February 28 2025

Friday February 28

A Message of Condemnation and Judgement

Luke 11:28-32

28 But He said, "More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!" 29 And while the crowds were thickly gathered together, He began to say, "This is an evil generation. It seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. 30 For as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation. 31 The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here. 32 The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.

When we come to Luke 11:28-32, it appears that Jesus has finished His lessons on the subject of prayer and a crowd of both curious people and contentious religious leaders have “thickly gathered together” around Him and His disciples. Jesus had just cast an “unclean spirit” out of a mute man and was accused of doing it in the power of Beelzebub, another word the Jews had for Satan. Also, some others in the crowd asked Jesus to give them a “sign from heaven”.

After answering their accusation about His authority, “a certain woman in the crowd” wanted to draw attention to the blessedness of His mother and Jesus quickly made it clear that “the more blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it” (v. 27). It appears at the point the crowd really begins to press in upon Jesus on every side and then He gives them a message of condemnation and judgement (vv. 29-36).

Jesus was not impressed by the big crowds, but most likely, the disciples were. And because Jesus knew what was in their hearts of the religious leaders and the crowd, in order to keep the Twelve from being swayed by "success," Jesus gave them some insights into what was really happening as they ministered the Word to the large crowds of people that surrounded them. He reveals the unbelief of their hearts despite the signs that He had already given them over the past three years of His ministry in Galilee.

Like so many people today who say, “Show me a miracle and I will believe”, the Jewish leaders kept asking Jesus for a sign to prove that He was the Messiah. The only sign He promised was "the sign of Jonah the prophet." What was the sign of Jonah? What was his story? Remember he disobey God’s command to go to Nineveh and went the opposite direction to Tarshish. God punished him by putting him the belly of whale for three days and three nights. He repented and went to Nineveh with a message of coming judgement, and they repented. How interesting that Jonah was as displeased by the repentance of Nineveh as the religious leaders of the Lord's generation were at the repentance of people in all parts of the country!

Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites. He had been three days and nights in what he called "the belly of hell." When he marched through their streets, it was with a face livid and terrifying from the fierce action of the gastric juices of the great fish. The man himself was as much the message as the words that he proclaimed; he was a sign. "God will punish sin!" It was written all over the disobedient prophet. But there he was, alive from the dead, a living epistle. They could infer from that the fact that "God will pardon sinners."

But Jonah was also a sign of the coming death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ! This is the greatest sign given by “a greater than Jonah”, Jesus Christ! It is the resurrection of our Lord that proves He is the Messiah, the Son of God (Rom. 1:4), and this is what Peter preached to Israel on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:22ff). The witness of the early church was centered on Christ's resurrection (Acts 1:22; 3:15; 5:30-32; 13:32-33). Jonah was a living miracle and so is our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus also reminded them of Solomon and the “Queen of the South”. The emphasis here is on the wisdom of a king, not the works of a prophet. The Queen of Sheba traveled many miles to hear the wisdom of Solomon (1 Kings 10), but here was the very Son of God in their midst, and the Jews would not believe His words! Even if Jesus had performed a sign, it would not have changed their hearts. They needed the living wisdom of God, but they were content with their stale religious tradition. When Jonah preached to the Gentiles in Nineveh, they repented and were spared. When a Gentile queen heard Solomon's wisdom, she marveled and believed. If, with all their privileges, the Jews did not repent, then the people of Nineveh and the Queen of Sheba would bear witness against them in the last judgment. The Lord gave Israel so many opportunities, yet they would not believe (Luke 13:34-35; John 12:35-41).

Today, we have the complete Bible, and the historical facts of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, yet still so many chose their sins and religion over believing and putting their faith in Jesus Christ. How great will their condemnation and judgment be?

God bless!