Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from Thee.” They had disregarded entirely all the miracles that He had wrought in their midst. Such is unbelief. The Lord’s answer was that no sign should be given to such an evil generation, “but the sign of the prophet Jonas: for as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” He was referring to His death and His being in the tomb. Jonah had been sent away from Israel with a message to the Gentiles, and in figure he had passed through death and resurrection. So the Lord was about to leave the Jewish nation on account of their unbelief, and God was about to take up the Gentiles.
Then the Lord goes on to cite two remarkable cases in the history of His people in a way which ought to have reached their consciences.
“The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.
“The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon here.”
Jewish Condition
In the next three verses the Lord shows what the final condition of the Jews would be before He came back in judgment. “When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man. ... ” The Jews had been possessed with the unclean spirit of idolatry at the time they were carried away to Babylon — the seat of idolatry. After a time the unclean spirit comes back to his house, and “he findeth it empty, swept and garnished.” After their return from Babylon the Jews had gotten free from idolatry and have stayed free of it since. However the unclean spirit “taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.”
At a future day the idolatrous spirit would once more enter the Jews and their state would be seven times more wicked than ever it was. They will accept the worship of man. They will set up an idol — the abomination of desolation — in the holy place of the temple (Matt. 24:15-2215When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) 16Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains: 17Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: 18Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. 19And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! 20But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: 21For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. (Matthew 24:15‑22)). This will bring down the judgment of God upon them as a nation. Taught of God by this very circumstance the faithful remnant in that day will flee into the mountains, before the judgment of God falls on that unbelieving, guilty nation.
The Lord was attached by natural ties to the Jewish people: “Who are Israelites; . . . whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came” (Rom. 9:4-54Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; 5Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen. (Romans 9:4‑5)). His mother and His brethren came pressing this claim, but on account of the nation’s rejection of Him He will acknowledge those relationships no longer. Of course the actual severing of those links was at the cross. But stretching forth His hand toward His disciples, He says, “Behold My mother and My brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of My Father which is in heaven, the same is My brother, and sister, and mother.” The only relations which He acknowledges from here on are those that having received His Word into their heart, do it, and are now in relationship to the Father in heaven.
Further Meditation
1. Why would the examples of Nineveh and the queen of the south speak to Jewish consciences?
2. How did the Jews become the Lord’s chosen people and why were they temporarily set aside?
3. For a nice introduction to prophetic subjects like the ones in this chapter, you’d likely benefit from Simple Summary of Prophecy by C. E. Lunden.