his message. And so the resurrection of Jesus was to be a sign to that generation, which ought to conquer the unbelief of tile most perverse, and did conquer in many cases. (Act 2:32 ff.; Act 4:33 Rom 1:4) Jesus makes a similar obscure allusion to his resurrection in Joh 2:21, in which case also he had been asked for a ’sign.’ (Joh 2:18)[1]
[1] Dr. Hort says (W. H., App., p. 282) that in this passage "it is difficult to believe that all the words as they stand have apostolic authority." Dr. Toy (Quotations p. XXVIII) holds it probable that Jesus said only what is recorded in Luk 11:30, and the rest in Matthew was added by "the oral tradition." Why not then refer to another similar passage, Mar 8:12, "There shall no sign be given unto this generation," and conclude that Jonah was not really mentioned by Jesus at all? Why draw one conclusion and not the other, except because the miracle of the great fish does not please the critics? Bleek attempts an argument to prove that Luke’s account is alone authentic; but he is amply refuted by Weiss. In fact (though we need not urge it), does not Luke’s own language really rest on the resemblance of the three days and three nights? How else (Weiss, Godet) did Jonah ’become’ a sign to the Ninevites? and why else does Jesus say in Luke that the Son of man ’shall be’ a sign, instead of ’is’?
Mat 12:41. By a natural association of ideas, our Lord passes to say that the men of ’this generation’ are acting much more wickedly than did the Ninevites. It was a sublime spectacle when the whole population of that vast heathen city, the proud king, the nobles and all, down to the very humblest, repented at the preaching of Jonah. (Mat 3:5-10) This repentance, both in the grief, the reformation, and the prayer for forgiveness, must have been genuine, for otherwise God would not have regarded it, nor would Jesus have appealed to it here. Subsequent generations relapsed into idolatry, but so it often was with Israel. Shall rise, more literally, stand up, and Rev. Ver. so renders, in order to leave room for the idea of standing up to bear witness, as in Mat 13:57. But this is the common term for the resurrection, more common than the literal ’be raised’ of Mat 12:42, and does not probably mean anything else in the present case. In (the) judgment see on "Mat 11:22". With this generation, i.e., along with, in company with. And shall condemn it, show its guilt and desert of condemnation, by the contrast between its conduct and their own. (Compare Mat 11:22-24) Repented, the verb corresponding to metanoia (see on "Mat 3:2"), denoting not merely regret, but change of mind. Tyndale, Cram, Gen.,"amended." At the preaching, or proclamation, the word being derived from the verb, explained on Mat 4:17. The preposition rendered ’at’ is, usually rendered ’into’ or ’unto,’ and often denoting design or aim. It cannot possibly have that sense here, for certainly the Ninevites did not repent in order that Jonah might preach. It clearly introduces the occasion or ground of the repenting[1] (Winer, p. 397, 495); and so it may possibly have the same force in Mat 8:11 and Act 2:38. And behold, calling attention to something important. A greater—or more—than Jonah is here. The word is neuter, not ’a greater (man),’ but ’(something) more.’ (Compare on Mat 11:9, Mat 12:6) If more than Jonah was here, then the men of this generation were under greater obligation to repent than the Ninevites, and all the more guilty for not repenting. Some records of buried Nineveh have been recently exhumed, and the world eagerly reads their strangely recovered history; let us not forget that the Ninevites of Jonah’s day will rise up in the judgment and condemn all those of every age who hear the preaching of the gospel and will not repent. Weiss : "If John already was more than a prophet, (Mat 11:9) why should not the mightier one to whom he pointed (Mat 3:11) be beyond comparison more than Jonah?" Wherever the gospel of Jesus is really preached, the same thing holds true; for the gospel, when spoken by the humblest follower of Christ, has higher claims to be believed and heeded than had the solemn warning of Jonah. This reply of our Lord somewhat resembles that made at Nazareth. (Luk 4:23 ff.) In both cases miracles were demanded, and in both the answer rebuked the arrogance of their claim by showing that God had sometimes blessed Gentiles rather than Jews.
[1] The Old Latin gives here in some of its forms the word-for-word translation in proedicationem, while other forms and the Vulgate have in proedicatione. The Peshito has ’in’, i.e., on the ground of.
Mat 12:42. Another historical instance is added, to show still further the wickedness of this generation. They not only refused to heed the call to repentance made by a more than prophet, but they slighted the wisdom taught by a more than Solomon. The queen of the south, called in 1Ki 10:1-10 ’the queen of Sheba.’ This people, usually called the Sabaeans, appear to have occupied a large portion of Southern Arabia. In this fertile region they grew rich by agriculture and trade, especially the great trade with India, from which country they brought spices, precious stones, etc., to supply the Western nations. Hence came that abundance of costly articles which astonished the court of Solomon. In Joe 3:8 the Sabaeans are called "a nation far off," and so in Jer 6:20, Sheba is "a far country." This corresponds with our Lord’s expression, came from the uttermost parts (the ends) of the earth, (compare Deu 28:49) which, according to the knowledge of the time, would be no exaggeration as applied to the southern extremity of the Arabian peninsula. ’Ends’ is literal (so Wye., and Rheims), and simpler than ’uttermost parts’ (Tyndale and followers). There were few books in the days of this queen, and the only way to get the full benefit of some famous man’s wisdom was to visit and converse with him. In our day of multiplied literature, thoughtful conversation on important topics is too little practised. A greater (more) than Solomon is here, as in Mat 12:41. It must have startled the Jews very much to find Jesus quietly intimating that he was superior, not only to the prophet Jonah, but to Solomon, the magnificent monarch, the revered sage. In the case of a mere man, and a man wise and humble, such a claim would seem strange. Shall not the delicate woman, who took this long and trying journey to hear the wisdom of Solomon, condemn us in the day of judgment, who have the history and writings of Solomon, the life and sayings-of Jesus, recorded in a book which is any hour within our reach—if we neglect to seek its treasures of wisdom?
II. Mat 12:43-45. Jesus Illustrates The Consequences Of Neglecting His Teachings
So on the similar occasion of Luk 11:24-26. The illustration was doubtless suggested by the healing of a demoniac (Mat 12:22) which had led to the foregoing discourse. Plumptre thinks this parable "comes in abruptly." But the wicked conduct of ’this generation’ in disregarding him who is more than Jonah or Solomon (Mat 12:41 f.) is accounted for by the parable, which is distinctly applied to them (Mat 12:45) and gives to our Lord’s immediate hearers a new warning. This view is made clearer by the proper reading ’but’ in Mat 12:43. For when, etc., read, but the unclean spirit, when he is gone out of the man, the spirit and the man, meaning a supposed or ideal individual, taken as representative of what always happens in such a case. For ’unclean ’see on "Mat 10:1"and see on "Mat 8:28". He, or it, as in margin of Rev. Ver., the Greek word for ’spirit’ being neuter, and so the pronoun being neuter. (So in Mat 12:44-45) Through dry (waterless) places, the literal translation. It was a prevailing Jewish idea that evil spirits especially frequented desert or desolate places, see Tob 8:3; Bar 4:35. And it need not be considered merely as a Jewish notion, for it is favoured by the imagery of this passage and of Rev 18:2. If the evil spirits that infest the earth are sometimes not occupied in possessing or tempting men, what spots would seem to be a more appropriate abode for them than parched and desolate places? As to demoniacal possessions, see on "Mat 8:28". That demons did sometimes re-enter, after being cast out, is implied by Mar 9:25, "Come out of him and enter no more into him." The house denotes the man whom he had possessed or occupied. Upon returning, the spirit finds the house unoccupied, swept, and adorned—just ready for an Occupant; which, as said of the man, denotes that after being delivered from the unclean spirit he does not occupy his mind and heart with other and better things, but lives in a state of readiness for repossession. This language distinctly intimates that the possibility of demoniacal possessions depended (at least in some instances) on the moral and spiritual condition of the person, as well as on his physical and mental health. The unclean spirit, finding no rest in all his wanderings, no soot where be can be content quietly to remain, comes to re-enter his ’house’; and seeing it to be in such excellent condition for occupation, he goes after others to share it with him. Seven other spirits, the common, oft-recurring number (compare Luk 8:2, and a much greater number in Mar 5:9) More wicked. There seem then to be degrees of wickedness among the demons; just as we find in Mar 9:29 , that some were harder to cast out than others. And the last state (things) of that man is (or, becomes) worse than the first (things), i.e., his last fortunes or condition. Some propose to take the passage as a purely hypothetical illustration, derived from common fancies and modes of expression, and not implying that such a thing ever really happens as a dispossession and repossession. We have seen on Mat 8:28 that the demoniacal possessions must be taken as real, there being greater difficulties about any other view. And so here. The illustration is an ideal instance, as the forms of expression show, but it corresponds to and represents realities. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation, compare Mat 12:39, Mat 16:4, Mat 24:34. Our Lord distinctly applies his illustration to the Jewish nation of his own generation. The dispossession may refer to the remarkable abandonment of idolatry after the captivity, and the comparatively improved religious and moral condition of the people. Then the empty, swept, and garnished stage might describe the refusal to occupy themselves with the spiritual and salutary teachings of Jesus. Or, the dispossession may refer to the great impression made by John and Jesus,(Mat 11:12) which in most of the people was proving temporary, so that in finally rejecting the Messianic reign they would become more completely than ever the subjects of Satan, and in forty years more would plunge into sore calamity and ruin. Various additional applications of the illustration might be made, as in others of our Lord’s parables; but such applications are of course made by ourselves without claiming that they were contemplated by Jesus.
III. Mat 12:46-50. His Mother And Brethren Try To Speak To Him
Compare Mar 3:31-35 Luk 8:19-21. It was not enough that the leading men among his own people whom he came to save (Joh 1:11) rejected him with blasphemies; but it was a part of the cruel opposition Jesus had to encounter, (Heb 12:3) that some of his nearest kindred for a long time misunderstood him, so that his brethren taunted him, (Joh 7:3-5) and on the present occasion "his friends" even said he was insane, and wished to stop his teaching by force. (Mar 3:21) By combining this account with that of Mark (Mar 3:20-21, Mar 3:31) we see that Jesus and the Twelve came into a house, where a crowd assembled, so that they could not so much as eat bread, and that "his friends," (Mar 3:21) upon hearing of it went forth to seize him, saying that he was ’beside himself.’ The peculiar expression in Mark does not contain the term ’friends,’ but signifies those that were of his family, or his country, or his party, etc. It cannot here mean the apostles, for they were with him in the house; and as "his mother and his brethren "presently reach the house (Mar 5:31) desiring to speak with him, it is natural to understand that they are meant by the phrase, vaguely rendered, ’his friends.’ Compare Fritz. and Mey. (on Mark), Grimm, Winer, etc. Meantime, in the house, he healed a demoniac, and then occurred the blasphemous accusation and the discourse following. While he was yet speaking, his mother and brethren arrived at the house, and finding it difficult to enter because of the crowd, (Mat 12:46 Mar 2:20) they passed in word that they were without, and were seeking to speak to him. Seeking is the literal and exact translation, and so Wyc. and Rheims, while Tyndale and his followers improperly rendered it by desiring, which fails to indicate that efforts were made. His brethren, see on "Mat 13:55". On any view they were near relatives, which is sufficient for the present passage. Bible Com.: "From the mention of his mother and his brethren only, it has been conjectured, with some probability, that Joseph was now dead." Mat 13:47 must pretty certainly be omitted,[1] having been brought in here from Mark and Luke to explain the phrase ’him that told him’ in Mat 13:48. There is evidently no loss of substantial meaning.—Are we to understand that Mary wished to seize him, and thought him beside himself. She must surely have remembered what Gabriel had told her, and Simeon and Anna had said; how can she have questioned that he was the Messiah, and was to sit on the throne of his father David? Did she merely give way to the influence of the ’brethren,’ or did she in fact, as many prefer to think, go along from no sympathy with their views or intentions, but in order to interpose between Jesus and their violence? Some suppose that they were only concerned about his health, from hearing that he was so thronged as to have no opportunity of taking food, and was still speaking on with solemn vehemence and consuming zeal; but this would hardly have made them venture to ’seize’ him. (Mar 3:21) Our Lord’s reply here seems to intimate that she, as well as the brethren, was unwarrantably interfering with his work, as he had gently rebuked her for doing on a former occasion. (Joh 2:4) Perhaps Mary sometimes became perplexed, as John the Baptist appears to have been (see on "Mat 11:2"), by her son’s pursuing a course so widely different from what she, in common with other Jews, expected of the Messiah; and in this frame of mind she could more easily be prevailed on by the ’brethren’ to accompany them, without fully sharing either their view or their purpose.
[1] It is wanting in à (first hand), B L T, four cursives, Old Syriac, and two copies of the Old Latin. There is obvious ground for supposing it to have been inserted here from the equivalent statement which occurs without variation in Mar 3:32 Luk 8:20. We can see no reason why it should have been omitted, if originally present, save a possible offence at the repetition of the same words, as in Mat 12:46; but that is a peculiarity of Hebrew style, too common in the Bible to have provoked critical excision. It is omitted in Weiss and Westcott Hort.
The person who told Jesus naturally thought that b e would consider the claims of his mother and brothers as paramount, and would at once go forth, or cause them to be admitted. But he knew how his brothers misunderstood him, and was aware that their motive at present was not friendly. It seems to be implied that he continued his discourse, and only when this was finished, and the crowd was dispersing, went out and spoke with them. (Compare on Mat 13:1) However that may be, he took the occasion to make a most affecting declaration of his love for his disciples—for all who do the will of his Father in heaven. What he said was addressed especially to the person who spoke to him (Mat 12:48); but also (Mar 3:34 Luk 8:21) to the persons present in general. He stretched forth his hand towards his disciples, (compare Mar 3:34) the word here probably including other disciples as well as the Twelve (see on "Mat 5:1"). The same (literally He) is my brother, with emphasis on ’he,’ as in Mat 1:21. And sister. Our Lord had ’sisters’ in the same sense in which he had ’brothers,’ probably in the most natural sense (see on "Mat 13:56"). Observe that he does not say brother, or sister, or mother, (1Ti 5:2) but each person is at the same time ’brother and sister and mother,’ as much beloved as all these combined. Somewhat similarly Andromache says to her husband, "Hector, thou art to me father, and revered mother, and brother, and thou my blooming spouse." Luke (Luk 8:21) only gives the general sentiment in the briefest form. And so, no doubt, many a discourse of our Lord, which of necessity is very briefly reported to us, was in the actual delivery full of such pointed interrogation and impressive repetition as we have here in Matthew and in Mark.
Homiletical And Practical
Mat 12:38 f. Men often demand further evidence of Christianity when they have abundant evidence but for their determination not to believe. There is a moral probation involved in believing or rejecting the gospel.
(1Co 1:18-25) Henry: "Signs were granted to those who desired them for the confirmation of their faith, as to Abraham and Gideon; but were denied to those who demanded them for the excuse of their unbelief."
Mat 12:39. The Jews of our Lord’s generation. (1) Wicked and God-forsaking, Mat 12:39. (2) Demanding further evidence amid all his teachings and miracles, and in his own impressive presence, Mat 12:38. (3) Grown worse since the first temporary effect of his ministry, Mat 12:45. (4) On their way to the sin of crucifying their Messiah, and to national calamity and destruction. (5) Destined to stand ashamed at the judgment in the presence of Gentiles whom they despised, Mat 12:41 f.
Mat 12:39 f. Jonah and Jesus. (1) Jonah a great prophet, and Jesus more than Jonah. (2) The sign of Jonah, and the sign of Jesus’ resurrection. (3) The preaching of Jonah, and the preaching of Jesus. (4) The effect of the one and of the other.
Mat 12:42. Henry: "The Queen of Sheba. (1) She had no invitation to Solomon, nor promise of being welcomed; but we are invited to Christ, to sit at his feet and hear his words. (2) Solomon was but a wise man; but Christ is wisdom itself. (3) The queen had many difficulties to break through—leaving her country to subordinates—a laborious and perilous journey; we have no such difficulties. (4) She could not be sure that Solomon would equal his fame; but we come to Christ upon no such uncertainties. (5) She came from the ends of the earth; but we have Christ among us, and his word nigh us. (6) It should seem the wisdom she came for was only philosophy and politics; but the wisdom that is to be had with Christ is wisdom unto salvation."
Mat 12:43-45. Whenever a nation or an individual attempts a reformation, the evil principles and habits that are cast out must be vigorously and permanently replaced by good principles and habits, or the evil will return and be worse than ever.
Mat 12:48. Jesus and his mother. (1) Trained by her, Luk 2:40. (2) Subject to her, (Luk 2:51) (3) Gently rebuking her—(a) Luk 2:49; (b) Joh 2:4; (c) Mat 12:48. (4) Providing for her, Joh 19:26 f. (5) Loving all true Christians even more than he loved her, Mat 13:50. Edersheim: "For had he not entered into earthly kinship solely for the sake of the higher spiritual relationship which he was about to found? Thus it was not that Christ let lightly by his mother, but that he confounded not the means with the end, nor yet surrendered the spirit for the letter of the law of love." Bengel: "He does not contemn the mother, but he puts the Father first." Chrys.: "If she is nothing profited by being his mother, were it not for piety in her, hardly will any one else be saved by his kindred. For there is one only nobleness, to do the will of God. This kind of noble birth is better than the other, and more real."
John A. Broadus, Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew (American Baptist Publication Society, 1886) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Master, we would see a sign from Thee.
Mat_12:38
Master, we would see a sign from Thee.
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Religious sign-seekers
I. That the demand for additional advantages generally comes from those already
Possessed of very many. It was the scribes and Pharisees that made this request, not the publicans.
II. God never gives additional advantages when those possessed are not used. Christ refused this demand
(1) because it was merely an excuse for their rejection of Him;
(2) because it was a reflection on Him;
(3) because it bore no proof of earnestness;
(4) because Gods past dealings afforded all the proof requisite.
III. Failure to use all the advantages we possess can only issue in condemnation. The Ninevites would condemn the Jews. The ministry of Jonah was brief, wrathful, that of a sinful man. Christs ministry was longer, and that of the Holy Son of God. The Queen of Sheba would condemn them.
1. She came to see and hear out of curiosity.
2. She came from afar.
3. She came uninvited.
4. She came on a mere report. (C. Lankester, B. A.)
The doctrines of religion reasonable to be believed
I. That the doctrine of religion is in itself reasonable to be believed, and sufficiently evidenced by the standing and universal signs or marks of truth. The sign of the prophet Jonas was sufficient to render that generation of the Jews inexcusable in their unbelief. Religion is in its nature a trial of mens hearts, and, therefore, inconsistent with all compulsive motives. All religion consists in the love of truth, and in the free choice and practice of right, and in being influenced by rational and moral motives.
II. Here is a description given of wicked men, in one part of their character that they are apt continually to require more and more signs, and to tempt God without reason and without end. Wicked men do not like to fight against God openly; and therefore take pains to impose upon themselves some slight objection against Him.
III. There are just and Good reasons why God should not gratify the unreasonable expectations of prejudiced and corrupt minds-There shall no sign be given, etc. Men must obey in order to know. (S. Clarke, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 38. Master, we would see a sign from thee.…
38. Master, we would see a sign from thee. Compare Matt. 16:1 and Luke 11:16, 29. They had just seen a miracle, but demand another. Jesus never worked miracles to gratify human curiosity, or to secure popular applause.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Mat_12:38. A sign.—See Luk_11:16. They wanted something of an…
CRITICAL NOTES
Mat_12:38. A sign.—See Luk_11:16. They wanted something of an immediate and decisive nature, to show, not that His miracles were real—that they seemed willing to concede—but that they were from above, not from beneath (Brown). Gerlach and Lisco suggest that these Pharisees were better inclined, and less opposed to Jesus, than the others. But in our opinion they were rather the worst among the bad (Lange).
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Mat_12:39. Adulterous.—Adultery, taken in a spiritual sense, according to the Old Testament idea, is equivalent to apostasy or idolatry (Isa_23:17). Jesus foreknew that the apostasy of the Pharisees would lead them even to an outward alliance with the heathen in the act of His crucifixion (Lange). No sign.—The words seem at first to place our Lord’s miracles of healing outside the category of signs, and yet it was to these that He referred the messengers of the Baptist as proof that the Christ had indeed come (Mat_11:5), and appealed in Joh_5:36. They must, however, be interpreted by the context. One sign and only one, such as they demanded, differing from and transcending the miracles of healing, should be given to those for whom the other notes of Messiahship were insufficient, and that should be the sign of the prophet Jonas (Plumptre).
Mat_12:40. Three days and three nights.—I.e. three of the periods composed of a night and a day (νυχθήμερον) which was reckoned as one day. On the Jewish principle, that a part of any such period is as the whole, a whole day and part of two other days would be reckoned as three (Mansel). Whale.—Sea-monster (R.V. margin). Heubner relates an instance of a sailor who was swallowed by a shark, and yet preserved. In the heart of the earth.—Some interpret simply in the grave; others in hades.
Mat_12:41. Rise.—Stand up (R.V.). The word “rise” is used not of the mere fact of resurrection, but of standing up as witnesses (Plumptre).
Mat_12:42. The queen of the south.—Of Sheba, Southern Arabia (1Ki_10:1). A greater than Solomon.—Solomon was wise, but here is Wisdom itself (Bengel).
Mat_12:43. When the unclean spirit, etc.—The connection is not clearly marked. It seems to be this: Christ has been speaking of “this generation;” He now contrasts it with past generations. The Jews of former times were like a man possessed by a demon, the Jews of this day are like a man possessed by many demons (Carr). Dry places.—Waterless (R.V.) The waterless desert uninhabited by man was regarded by the Jews as the especial abode of evil spirits (ibid.).
Mat_12:44. Empty.—Properly, at leisure. To have cast out a sin does not make a man safe from sin; there must be no leisure in the Christian life (ibid.).
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Mat_12:38-45
Pretended friends.—We have here yet another phase of opposition to Christ. “Certain” men amongst His opponents come to Him with a show of respect. Setting aside as unimportant all the “signs” He has hitherto shown, they come to Him as though persons only wanting a sufficient further “sign” to enable them to believe (cf. Mar_8:11, a “sign from heaven”). That the Saviour saw through the hollowness of this request is plain from His language (Mat_12:39). Yet He was pleased to give their request, notwithstanding this, a certain amount of reply. We may regard this reply as consisting:
1. Of a mysterious promise.
2. Of a solemn warning.
3. Of a lamentable forecast.
I. A mysterious promise.—No “sign,” indeed, of the kind they meant should be granted to such as they were. What they asked for was not really what they desired. They were “evil” (Mat_12:39). Nor would they use it, if granted to them, in the way they professed. They were adulterous (Mat_12:39). It were a waste of power, therefore, as well as an encouragement of treachery, to do as they asked. Yet He did not intend, on that account, to leave them without further evidence of any description. In due course, rather, they should have a sign—a sign indeed—of His mission. This “sign” would be, on the one hand, like one already known to them all. The prophet Jonah had been a most remarkable sign to the men of his generation. Few things more extraordinary than his story—few more famous—few more effectual, had ever been known. The “sign” which He was now speaking of should be of like kind. It should be something fully worthy of being placed by its side. It should be like it even in that particular which was the most crucial part of the whole story of Jonah. Jonah was a space of “three days and nights” in the inside of the fish. The Son of man should be a similar time in the “heart of the earth” (Mat_12:40). What that meant the event itself would fully explain. Meantime, it was in that event, whatever its nature, that they would ultimately be able to discover the “sign” that He meant. In due time, in a word, there would be no lack of proof—of abundant proof—of His mission.
II. A solemn warning.—Had they been right then, after all, in demanding a “sign”? If more evidence was thus to follow in time, did it mean that they had been right in supposing that they had not enough as it was? No, the Saviour replies in effect, that was far indeed from the truth. On the contrary, He points out, there were those who had believed on less evidence still. Two cases of this kind stood out in the past. There was the case of those to whom the prophet Jonah, already mentioned, was sent. Those people of Nineveh, in this matter of evidence, had no such advantages as they had. Jonah had not been in his day what Jesus was in the present. There had not been the same array of miracles (Joh_3:2), the same converging prophecies (Act_10:43), the same manifest authority (Mat_7:29), the same abounding love (Jon_3:10; Jon_4:1) in the case of that prophet. All that Jonah taught the Ninevites, was to believe it possible that God might repent if they did (Jon_3:9). Yet they had repented and had believed in him, and that thoroughly, to a man (Jon_3:5). On the other hand, there was the parallel case of the Queen of Sheba and Solomon. There again present advantages were far “greater” than past. All she had heard of was the probability of learning the truth. They had its fulness in view. Both cases, therefore, were a contrast to them, and a lesson as well. If those earlier hearers, with their smaller light, used it so well, what would that say for these later ones, by whom such far greater light was despised? How could these later stand beside those earlier ones, when all things came to be judged?
III. A sad forecast.—What then, this was the next question, would be the end of such conduct? Even the same as always followed in similar cases. There was a fixed rule—a sad rule—an inevitable rule—in such matters. Where a measure of light is so dealt with as not to be allowed to do its full work—where it brings about, therefore, nothing more at best than a kind of outward reform, and so leaves, as it were, the actual source of life unenlightened thereby—the end of so doing is a measure of darkness even worse than at first. In other words, the evil spirit so cast out wanders about for a time, but finds no rest in so doing. Naturally, therefore, it desires to go back to the kind of rest which it had; and naturally also, in that “empty” house (Mat_12:44), finds nothing to prevent this being done. At the same time, remembering well its former expulsion therefrom, it seeks to prevent the possible recurrence of anything of the kind by getting the company of other spirits still wickeder than itself. And thus it is, therefore, that in every way, the last state is the worst. There are more in number, they are worse in character, they have a more tenacious hold than before. Even so, therefore, was it to be expected of the “generation” before Him. The light that had been given them, not being truly welcomed by them, would end in greater obscurity still. Their partial delivery—being only partial—would be seven-fold bondage at last.
How sadly this forecast was verified in the case of that “generation” hardly needs to be told. The whole subsequent history of Israel is its fulfilment. Think of a time coming when it should be necessary to say of the chosen people that they were not all of them blind (Rom_11:5).
How solemnly this verification should tell upon all hardly needs to be told. Doubtless the principle involved accounts for most of the apostasy in the world, whether on the part of individual Christians or associated bodies of Christians. Doubtless, therefore, the warning applies to us all. Nothing is more dangerous than not making the best of the light that we have!
HOMILIES ON THE VERSES
Mat_12:38. Dictating to Christ.—
1. Christ was exercised with divers sorts of temptations by His adversaries, some openly blaspheming, some subtly insinuating, as if they would deal reasonably with Him. “Master” say these men, “we would see a sign”; as if they had never seen any of His miracles before; or as if upon the doing of some miracle, they minded to believe in Him.
2. Christ’s miracles were sufficient to show that He was the Messiah, for even His enemies can crave no more but to have a sign.
3. Obstinate believers will not be satisfied with any of God’s words or works, but still crave new ones.
4. Misbelievers are also limiters of the Holy One of Israel; nothing will satisfy these men, but a sign at their direction.—David Dickson.
Mat_12:38-39. Sign-seeking.—Many men of blameless lives—of whom it would be a breach of charity to say that they loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil—nevertheless declare themselves unsatisfied with the signs of the Divine mission of Christ our Lord. Why is this? It is because they are infected with the spirit of the age, engrossed with the material, the sensible, the secular. Such persons not only cannot recognise the signs of the kingdom of heaven, but are in a state of heart and mind to which no sign can possibly be given. We are indebted to the fine candour of the late Mr. Darwin for a striking illustration of this. In his Life there is an interesting correspondence with Prof. Asa Gray, the great botanist, who, wondering how Darwin could remain unconvinced by the innumerable evidences of design in nature, took the liberty of asking him if he could think of any possible proof which he would consider sufficient. To this Mr. Darwin replied, “Your question, ‘what would convince me?’ is a poser. If I saw an angel come down to teach us so, and I was convinced, from others seeing him, that I was not mad, I should believe.” If he had left it there, it might have been pertinent to ask him whether Christ is not just such an angel come down from heaven to teach us, and whether a sufficient number of persons did not see Him in the flesh, to say nothing of the multitudes who know Him in the spirit, to convince us that we are not mad in believing it. He did not, however, leave it there, but went on to say: “If man was made of brass and iron, and in no way connected with any other organism which had ever lived, I should, perhaps, be convinced.” Nothing could be more candid, or more in keeping with the transparent honesty of this great man. But what an acknowledgment! Man must cease to be man and become a metal machine, and the universe must cease to be a harmonious whole before there can be evidence enough for so simple and elementary a principle as design in the universe: and then only a “perhaps”! If all this were done for me, “I should perhaps be convinced.” Is our Lord’s answer to the seekers after a sign out of date? “Verily, I say unto you, there shall no sign be given unto this generation” (Mar_8:12). How could there be?—J. M. Gibson, D.D.
Mat_12:40. Jonas a sign.—
I. As affording a type of the resurrection.
II. As a preacher of righteousness to a people who needed repentance as this generation needs it.—A. Carr, M.A.
Mat_12:41. The Ninevites and the Jews.—What dissemblance or disparity was between the Ninevites and the Jews?
1. The Ninevites were strangers from the commonwealth of Israel and people of God; neither had they received His word before this; but the Jews had received the law from the Lord, and did boast therein, and yet would not hear Christ, who interpreted and explained the law unto them.
2. The Ninevites had but one preacher of the word, viz., Jonas, and yet they obeyed him; but although God had spoken unto the Jews by many prophets, and by John the Baptist, yea, by His own and only Son, yet they shamefully and reproachfully rejected them all.
3. The Ninevites having heard but only one sermon from Jonah, the servant of the Lord, repented, believed, and changed their lives; but the Jews had heard many sermons from the prophets in all ages, and at last heard those sermons repeated and confirmed by Christ, the Lord and Master of the prophets, and yet they would not repent and amend their lives.
4. The. Ninevites heard a stranger and believed him, although he came from a nation which they hated and envied; but the Jews despised Christ, who came of the fathers, according to the flesh, and was no stranger, but a child, and free-born, amongst them.
5. The Ninevites believed Jonas without any sign, content with this, that he had come unto them for their disobedience towards God; but the Jews daily saw many signs, i.e. miracles wrought by Christ, and yet persevered in their obstinacy, as though He had done nothing worthy of faith, or for which they had reason to believe in Him.
6. None had ever foretold the Ninevites anything concerning Jonas, and yet, when he came, they believed and obeyed him; but all the prophets had foretold the Jews of Christ’s coming, and they saw His words suit and agree with their predictions, and yet they would not believe Him, nor amend their lives.
7. The Ninevites patiently suffered Jonas, although he threatened the miserable destruction, both of their city and kingdom; but the Jews would not endure, or hear, or obey Christ, although He preached grace and salvation unto them, yea, did not prescribe any hard or harsh rules of living unto them, but declared remission of sins to every one who would repent, believe, and obey.
8. Jonas was not derided and mocked by the Ninevites, although he fled when God sent him unto them; but the Jews scoffed and taunted Christ, who refused not to undergo reproach, hatred, persecution, and death for them and their salvation.—Richard Ward.
Mat_12:42. The example of the Queen of Sheba.—
1. She went, notwithstanding the distance of her residence.—She had a long journey to perform, with little of those facilities and accommodation for travelling which we enjoy. And yet she went all the way to Jerusalem that she might hear and witness the wisdom of Solomon. Will not this procedure on her part condemn those of us to whom God has brought nigh His word? You have His ordinances; His Sabbaths are every week enjoyed by you—His house opened for your reception—His word in a language you can understand.
2. She went, notwithstanding all the anxieties of her public station.—She might have pleaded, “I have so much to do, so many cares devolving upon me that I cannot go.” But she acted on different principles and was well rewarded for her labour. Can you, then, plead any cares, any anxieties, any occupations, as a reason why you should not make every effort, submit to every sacrifice, go through every necessary difficulty, in order to attend to the wisdom of the Son of God—in order to listen to the oracles of truth—in order to seek the things that belong to your everlasting peace?
3. She went though uninvited.—There was no offer, no appeal made to her. Mere report, general testimony that she heard, induced her to go. Can you say you are uninvited?
4. She went to hear the wisdom of a mortal, at best fallible, and who after all was guilty of sad and criminal defection. But you are invited to listen to, and receive the instructions of heavenly wisdom, of eternal life.—J. Fletcher, D.D.
Mat_12:43-45. The spirit of evil.—The words have a twofold symbolism as representing:—
I. The state of the possessed man.
II. The state of the nation of which he is made the type. The latter belongs to the interpetation of the parable as a whole. The former portrays the state of the man who has been delivered from the wildness of frenzy, but has been left to the routine of common life and conventional morality, with no higher spiritual influence to protect and guard him.—E. H. Plumptre, D.D.
The Jewish people.—In applying the parable to the religious life of the Jewish people we have to ask—
1. What answers to the first possession and the expulsion of the evil spirit?
2. What to the seven other spirits joined with the first, and yet more evil?
3. What is the last state, yet future at the time our Lord spoke, which was to be worse than the first?—The answer to the first question lies on the surface of their history. Their besetting sin from the time of the Exodus to that of the Captivity had been idolatry and apostasy. The worship of other gods exercised a strange and horrible fascination over them—deprived them, as it were, of light, reason, and true freedom of will. They were enslaved and possessed by it. Then came the return from the exile in Babylon, when, not so much by the teaching of the prophets as by that of the scribes and Pharisees, idolatry seemed banished for ever. But the house was “empty, swept, and garnished.” There was no indwelling presence of the enthusiasm of a higher life, only an outward ceremonial religion and rigid precepts, and the show of piety. The hypocrisy of the scribes was the garnishing of the house. And then, the old evil came back in the form of mammon-worship, the covetousness which is idolatry, and with it bitterness and hate, and the licence of divorce, and self-righteousness, and want of sympathy, and that antagonism to good which had come so terribly near to “the sin against the Holy Ghost.” That state was bad enough as it was, but our Lord’s words point to a future that should be yet worse. We must turn to the picture drawn by the Jewish historian of the crimes, frenzies, insanities of the final struggle that ended in the destruction of Jerusalem, if we would take an adequate measure of the “last state” of that “wicked generation.” We note in 2Pe_2:20 a striking reproduction of the thought by one who may have heard it as spoken by our Lord.—Ibid.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain Mat 12:38-45; Luk 11:16-36. “Then certain ones of the…
CHAPTER 24
THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES SEEK A SIGN FROM HEAVEN
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Mat 12:38-45; Luk 11:16-36. “Then certain ones of the scribes and Pharisees responded, saying, Master, we wish to see a sign from Thee. And responding, He said to them, A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, and no sign shall be given unto it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. For as Jonah was in the stomach of the whale three days and three nights, so the Son of man shall he in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.” The scribes and Pharisees were not satisfied with His numerous and stupendous miracles of healing the sick, casting out demons, and even raising the dead, but ‘they demanded a sign directly down to the earth, like the falling of the manna in the wilderness. Do you not see how the Infallible Teacher calls those preachers and Church leaders, “A wicked and adulterous generation?” Lord, save us from the same condemnation! Here He says that He will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. This does not mean the tomb, which was not in the heart of the earth, but on the surface. Remember, the soul is the man, and not the body. When our Savior expired on the cross, His human soul, evacuating His body, went into Hades (1Pe 3:21; Act 2:27-31), proclaiming His victory in hell, and entering the intermediate paradise, meeting the thief (Luk 23:43), and on the third morn leading up the Old Testament saints (Eph 4:8-10), entering the tomb, and receiving His risen body. Some are disposed to be a little critical because the body of Jesus was not in the tomb three whole days. That is certainly very silly criticism. We speak of a ten days’ meeting when we are only in it a few hours every day, thus estimating a part for the whole. The Jews did likewise. If you do not wish to fall under the condemnation of a wicked and adulterous generation, do not hold on seeking signs, demonstrations, and evidences, but take God at his word, and raise the shout of victory, inspired by simple faith in His Infallible Truth, and you will see every Jericho the devil can ever rear up in your way fall down flat. “The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and, behold, a greater than Jonah is here.” A simple matter of fact, when Jonah thus appeared, miraculously, after three days, from the stomach of the whale in the bottom of the sea, and preached to the Ninevites, they repented in sackcloth and ashes. Our Lord here assures them that His resurrection from the dead will be to them the climacteric sign of His Messiahship. He knew that those critical preachers and Pharisees would not believe on Him, even after He had risen from the dead, and therefore the Ninevites would condemn them in the day of judgment. “The queen of the south will rise in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.” This was the Queen of Sheba, whose country was at the southern terminus of Asia, bordering on the Persian Gulf. She prosecuted this long and weary journey on a camel, back, through Arabian sands, that she might enjoy the ministry of Solomon. Hence she will be a swift witness against the unbelieving Jews in the judgment-day, and will also condemn you if you do not repent.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain J. W. McGarvey's The Fourfold Gospel [XLIX. Sign Seekers].
J. W. McGarvey's The Fourfold Gospel [XLIX. Sign Seekers].
XLIX. SIGN SEEKERS, AND THE ENTHUSIAST REPROVED. (Galilee on the same day as the last section.) aMATT. XII. 38-45; cLUKE XI. 24-36.
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c29 And when the multitudes were gathering together unto him, a38 Then certain of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, Teacher, we would see a sign from thee. [Having been severely rebuked by Jesus, it is likely that the scribes and Pharisees asked for a sign that they might appear to the multitude more fair-minded and open to conviction than Jesus had represented them to be. Jesus had just wrought a miracle, so that their request shows that they wanted something different. We learn from Mark ( Mar_8:11) that they wanted a sign, not coming from him, but from heaven, such a sign as other prophets and leaders had given ( Exo_9:22-24, Exo_16:4, Jos_10:12, 1Sa_7:9, 1Sa_7:10, 1Sa_12:16-18; 1Ki_18:36-38, 2Ki_1:10, Isa_38:8). "In Jewish superstition it was held that demons and false gods could give signs on earth, but only the true God signs from heaven" (Alford). The request was the renewal of the one which had assailed him at the beginning of his ministry ( Joh_2:18), and re-echoed the wilderness temptation to advance himself by vulgar display rather than by the power of a life of divine holiness.] 39 But he answered and said unto them, { che began to say, This generation is an evil generation: it seeketh after a sign; aAn evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign [305] [While the Jews of that generation could well be accused literally of adultery, Jesus here evidently uses it in its symbolic sense as used by the prophets. They represented Israel as being married to God and as being untrue to him-- Exo_34:15, Jer_3:14, Jer_3:20]; and there shall no sign be given to it, cbut the sign of Jonah. athe prophet [They did not accept miracles of healing as a sign, and only one other kind of sign was given; viz.: that of Jonah. Jonah was shown to be a true prophet of God, and Nineveh received him as such because he was rescued from the fish's belly, and Jesus was declared to be the Son of God by the resurrection from the dead-- Rom_1:4]: 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights. [Jesus was one full day, two full nights, and parts of two other days in the grave. But, as the Jews reckoned a part of a day as a whole day when it occurred at the beginning or end of a series, he was correctly spoken of as being three days in the grave. The Jews had three phrases, viz.: "on the third day," "after three days," and "three days and three nights," which all meant the same thing; that is, three days, two of which might be fractional days. With them three full days and nights would be counted as four days unless the count began at sundown, the exact beginning of a day ( Act_10:1-30). For instances of Jewish computation of days, see Gen_42:17, Gen_42:18, 1Ki_12:5, 1Ki_12:12, Est_4:16, Est_5:1, Mat_27:63, Mat_27:64. The Greek word here translated "whale" is "sea monster." It is called in Jonah "a great fish" ( Jon_1:17). Because of the supposed smallness of the whale's throat, many think that it was the white shark, which is still plentiful in the Mediterranean, and which sometimes measures sixty feet in length, and is large enough to swallow a man whole. But it is now a well-established fact that whales can swallow a man, and there are many instances of such swallowings on record. The expression "heart of the earth" does not mean its center. The Jews used the word "heart" to denote the interior of anything ( Eze_28:2). The phrase is here [306] used as one which would emphatically indicate the actual burial of Christ.] c30 For even as Jonah became a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation. [Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian Empire, situated on the Tigris River, and in its day the greatest city of the world. Jonah's preservation was a sign from heaven, because wrought without human instrumentality. The resurrection of Christ was such a sign to the Jews, but rejecting it, they continued to seek other signs-- 1Co_1:22.] a41 The men of Nineveh shall stand up in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, a greater than Jonah is here. [Literally, repented into the teaching of Jonah. The meaning is that they repented so that they followed the course of life which the preaching prescribed. The phrase, "stand up," refers to the Jewish and Roman custom which required the witness to stand up while testifying in a criminal case. The idea here is that the Ninevites, having improved the lesser advantage or privilege, would condemn the Jews for having neglected the greater. Nineveh's privilege may be counted thus: a sign-accredited prophet preaching without accompanying miracles, and a forty-day period of repentance. In contrast to this the Jewish privileges ran thus: the sign-accredited Son of God preaching, accompanied by miracles, in which many apostles and evangelists participated, a forty-year period in which to repent.] 42 The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: { cwith the men of this generation, and shall condemn them: for she came from the ends of the earth [a Hebraism, indicating a great distance] to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, a greater than Solomon is here. [The queen of Sheba is supposed to have been queen of Sabæa, or Arabia Felix, which lies in the southern part of the peninsula between the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. But Josephus says she was from Ethiopia in Africa. Her testimony will also be based on the compared privileges, which [307] stand thus: notwithstanding the dangers and inconveniences, she came a great distance to be taught of Solomon, but the Jews rejected the teaching of the Son of God, though he brought it to them. The teaching of Solomon related largely to this world, but Christ taught as to the world to come.] a43 But the unclean spirit, when he is gone out of the man, passeth through waterless places [places which are as cheerless to him as deserts are to man], seeking rest, and findeth it not. [Rest is the desire of every creature. Jesus here gives us a graphic description of utter wretchedness.] cand finding none, a44 Then he saith, I will return into cturn back unto my house [he still claimed it as his property] whence I came out. 25 And when he is come, he findeth it aempty, swept, and garnished. [It was empty, having no indwelling Spirit, swept of all righteous impressions and good influences, and garnished with things inviting to an evil spirit.] 45 Then [seeing this inviting condition] goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits [to reinforce and entrench himself] more evil than himself [while all demons are wicked they are not equally so], and they enter in and dwell there [take up their permanent abode there]: and the last state of that man becometh worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this evil generation. [In the application of this parable, we should bear in mind that it tells of two states or conditions experienced by one man, and the comparison is between these two states or conditions and not between the condition of the man and other men. Such being the parable, the application of it is plain, for Jesus says, "Even so shall it be unto this evil generation." We are not, therefore, to compare that generation with any previous one, as many do; for such would be contrary to the terms of the parable. It is simply an assertion that the last state of that generation would be worse than the first. The reference is to the continually increasing wickedness of the Jews, which culminated in the dreadful scenes which preceded the destruction of Jerusalem. They were now like a man with one [308] evil spirit; they would then be like a man with seven more demons added, each of which was worse than the original occupant.] c27 And it came to pass, as he said these things, a certain woman out of the multitude lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the breasts which thou didst suck. [This woman is the first on record to fulfill Mary's prediction ( Luk_1:48). It is the only passage in the New Testament which even suggests the idolatry of Mariolatry, but it was far enough from it, being merely a womanly way of expressing admiration for the son by pronouncing blessings upon the mother who was so fortunate as to bear him.] 28 But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it. [Jesus does not deny the fact that Mary was blessed, but corrects any false idea with regard to her by pointing to the higher honor of being a disciple which was attainable by every one. Mary's blessing as a disciple was greater than her blessing as a mother; her moral and spiritual relation to Jesus was more precious than her maternal. Mary's blessings came through believing God's word ( Luk_1:45). To know Christ after the Spirit is more blessed than to know him after the flesh-- 2Co_5:15, 2Co_5:16, Joh_16:7.] 33 No man, when he hath lighted a lamp, putteth it in a cellar, neither under a bushel, but on the stand, that they which come in may see the light. 34 The lamp of thy body is thine eye: when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when it is evil, thy body also is full of darkness. 35 Look therefore whether the light that is in thee be not darkness. 36 If therefore thy whole body be full of light, as when the lamp with its bright shining doth give thee light. [This passage given in a slightly varying form is found in the Sermon on the Mount. See page 256. It is here addressed to the Pharisees and reproves them for not using the light (his miracles) which was given to them. If they [309] had had an eye single to goodness, Christ's light would have enlightened their souls. But their eye was double; they desired wonders and spectacular signs.]
[FFG 305-310]
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain The Sign from Heaven and a Warning.
The Sign from Heaven and a Warning.
A request:
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v. 38. Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from Thee.
The emphatic manner of speaking which Christ had been employing may not have been without influence upon some of His hearers. Some of those that were not yet open blasphemers may have been sincere enough in asking for some proof of Messianic authority in making such statements. On the other hand, the connection will hardly permit such a charitable interpretation. No, those that had just cast the suspicion of Satanic influence upon Christ resented the fact that He was assuming royal and judicial authority before them. They rejected His claims. Probably in open derision they ask for a sign from heaven to substantiate the claims which they believed absurd.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
The dialogue in these verses happens immediately after Jesus responded to the Pharisees' accusation that he healed a man by the power of Satan.
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General Information:
In verse 39, Jesus begins to rebuke the scribes and Pharisees.
we wish
"we want"
to see a sign from you
You can make explicit why they want to see a sign. AT: "to see a sign from you that proves what you say is true" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign ... given to it
Jesus is speaking to his present generation. AT: "You are an evil and adulterous generation who demands signs from me ... given to you" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)
adulterous generation
Here "adulterous" is a metaphor for people who are not faithful to God. AT: "unfaithful generation" or "godless generation" (See: Metaphor)
no sign will be given to it
Jesus would not give them a sign because, though he had already performed many miracles, they refused to believe him. This can be stated in active form. AT: "I will not give it a sign" or "God will not give you a sign" (See: Active or Passive)
except the sign of Jonah the prophet
"except the same sign God gave to Jonah the prophet"
three days and three nights
Here "day" and "night" mean complete 24-hour periods. AT: "three complete days" (See: Merism)
the Son of Man
Jesus is speaking about himself. (See: First, Second, or Third Person)
in the heart of the earth
This means inside a physical grave. (See: Idiom)
translationWords
scribe
Pharisee
Jesus
teacher
miracle
adultery
generation
Jonah
prophet
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 12:38 a miraculous sign to prove: A popular expectation…
12:38 a miraculous sign to prove: A popular expectation of the Messiah, probably fueled by biblical accounts about Moses (Exod 4:1-9; see also Isa 7:11, 14; 38:7-8), was that the Messiah would display spectacular miracles on command (see Matt 16:1-4; Luke 23:8; John 2:18; 4:48; 6:30; 7:31; 9:16; 11:47; 1 Cor 1:22).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.