In the Fulness of Time/Part 85

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Concerning the Sign – Matthew 12:38-50

This is the third part of Matthew 12, dealing with Opposition to Christ. First there was opposition concerning the Sabbath (12:1-13); second, there was opposition concerning the Spirit (12:14-37). Now the Pharisees demand a “Sign” from Jesus (12:38-50), and He presents five areas of “signs.”

The Sign from Typology: Jonah in the Great Fish. Matthew 12:38-40

Mt. 12:38-40 “Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet, Jonah; for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”In each aspect of the “sign” there is some direct or indirect reference to the “generation” with whom Jesus was dealing. In the first four instances it is direct; in the last, indirect. The first mention includes “evil and adulterous” as descriptive of those Jews seeking the sign. Similar epithets were leveled against Israel as the adulterous wife of Jehovah in Hosea 2-3 when her lovers were heathen gods, but here it is man-made traditions which have replaced the Word of the Lord. In effect, they have manufactured their own gods all over again. They were not reasonable in asking for a sign; they should have repented and believed in Jesus as Messiah after observing His many miraculous signs.

Not having been able to trap Jesus concerning the Sabbath, nor regarding His miraculous work through the Spirit, the scribes and Pharisees tried to discredit, or “test” Him by seeking a sign “from heaven” (Luke 11:16, 29). Though the words “from heaven” do not occur in Matthew until 16:1, Luke locates them within the context of the accusation that Jesus cast out demons by Beelzebub. Their attitude toward Jesus was this: “We could not trap you about the Sabbath or the demons, but if you are the Messiah, show us some great sign from heaven! Give us manna from heaven (John 6:31), or stop the sun and moon like Joshua did!”

The word “sign” (semeion) reveals the purpose of the one performing it. Repeatedly in John, Jesus used this same word; in John 20:30-31 John said, “And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book; But these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” If the Jews in Matthew 12 really wanted to know and believe, they had more than enough evidence; no further sign from heaven would shake them out of their disbelief. Even the sign of Jonah would not do it. The parallel is given: “As Jonah… so shall the Son of man be.” The typology is simple, direct and clear; Christ was giving them the prophecy of His death and burial. He would be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth just as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish. This limitation of time is a significant point in itself, since corruption begins to set in on the fourth day, and God would not allow His Son to see corruption (Psa. 16:10). Whether or not Jonah actually died in the belly of the fish is disputable. If he died the type would be even more explicit. But apart from this, it is still a reference to the fact that the grave could not hold Jesus, and that He would rise from the dead after three days.

When Jesus gave the account of the deaths of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31 He said that the rich man, tormented in the flames of Hades asked Abraham to send someone to warn his five brothers: “Abraham said unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham; but if one went from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto them, if they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.” This is exactly what happened; even after Jesus fulfilled the typology of Jonah in the fish and rose from the dead, the Jews still refused to repent! That blindness will remain until Christ, the Deliverer comes again (Romans 11:25).

Those who have difficulty with Christ remaining three full days and three full nights in the grave will be helped to know that, according to rabbinical thought a day and a night make an “onah” and a part of an onah is as a whole. Thus, according to a Jewish tradition, three days and three nights need mean no more than “three days” or the combination of any part of three separate days.

The Sign from Prophecy: Jonah in Nineveh. Matthew 12:41

Mt. 12:41 “The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it; because they repented not at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, a greater than Jonah is here.”Jonah was commanded to go and prophesy against Nineveh, “Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown” (Jonah 3:4).The result was that an entire nation turned to God at the preaching of Jonah. Those Ninevites will witness against these unrepentant Jews at the “day of judgment mentioned in Matthew 12:38. The reason: There is a greater prophet in their midst than Jonah and they refuse to hear Him. It is identical with the charge against Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum in Matthew 11:20-24; they would not repent! Their judgment will surely come “in the fulness of time!”

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