251st Post Jesus On Warning Against Signs Con't. - Matthew 12: 39 - 42

Matthew 12: 39 - 42; Luke 11: 29 - 31
An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the Prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Ninevah will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the South will rise up in judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.
This was spoken by Jesus about 1.1/2 to two years into His earthly ministry. To unlock this passage you need to be familiar with the story of Jonah (story found in book of Jonah, of the Old Testament.) and the Queen of the South is a reference to the Queen of Sheba. (Story found in 1 Kings Chapter 10.) Why did Jesus pick these two stories to condemn this generation? At the time of Jesus, Jews felt that the book of Jonah was a myth. No proof of a city that was so huge it took Jonah 3 days to travel from one end of it to the other had been found. No proof of a palace that had 1,000 rooms had been found, and then there is the story of this great fish that swallowed Jonah, and Jonah lived inside this fish for three days and nights. Then Jesus talks about the queen of the south and that she would condemn this generation for their unbelief. Solomon, the Jews remembered, but this Jesus being greater than Solomon! This was hard for them to believe. I have introduced the people involved with this passage, but see that I am running out of space, so I will have to finish this topic in the next blog.