Daily Devotional For Saturday, November 8, 2025
Good morning Southside! Praying your weekend will be one of growth and service for the Lord. We are making our way through the Gospel of Matthew and today we come to Matthew 12:38-42:
“One day some teachers of religious law and Pharisees came to Jesus and said, ‘Teacher, we want you to show us a miraculous sign to prove Your authority.’ (39) But Jesus replied, ‘Only an evil, adulterous generation would demand a miraculous sign; but the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah. (40) For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. (41) The people of Nineveh will stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for they repented of their sins at the preaching of Jonah. Now someone greater than Jonah is here—but you refuse to repent. (42) The queen of Sheba will also stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for she came from a distant land to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Now someone greater than Solomon is here—but you refuse to listen” (NASB).
Verse 38 reminds me of a song that came out in 1971 by The Five Man Electrical Band titled, “Signs.” This song was a protest song showing the errors of people. In verse 38, the Pharisees were protesting Jesus’ authority unless He showed them a sign to convince them that He was the Messiah. This was all a lie. Jesus had already proved He was the Messiah by their own standards. He had done specific miracles the Pharisees said only the Messiah could do when he came such as restore sight to the blind and raise the dead. Matthew makes it clear that the Pharisees had already decided to not believe that Jesus was the Messiah.
In verse 38, the Pharisees were joined by the Scribes. Scribes were Old Testament and Law experts who were responsible to copy the Law (Torah), edit it and then help interpret it. The Pharisees and the Scribes wanting Jesus to perform a sign to prove His being the Messiah is very odd and strange. They had just condemned Jesus for using the power of Baalzebub, as his emissary, the king of the demons, the devil, to cast out demons (Matt. 12:24). But as New Testament scholar A.B. Bruce writes: “Their demand for a sign “was impudent, hypocritical, insulting” (Source: A.B. Bruce, The Synoptic Gospels, p. 191).
So, why ask for signs? I think it was so that they hoped if Jesus did enough of them, they might be able to figure out how He did them. Just like when a magician does a trick, we sometimes say, “Do it again. Do it again” hoping we will see how it is done. As we have already seen, these religious leaders were not interested in the healing benefits of any of Jesus’ miracles, but only in trying to find a way to prove He was a fake and a fraud.
So, why didn’t Jesus do just one more sign? Verse 39 tells us. Pastor and author Chuck Swindoll writes this:
“He knew their motives, the hardness of their hearts, and the increased wickedness that would result if He were to cater to their every whim. Jesus knew even better than His opponents that miracles would do them no good. In fact, since miracles would only increase the amount of clear and convincing proof of His identity, their rejection of further evidence would render the Pharisees even more guilty before God” (Source: Charles R. Swindoll, Swindoll’s Living Insights New Testament Bible Commentary, “Matthew 1-15,” Vol. 1A, p. 258).
Jesus did say they would be privy to just one more sign – the sigh of Jonah. He would be dead for 3 days and then return. Now this went right over their head. They had no idea He was referring to His death, burial and resurrection. Sadly, even after the Resurrection, some people and the nation as a whole, after seeing Jesus still chose to not believe. After Jonah returned from being in the belly of that fish for 3 days, smelling of fish and probably having bleached skin from the digestive juices, when he preached, the people of Nineveh repented. And because they did, the people of Nineveh would be the ones to judge all the Jews of Jesus’ day.
Jesus called the Jews and their religious leaders an “adulterous generation.” This was an indictment of their apostasy from God. In the Bible, especially the Old Testament, marriage and adultery are images used to show God’s love for them and their unfaithfulness to God. This was an indictment on the whole nation of Israel, not just the religious leaders. So, what is the sign of Jonah? We are grateful to New Testament scholar Bruce B. Barton who says there are two possibilities here:
- “This may refer to a sign of judgment. God will not grant the religious leaders the miracle they asked for but will only point to their rejection of the message. In Jonah’s day, Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian empire, and it was as powerful as it was evil (Jonah 1:2). The extremely wicked city of Nineveh repented at Jonah’s preaching; by contrast, when Jesus came to his people, they refused to repent.
- The “sign” granted to them may refer to the Resurrection. Jesus’ resurrection would prove that he is the Messiah. Three days after His death Jesus would come back to life, just as Jonah had been “brought back” to life after spending three days in the fish. Both had been delivered from death. Jonah’s presence was a sign to the people of Nineveh; they repented at his teaching. Jesus’ return to His people after His death will also be a sign to the people of his generation. Some will repent; many will not. Because of the strong emphasis on the Resurrection as a “sign” in the early church (Acts 2:22-36; Acts 4:10-11), most likely the church took Jesus’ words to mean His resurrection. So this is the preferable meaning” (Source: Bruce B. Barton, The Life Application Bible Commentary, “Matthew,” p. 249).
What the Jews and their religious leaders refused to do, repent, the people of Nineveh did. What a contrast. The people who knew nothing of God and His covenant to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, repented upon hearing God’s prophet. The Jews, who were descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and who had the Old Testament refused to repent.
In verse 42, Jesus referred to the Queen of Shebah, who traveled from the southern tip of Arabia all the way to Jerusalem to meet with King Solomon to learn how he came to be so wise (1 Kgs. 10:1-10). She will join the people from Nineveh to judge the people of Israel. Jesus made it clear that standing before them was someone greater than Solomon in all of his wisdom.
Assignment: Have you ever wanted or demanded God to perform some sign or miracle for you to prove who He is? Do you ever put God in a box, hoping He will bend to your demands? When it comes to God, Jesus and the Bible, what doubts do you have about anything? Or, if God would perform one miracle for you or reveal something to you, what would that be and why?
Scripture To Meditate On: Jonah 3:5, “The people of Nineveh believed God’s message, and from the greatest to the least, they declared a fast and put on burlap to show their sorrow” (NLT).
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Lord, I want to walk by faith and not sight (2 Cor. 5:7) and that in order to please you, I must step out in faith (Heb. 11:6). Lord, I do not need any signs. I have You and that is enough. I can look over my life and see Your hand in it. Please forgive me when I doubt You and Your Word. If I ever attempt to put You in a box, please convict me and forgive me. I love You Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly