Luke 11:29

ASKING FOR A SIGN

‘This is an evil generation: they seek a sign.’

Luke 11:29

We see here the desperate unbelief of the Jews in our Lord’s time. We are told that though they ‘gathered thick together’ to hear Christ preach, they still professed to be waiting for a sign. They pretended to want more evidence before they believed.

I. Unbelief in this world.—Our Lord declares that the Queen of Sheba and the men of Nineveh would put the Jews to shame at the last day. The Queen of Sheba had such faith that she travelled a vast distance in order to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Yet Solomon, with all his wisdom, was an erring and imperfect king. The Ninevites had such faith that they believed the message which Jonah brought from God, and repented. Yet even Jonah was a weak and unstable prophet. The Jews of our Lord’s time had far higher light and infinitely clearer teachings than either Solomon or Jonah could supply. They had amongst them the King of kings, the Prophet greater than Moses. Yet the Jews neither repented nor believed! Let it never surprise us to see unbelief abounding, both in the Church and in the world.

II. Judgment in the world to come.—We should observe, also, in these verses, how our Lord Jesus Christ testifies to the truth of a resurrection and a life to come. He speaks of the Queen of the South, whose name and dwelling-place are now alike unknown to us. He says ‘she shall rise up in the judgment.’ He speaks of the men of Nineveh, a people who have passed away from the face of the earth. He says of them also, ‘they shall rise up.’ There is something very solemn and instructive in the language which our Lord here uses. It reminds us that this world is not all, and that the life which man lives in the body on earth is not the only life of which we ought to think. The kings and queens of olden time are all to live again one day, and to stand before the bar of God. We shall yet see them face to face.

Bishop J. C. Ryle.

Illustrations

(1) ‘So far from wondering that there have been men like Hobbes, and Payne, and Rousseau, and Voltaire, we ought rather to wonder that such men have been so few. So far from marvelling that the vast majority of professing Christians remain unaffected and unmoved by the preaching of the Gospel, we ought to marvel that any around us believe at all. Why should we wonder to see that old disease, which began with Adam and Eve, infecting all their children? Why should we expect to see more faith among men and women now than was seen in our Lord’s time? The enormous amount of unbelief and hardness on every side may well grieve and pain us. But it ought not to cause surprise.’

(2) ‘Let it be noted, that both in Luke 11:31 and in the end of the following verses, the Greek word translated “a greater,” is literally “a greater thing.” It is not improbable that the “thing” referred to is “the sign.” There is one here who is a sign of far greater moment than either Jonah or Solomon. Let it be observed, that the point in which the Queen of the South surpassed the Jews of our Lord’s time and put them to shame, was “faith.” She had faith enough to come a long journey to hear a wise man. The Jews, on the other hand, had “the wisdom of God “actually in the midst of them, preaching and teaching for three years, and yet they would not believe. Let it be observed, that the point in which the Ninevites surpassed the Jews and put them to shame, was repentance. They had among them for a short time a prophet, and a very weak and erring prophet too. Yet they repented and turned to God. The Jews had among them the mightiest and most faithful preacher that ever warned a people, and yet they would not repent.’