Old Testament Reading: Jonah 1:17–3:2
“And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the belly of the fish, saying, ‘I called out to the LORD, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice. For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me. Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.’ The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit, O LORD my God. When my life was fainting away, I remembered the LORD, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple. Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the LORD!’ And the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land. Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, ‘Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.’” (Jonah 1:17–3:2, ESV)
New Testament Reading: Luke 11:29–36
“When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, ‘This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness. Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.’” (Luke 11:29–36, ESV)
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Please excuse any typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church but without the benefit of proofreading.
Introduction
Jesus Christ is the light of the world. This is what he claimed. In John 8:12 we hear Christ say, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12, ESV). Jesus Christ is the light of the world because he is the eternal Word of God incarnate. He reveals the Father to us and the way of man’s salvation. He is the Messiah, the only Redeemer of God’s elect. He is the way, the truth, and life. No one comes to the Father except through him (John 14:6). Jesus is the light of the world, but this does not mean that everyone will perceive him as such. Many are blind, spiritually speaking. Just as a man who is physically blind cannot perceive the light of a lamp when it is brought into a dark room, neither can those who are spiritually blind perceive the light of Christ, the eternal Word of God incarnate. But some will perceive his light. This is because God has mercifully healed their blindness so that they might see the light of the Son of God.
This reality, that some will perceive the light of Christ whereas many will not, is observed throughout Jesus’ earthly ministry as recorded in the gospels. In Luke, we find a record of the teaching of Jesus and his performance of many miracles. His teaching was full of light and life. His miracles functioned as signs that shined brightly to illuminate the truthfulness of his words and to verify his claims. Christ healed the sick, cast out demons, and even raised the dead to shine light on the fact that his words were true and that he was from God. Some could perceive the light of Christ. Twelve Apostles followed after him (but one was a devil). Around the twelve there were seventy disciples. And around the seventy, there were many more who could perceive that Jesus was the Son of God incarnate, the Messiah, and the Redeemer who came down from heaven. But there were many others who, though they heard the same words and witnessed the same signs, could not perceive him to be the Son of God. Note this: it was not the light that was different. The light that shined upon those who received Jesus as Lord and those who rejected him was the same. The difference was in the eye of the beholder. By the grace of God, those who perceived Jesus to be the Messiah, the Redeemer of God’s elect, and who followed after him, had eyes to see. Those who rejected him did so because they could not perceive his light, being blinded by sin.
Here in Luke 11, we find two startling examples of this blindness. In Luke 11:14 we are told that Christ cast a demon out of a man who was mute. As a result, “the mute man spoke, and the people marveled” (Luke 11:14, ESV). This miracle pressed the people to come to a conclusion about Jesus’ identity. And it is important to remember that this wasn’t the first miracle performed by our Lord. By this point, Jesus had delivered many teachings and performed many miracles to show that his words were true. Undoubtedly, those who heard his words and witnessed his deeds increasingly felt the pressure to decide which side they would take. In fact, Christ warned of this in Luke 11:23, saying, “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters” (Luke 11:23, ESV). Once you hear about Jesus, his words, and his works, you cannot remain neutral. You are either for him or against him.
By this point in Jesus’ ministry, three types of people emerged. Some were decidedly for Jesus. They were his disciples. Some were decidedly opposed to him. These are the ones who began to say, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons” (Luke 11:15, ESV). These, if you remember, could not deny that Jesus performed the miracle. But so hardhearted were they – so blinded by their sin – they had to find some way to reject him. And so they claimed that his power to cast our demons came from Satan. Christ answered their accusation in the passage we considered last Sunday. But there was another group. They did not follow Jesus, and neither did they go so far as to attribute his works to the power of Satan. They remained somewhere in the middle. They, “to test him, kept seeking from him a sign from heaven” (Luke 11:16, ESV).
It is to this group that Jesus turns his attention in the passage that is open before us today. First, (in verses 29-32) Jesus speaks a condemning word. After that, in verses 33-36, he warns his audience to be careful how they perceive him lest the light they have received be darkness in them.
Let us walk through the text together this morning beginning with the condemning words of Jesus.
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Jesus Condemns Our Evil Unbelief (vs. 29-32)
In verse 29 we read, “When the crowds were increasing, [Jesus] began to say, ‘This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign…” (Luke 11:29a, ESV).
When Christ spoke of “this generation” he was referring to the people alive during his earthly ministry, particularly the adults. When he called them an “evil generation, ” he condemned them for their unbelief. Clearly, he was not referring to his disciples, but to those who did not believe him or follow after him. Many such people lived in Jesus’ day. They heard his words and witnessed his deeds, yet remained in unbelief.
Notice that Christ especially condemned them because they sought a sign. This rebuke delivered by Jesus reminds us of what is written in Luke 11:16. After Christ cast the mute demon out of a man, some in the crowd said, ‘He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons,’ while others, to test him, kept seeking from him a sign from heaven” (Luke 11:15–16, ESV). As you can see, the problem was not that the people desired to see a sign to know that Jesus was who he claimed to be. The claims of Jesus were extraordinary. In a sense, it is right for men and women to seek to be convinced even by signs. And Jesus was not opposed to performing signs and wonders. His conception and birth were miraculous. His earthly ministry was marked by the working of signs and wonders. He healed the sick, raised the dead, cast out demons, fed great multitudes, and calmed the stormy sea by the power of his word. The problem was not that people desired a sign to be convinced Jesus was who he claimed to be, the Messiah, the Son of God incarnate. No, the problem was that they were never satisfied. Though the multitudes heard his words, they did not really hear him. And though they witnessed his mighty deeds, they did not really see them. And so they refused to repent and remained in their unbelief.
No doubt, Jesus’ generation was evil. Very few were blessed to “hear the word of God and keep it!” (see Luke 11:28). But the same is true of our generation. There are many in our generation who toy around with Jesus. Many are interested in him. Many, like the crowds mentioned in verse 29, follow after Jesus superficially. Some are looking for a sign. Many in our day and age are desiring an emotional experience. But few “hear the word of God and keep it.” Yet this is what true followers of Christ will do. True followers of Christ will “hear the word of God and keep it.” They will receive Christ as the Messiah, the Redeemer of God’s elect, and the King of God’s kingdom and they will trust and obey him. “If you love me, you will keep my commandments”, Christ says (John 14:15, ESV). If you are toying with Jesus – if you are following him superficially and insincerely – I must exhort you to stop. If Christ is to be your Savior he must be your Lord. Those who have Christ as Lord and Savior will not follow him in an uncommitted way, seeking one more sign or one more experience. No, those who have Christ as Lord and Savior will trust and obey him.
“When the crowds were increasing, [Jesus] began to say, ‘This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation” (Luke 11:29–30, ESV).
What do these words mean? What is the “sign of Jonah” that Christ refers to here?
To know, we must first remember the story of Jonah. Jonah lived nearly 800 years before the birth birth if Christ. He was a prophet, that is to say, a man of God called to preach the Word of God. For a time, Jonah was a rebellious prophet. God called him to go to the city of Ninevah – a city known for its wickedness and injustice – to announce that judgment was soon coming, and to call them to repentence. He did not want to go because he despised the Ninevites. They were enemies of God’s people, and so he ran away from the call of God. He boarded a ship and began to sail in the opposite direction. But the Lord stopped Jonah. “But the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up” (Jonah 1:4, ESV). It was made known that Jonah was running from the Lord and that this storm was a result of his rebellion. You may recall that the sailors reluctantly threw him overboard to appease the wrath of God. Jonah was swallowed by a great fish. After three days, the great fish brought him back to the shore and vomited him on the dry land. This story is told in Jonah chapters 1 and 2. And in Jonah 3:1 we read, “Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, ‘Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.’ So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days’ journey in breadth. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, ‘Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!’ And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them” (Jonah 3:1–5, ESV). This is the story that Jesus referred to when he said, “No sign will be given to [this generation] except the sign of Jonah.”
Secondly, to understand Jesus’ words we must see that Jonah was a type of Christ. The Old Testament Scriptures contain many types that find their fulfillment in Jesus Christ. What is a type? It is a person, event, institution, or some other thing, recorded for us in the Old Testament Scriptures that, when we look back upon them, are seen to have a prophetic, forward-looking quality to them, finding their ultimate and escalated fulfillment in the person, work, or reward of Jesus Christ. Types are, 1) historical persons, events, institutions, or things mentioned in the pages of Holy Scripture. 2) Types are analogical. In other words, there is something about the historical person, event, institution or thing that corresponds to Christ, his person, work, or reward in an anological way. The principle is, this historical person, event, institution, or thing found in the Old Testement functioned as an analogy of that which we see in Christ. 3) Types always point forward to and anticipate the antitype. 4) There is always escalation as we move from the type to the antitype. The type was real. The type may have been very great. But the antitype – Christ, his person, work, and reward – is greater. 5) The relationship between the type and antitype is seen more clearly as we look back upon the type now that the antitype has come.
This principle of typology might sound strange to your ears. In reality, it is everywhere in the pages of Holy Scripture. In fact, apart from this principle of typology, you will have a difficult time fully appreciating the Old Testament and its relationship to Christ. Jesus Christ taught that the law, the prophets, and the Psalms (that is to say, the whole of the Old Testament) find their fulfillment in him (see Luke 24), and one of the ways in which the Old Testament Scriptures point forward to Jesus Christ, his person, work, and reward is through typology.
The Scriptures clearly teach this. In Romans 5:14 Paul tells us that Adam “was a type of the one who was to come” (Romans 5:14, ESV). The Greek word translated as “type” is τύπος. One Greek dictionary provides this definition for the word: “a model or example which anticipates or precedes a later realization—‘archetype, figure, foreshadow, symbol’” (Louw Nidam 592). Adam was a type of Christ. Adam was a model or anticipation of Christ. Adam foreshadowed Christ. How so? Adam was the federal head or representative of the Covenant of Works. When Adam sinned, all sinned in him. And Christ is the federal head or representative of the Covenant of Grace. He lived, died, and rose again in the place of others. All who are united to Christ by faith receive his benefits. As Paul says elsewhere, “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22, ESV). Adam and Jesus Christ are very different in some respects. But they share some important things in common. Adam was a type of Christ.
You must see that typology is a deeply biblical principle. Jesus Christ, his person, work, and reward, was revealed before he was born, and this revelation is recorded for us in the Old Testament Scriptures. There we find explicit prophesies concerning him. And there we also find prophecies in the form of types. The more we grow familiar with the Scriptures, the easier it will be for us to see these types and to perceive how they find their fulfillment in Christ.
Consider, for example, the story of Abraham offering up Isaac his son on the mountain and the ram that God provided as a substitute (see Genesis 22). Isaac was a type of Christ and that event anticipated the offering up of the Son of God as a substitute for sinners. Issaic and the ram were types. Jesus Christ is the antitype. Jesus is much greater.
Consider also how God delivered the Israelites from Egyptian bondage. He poured out ten plagues. The tenth was the death of the firstborns of Egypt. God’s people were shielded from death by the blood of the lamb spread upon the doorposts of their homes. The blood of the Passover lamb typified (anticipated) the blood of Christ. The Passover lamb was great. Jesus Christ, the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, is greater. The redemption that God worked for Old Covenant Israel through Moses was great. The redemption that Christ has accomplished for elect Israel is much greater.
The Old Testament is packed full of types of Jesus Christ. His person, works, and earned rewards, are the antitype to them all. Consider the priest-king Melchizedek. Consider the great prophet of God, Moses. Consider the Exodus. Consider the mana from heaven, the water from the rock, and the snake lifted up from the earth on the pole for the salvation of sinners. Consider the Tabernacle and later the Temple. Consider the sacrifices offered up there by the priests of Israel. All of these people, institutions events, and things were pregnant with meaning. There was something analogical about this. They had a prophetic quality to them. They were forward-looking. They anticipated the arrival of someone and something greater. He is Christ the Lord, the great Prophet, Priest, and King of God’s people.
Now, what does this have to do with Jonah and the “sign of Jonah” of which Christ spoke? Answer: We must see that Jonah was a type of Christ. Jonah was a prophet of God. Christ is the prophet of God who has come down from heaven. Jonah was to call the people of Ninevah to repentance. Christ calls all of the nations of the earth to repentence. Before calling Ninevah to repentance, Jonah was in the belly of a great fish for three days. He descended into the deep abyss. But that was not the end of him. He saw the light of day again after the great fish gave him up and deposited him back on the shore. From there, he completed his mission. Christ, the great prophet of God, would also descend. After his death on the cross, his body would be placed in the grave. His soul would descend to Sheol. But the Lord raised him up. Sheol could not keep him. The grave could not restrain him. On the third day, he was raised. From there, he would carry out his work of calling the nations to repentance through is disciples. Jonah was a type of Christ. The death, burial, descent, and resurrection of Jesus Christ were anticipated and foreshadowed in Jonah’s experience in the belly of the fish and in the depths of the sea. Jonah was a type. Jesus is the antitype. But Jesus is much greater. Jonah was, for a time, a rebellious prophet. Jesus is ever faithful and true. Jonah was taken into the belly of a great fish and resurrected from there – a marvelous and miraculous thing, no doubt. But the body of Jesus Christ was taken down in the grave and his soul into Sheol. It was from the grave and Sheol that Christ was raised. In this way, he defeated death for his people and set captives free. Finally, Jonah went on to minister the Word of God to the people of Ninevah, calling them to repentance. Jesus Christ is effectually calling his elect from every tongue, tribe, and nation through the preaching of the gospel and by his Spirit. He will bring many sons and daughters to glory. Jonah was a type of Christ. Christ is the antitype. Christ is much greater than Jonah.
1 Corinthians 15:3-4 is a very interesting text. Would you turn there with me? Here Paul the Apostle writes to Christians in Corinth, saying, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures…” (1 Corinthians 15:3–4, ESV). Let me ask you, what Scriptures did Paul have in mind when he said that “Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures…” What Scriptures? Paul was referring to the Old Testament Scriptures. Christ died, was buried, and was raised from the dead on the third day, “in accordance with” or we might say, in fulfillment of the Scriptures, that is to say, the Old Testament Scriptures. Paul’s view was that the Old Testament – the Scriptures written many hundreds of years before Christ was born – revealed that the Messiah would live, die, be buried, and rise from the dead on the third day. So then, Christ is present in the Old Testement. The gospel of Jesus Christ can be found there. Brothers and sisters, let me ask you, where in the Old Testament do we find prophesies that point forward to the resurrection of the Messiah from the dead? There are many texts:
Psalm 16:10-11 is about the Messiah. It says, “For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption. You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:10–11, ESV). So, the soul of Messiah would not be abandoned or left in Sheol. His body would not be left to decompose in the grave. This is about the resurrection of Christ.
Isaiah 53:10 is also about the Messiah. It says, “Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt…” This is about the suffering and death of the Messiah. But the text goes on to say, “he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand” (Isaiah 53:10, ESV). After suffering and death, there is life. This is about the resurrection of Christ.
Also, Hebrews 11:19 shows us that the story about Abraham offering up his son Isaac on the mountain is to be interpreted as a type (or parable) of the resurrection of Abraham’s greater son, Jesus, from the dead. There the writer of the book of Hebrews says that Abraham “considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking [παραβολῇ], he did receive him back” (Hebrews 11:19, ESV). So, that event in the life of Abraham and Isaac functioned as a kind of parable of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the son of Abraham, the son of David, the Son of God.
Add to this the fact that God promised King David a son whose reign and kingdom would never end (see 2 Samuel 7:13). Furthermore, in Psalm 110:4 it is revealed that this son of David, who is also David’s Lord, would be a “priest forever after the order of Melchizedek” (Psalm 110:4, ESV). The writer to the Hebrews makes much of this when he says that Jesus is our great High Priest, “not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life” (Hebrews 7:16, ESV). When you combine these texts that speak of the Messiah’s everlasting rule and unending priesthood with the texts that teach that the Messiah must suffer and die, it is clear that the Messiah would have to be raised from the dead.
There are many passages in the Old Testament that prophesy, in one way or another, about Christ’s resurrection. But notice this: In 1 Corinthians 15:4 Paul the Apostle does not only say that Christ died, was buried, and rose again in accordance with the Scriptures. No, he says that Christ “was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures…” So the question is, where does the Old Testament teach (prophesy) that the Messiah would be raised on the third day? Answer: nowhere, explicitly, but in the story of Jonah, typologically.
In fact, other texts hint at the third-day resurrection. Some have noticed that the third day is often emphasized as a day of importance in the Old Testament Scriptures. John Gill, in his commentary on 1 Corinthians 15, says, ”The Jews take a particular notice of the third day as remarkable for many things they observe, as of the ‘third day Abraham lift up his eyes’, Gen. 22:4; of ‘the third day of the tribes’, Gen. 42:18; of the third ‘day of the spies’, Joshua 3:16; of the third day of the ‘giving of the law’, Exodus 19:16; of the third day of ‘Jonah’, Jonah 1:17; of the third day of them that came ‘out of the captivity’, Ezra 8:15; of the third day of ‘the resurrection of the dead’, as it is written, Hosea 6:1-2.” By the way, Hosea 6:1-2 says, “Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him” (Hosea 6:1–2, ESV). John Gill goes on to say, “that among the remarkable third days they [the Jews] take notice of, are the two instances of Isaac’s and Jonah’s deliverances, which were Scripture types of Christ’s resurrection.” We are to remember that Issac was delivered from the altar up on the mountain when God provided a substitute. He was received back as if from the dead. And this deliverance came on the third day of their journey (see Genesis 22:4; Hebrews 11:19). And Jonah was delivered from the belly of the fish and from Sheol, metaphorically speaking, after three days. These, Gill says, “were Scripture types of Christ’s resurrection.” He is right.
Paul says that Christ was “raised from the dead on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures…” Where is the third-day resurrection prophesied in the Old Testament? Nowhere, explicitly, but in the story of Jonah (and Isaac), typologically. Where did Paul get this idea to interpret these Old Testament Scriptures in this way? We may say, from the Holy Spirit as he carefully examined the Old Testament Scriptures. I think we can also say that Paul was greatly helped by the teaching of Jesus Christ, who said, “For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” (Matthew 12:40, ESV), and in Luke 11:29 Christ says, “This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah” (Luke 11:29, ESV).
What did Christ mean when he said, “no sign will be given to [this generation] except the sign of Jonah”, and “For as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation” (Luke 11:30, ESV). Here Christ was foretelling his death, burial, and resurrection. Christ had shown the people many signs. He worked many miracles to show that he was the Messiah, the Son of God incarnate, the King of God’s everlasting kingdom and that God’s kingdom was present with power. But the people were evil. They were not satisfied. They wanted more and more. And so Christ said, here is the ultimate sign from heaven they will receive. Like Jonah, I will die, descend into the grave and Sheol, and from there I will arise to call men and women to repentance and faith and to warn of impending judgment.
Christ goes on to condemn the heard-hearted unbelief of his generation. In verse 31 we read, “The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here” (Luke 11:31, ESV).
The queen of the South is the Queen of Sheba. There is a famous story found in 1 Kings 10:1 and 2 Chronicles 9:1 about this Queen – a Gentile Queen – who heard of the wisdom of Solomon, King David’s son, and traveled a great distance, all the way from Arabia, bringing with her many gifts, to hear the wisdom of Solomon.
I do have the time to tease out the typological significance of this story. I trust you can see it. King Solomon was King David’s son. King Jesus is the greater son of David. The wisdom of King Solomon was very great. The wisdom of King Jesus is much greater. Solomon, the son of David, was a type of Christ, the Son of David. Jesus is much greater. And when the Queen of Sheba traveled thousands of miles to hear the wisdom of King Solomon, it was a foreshadowing or anticipation of the day when God’s elect from all the nations of the earth would flock to King Jesus to hear his word and keep it (see Luke 11:28). In other words, the Queen of Sheba’s journey was typological.
Here, Christ uses the story of the queen of the south to condemn the Jews who remained in unbelief. This Gentile Queen heard rumors about the wisdom and glory of King Solomon, a mere man. And so she traveled thousands of miles to meet him and to sit at his feet, as it were, to hear him, bringing with her many gifts to pay homage to him. But these Hebrews had someone far greater than Solomon in their midst and they could not see due to the evil in their hearts. And so Christ condemned them with these words, “The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here” (Luke 11:31, ESV). I do not take this to mean that the queen of the South was saved. The wisdom she heard from Solomon was mere worldly wisdom, as far as I can tell. But she will rise up at the judgment in the midst of those Hebrews who rejected their own Messiah and condemn them by her actions. I do believe the idea is that Christ will point to her and say, here is that Gentile Queen who perceived the wisdom of Solomon and traveled great distances to be in his presence, but you – you who should have known better – you who saw the signs and wonders I performed – you who heard my words and beheld my glory – you saw me but you did not see me. You heard me but you did not hear me. You toyed around with me and only wished to be entertained. This is how the Queen of Sheba will condemn the wicked generation of Hebrews who rejected their own Messiah.
And then Christ says the same thing about the men of Ninevah who repented at the preaching of Jonah. Verse 32: “The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.”
The same observations can be made about the men of Ninevah. They were Gentiles. They did not have access to the Scriptures, the covenants, and promises like these Jews did. And they only encountered the preaching of Jonah. And yet they repented at the preaching of Jonah. Something far greater than Jonah had arrived. And yet these, who should have known better, would not receive him. So, “The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it… (Luke 11:32, ESV).
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Jesus Calls Us To Perceive Him Correctly And To Receive Him (vs. 33-36)
Verses 33-36 can stand alone. An entire sermon could be devoted to these words of Jesus. I have decided to include them in this sermon because they seem to go with the previous passage. Notice that there is no break in the text itself. Your English translation of the Bible may have inserted a section heading in between the previous passage and this one, but it seems like these words were the conclusion of Jesus’ speech that began in verse 29. I interpret these words of Jesus to be a call (and a warning) to perceive him correctly. It will not take long for me to explain the meaning.
In this passage, Jesus claims to be the light of the world. Light symbolizes truth. Jesus is “the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through him” (John 14:6, ESV). Jesus is the light world, but for light to benefit people, it must be well received.
The light of a lamp will not benefit anyone in a dark room if someone covers it with a basket. And yet that is what these unbelieving multitudes were doing with Jesus. His light was shining very brightly in a world filled with darkness. But these men hated the light because their hearts were evil. And so they put a basket over the light of Christ. “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons”, they said (Luke 11:15, ESV). Or, they asked for just one more sign from heaven. And so Christ warned them, saying, “No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light” (Luke 11:33, ESV). The light of Christ shines brightly in the world. Instead of being covered (or suppressed) it is to be received into the mind and heart and elevated within so that it will give light to your house, that is to say, your soul.
The same principle is communicated in a different way in verse 34. “Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness” (Luke 11:34, ESV). This is a very beautiful and profound analogy. If you are in a dark room and someone brings a candle in, the light of that candle will serve you well. The light will enter your eye and illuminate the room so that you might perceive how things really are and walk accordingly. At least this is true assuming that your eye is healthy and not diseased. If your eyes are bad, the light that is brought into the dark room will not benefit you in the least. Notice, in both scenarios the light is the same. Those with good and healthy eyes will perceive the light and benefit from it. The light will enter the eyes and bring illumination to the whole body. You are experiencing this right now, aren’t you? Your eyes are open, and so long as they are good and healthy, the light in this room is filling you. The light is illuminating you and enabling you to perceive the reality of the world around you so that you might walk according to the truth. But if you were to close your eyes, you would immediately understand what Christ means when he says, “but when [your eye] is bad, your body is full of darkness” (Luke 11:34, ESV). When you close your eyes, darkness envelopes you, doesn’t it? The light is there, but your eyes are closed, and so you cannot perceive it. And all of this has spiritual meaning.
The light of Christ shines brightly in the world but it will not be perceived by those who are spiritually blind. And so it was with these men who remained in their unbelief. The glory of Christ shone brightly in front of them, and yet some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons”, while others asked for one more sign from heaven. And Christ warned them, “Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light” (Luke 11:35–36, ESV).
This, friends, is an exhortation to perceive Christ correctly and to receive him as the light of the world (see John 8:12) – the way, the truth, and the life (see John 14:6) through whom we must go to come to the Father. And we know that the ability to perceive Christ correctly is itself a gift from God.
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Conclusion
I’ll conclude now with two brief points of application.
The first is for those who do not yet know Christ as Lord and Savior. I must warn you, as you listen to the Word of God read and preached, the Light of Christ is shining brightly before you. You must be careful how you perceive him. You must “be careful lest the light in you be darkness” (Luke 11:35, ESV). Do not be like those who attributed the miracles of Christ to the power of Satan. Do not be like those who played around with Jesus, requesting just one more sign from heaven. No, you must receive this Jesus if you are to be saved by him. Do not put his light under a basket. Do not close your eyes to suppress his light so that you might remain in the darkness of your sin. No, you must receive the light of Christ. You must open your eyes and see that Jesus is Lord – he is the Savior God has provided. If you can perceive this, it is because God has opened your blind eyes. If you cannot perceive it, I must exhort you to cry out to God for mercy. Like the deaf man of Mark 7:32, ask Jesus to give you ears to hear his voice. And like the blind men of Matthew 9:27, ask the Lord to give you eyes to see the light of his glory. Pray that God would give you eyes to see and ears to hear, and then hear the word of God and keep it. “Blessed… are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” (Luke 11:28, ESV).
To those who do know Christ as Lord and Savior, I say, you must continue to grow in your knowledge of Jesus Christ – his person, his work, and the rewards he has earned for you. As you grow in your knowledge of him, your faith in him will grow stronger too. And as you grow in your faith, your hope will grow stronger. And as you grow in your faith and hope, your love for God and others will increase. And where must we go to grow in our knowledge of Christ? It is to the Scriptures we must go, the Old Testament and the New.
This point of application, to grow in the knowledge of Christ, must not be disregarded as simplistic and superficial. Some of you are entangled with sin. Some are plagued with doubts and anxieties. The remedy is Jesus. We must know Jesus. And if we know him by faith, we must grow in our knowledge of him so that our faith, hope, and love would be strong and true.
Listen, if you have Jesus as Lord and Savior – if you are united to him by faith – it is because “God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6, ESV). But we are not to stagnate, dear brothers and sisters. No, we are to grow in our knowledge of Christ. And so I pray for you as Paul prayed for the believers in Ephesus. “I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all” (Ephesians 1:16–23, ESV).
Posted in Sermons Joe Anady Luke 11:29-36
Posted by Joe
