Wednesday in the First Week of Lent, February 21, 2024

Luke 11, 29-32

While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them, “This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah. Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. At the judgment the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation and she will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and there is something greater than Solomon here. At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because at the preaching of Jonah they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah here.”

No one had performed such an abundance of miracles and healings of all sorts as Jesus.  Even the greatest Prophets, Elijah and Elisha, performed a mere handful.  Nothing like Jesus was known in the worlds of the Ancient Near East or in the classical world.  Mythology had no figure comparable to Jesus.  His coming and his works was unpredicted and incomparable.  Jesus reminds the people of this when he rebukes the, for wanting a sign from heaven.  What more did he need to do?  Or were the people so overwhelmed with his miracles that they took them for granted?

“The sign of Jonah.”  The Prophet Jonah served as a figure for the Lord Jesus in a number of ways.  First and foremost, he sacrificed his life for the sailors in whose ship he traveled when a great storm arose.  Then, he spent three days in the belly of a great fish, representing death.  Spewed out onto the shore, he preached repentance to the people.  In today’s Gospel Reading, this is the way Jesus meant.  Joshua, an inhabitant of Israel, preached in the city of Nineveh a very simple message: repent or the the city would be destroyed.  His message gained favor by its simplicity and by the Prophet’s own simplicity: he wore no fancy clothes, possessed no money of his own, did not try to hide his foreign accent, and asked for nothing for himself from those who heard him.  All he had was his message, which spread quickly, even reaching the ears of the king, who called for a fast throughout the city.  Jesus likewise asked nothing from those who heard him.  He did not seek power or riches, was dressed simply, and he spoke with a Galilean accent.  But there was “something greater than Jonah here”, for Jonah made no claims about himself and performed no miracles.  Jesus declares himself the Son of Man and shows divine appropriation by miracles that could only be performed with divine power.  Jonah was the sign.  Jesus is the reality.  

In the same way he claims to be greater than Solomon.  The wisdom and proverbs associated with Solomon show how to live well in this world.  The wisdom of Jesus shows us how to live here so as to live forever in heaven.

When we think about the Lord and what the people of his time thought about him we should keep in mind that no one with such power and wisdom had ever lived on earth before, and yet he did not flaunt it but applied it quietly so that we would no terrified of him.  Let us draw near to him in Scripture and prayer so that we might profit by what we see and hear.