Wednesday in the First Week of Lent, March 12, 2025

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.”

“This generation is an evil generation.”  The Lord Jesus speaks here using a word that, whether in Greek or Hebrew, can mean “generation” but also “age”.  It means a period of time marked by significant events, such as the birth and death of important rulers.  Its length is determined by context.  Here, the Lord means the age that runs from his Incarnation until his Second Coming to judge the world.  The lectionary translation puts a semi-colon after this phrase, linking it to “It seeks a sign”, implying that this generation or age is evil because it seeks a sign.  This is not correct.  Whether this generation seeks a sign or not, it is an “evil” generation because it is given up to the worship of idols the names of which change over the years but which remain the object of human obsession: wealth, power, illicit pleasure, vengeance, and the like.  So this evil generation seeks a sign that will provide reassurance that there is no immorality except to maintain that immorality exists.  “But no sign will be given it”, that is, no sign that they will accept, “except the sign of Jonah.”

For most of us, the name “Jonah” conjures up images of a man swallowed up by a whale and nothing more.  For the Jews, however, Jonah was remarkable, indeed unique, in that he alone of all the Prophets, was sent to preach repentance to the people of a foreign land.  He was sent by God to Nineveh, the greatest city of its time.  This is the sign that Jesus meant, for God sent him from his homeland in heaven to preach repentance to foreigners, idolaters — the human race — in order to save them from utter destruction.  The people of the city of Nineveh in fact repented and their lives were spared, showing that God is a just God.  This evil generation can see that repentance leads to life and so should take advantage of the time remaining in order to turn from sin to God.  This generation has advantages over the Ninevites: Jonah performed not a single miracle, but Jesus performed many and performs them still today.  Also, Jonah came to Nineveh as a foreigner.  Jesus has come among us as one like us.  And Jesus provides grace to guide us and forgive sins when they are confessed.

Likewise, “the queen of the south” was a Gentile who came to hear Solomon’s wisdom with her own ears.  He did not perform miracles either and yet she, the queen of a long-standing, prosperous realm, came to the king of a relatively new little nation of no great culture and listened to his wisdom.  But the people of this age do not move a muscle to listen to words that will rescue them from hell and gain them eternal life.