Note: This series is written as a first-person narrative in order to present Jesus in the context he walked with the unknown disciple that narrates presenting my thoughts and sparking more thoughts with his questions. Enjoy.
The Pharisees and teachers stared at Jesus, somewhat arrogantly saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.”
Shocked, I thought to myself, he had just healed a guy in front of them. They seriously want a ‘sign’?
Jesus wasn’t amused. He answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here. The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now something greater than Solomon is here.”
Inside I cheered as a few of the other disciples chuckled quietly. The Ninevites repented at Jonah’s preaching, not from seeing him get eaten. The Queen of the South was impressed by King Solomon’s wisdom, not a sign. Tradition has it God will allow the unrepentant no excuse on the day of judgment since others repented with less information.
“Greater than Jonah or Solomon…,” one Pharisee stammered.
Jesus continued, “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.”
Yeah! Jesus turned the tables on them. They accused him of acting by Satan while he drove out demons and he says they’re allowing them to come back. Who’s acting by Satan now?
Someone ran up to Jesus with a message…
Matthew 12: 38-45
Jonah 3:10-4:2
1 Kings 10:1-13
A Ronin's Journey 