38 Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.”39 He answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here. 42 The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now something greater than Solomon is here.43 “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. 45 Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.”REFLECTIONSWritten by Stephen SheadSo far in Matthew 12, we’ve heard about all kinds of amazing miracles that Jesus did to show that he is the promised Messiah who came to establish God’s kingdom.And what do the religious authorities do? They come to Jesus, arms folded, and say: “Right, impress us. Show us a sign if you want us to believe in you.” Seriously, what more did they want him to do?The thing is, God doesn’t give signs to “a wicked and adulterous generation” (v. 39) who think they can stand over him and demand magic tricks.Has anyone ever said to you, “I’d believe in Jesus if he gave me clear evidence?” I find it so hard to get people to see what an arrogant and foolish thing that is to say – as if God needs to jump through my hoops to prove himself to me!But amazingly, God has given one last sign – the greatest of all – to the whole unbelieving world. In verse 40, Jesus calls it “the sign of the prophet Jonah”, which is a cryptic way of foretelling his own resurrection from the dead. The resurrection is God’s great sign that Jesus is Lord.Tragically, some people will continue to dismiss Jesus to the end. But strangely, this passage also encourages me to be bolder with my non-Christian friends. Because if even the notorious people of Nineveh repented when they heard Jonah’s preaching, then we can be confident that God will bring even the most unlikely people to faith in Jesus today when they hear his word.Pray that God would have mercy on our own generation. And would you also ask him to give you the boldness to invite someone you know to read one of the Gospels with you?ABOUT THE AUTHORStephen is our senior minister.