Matthew 12:38 - 42

38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.”

39 But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

40 For 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.

41 The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.

42 The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.

The scribes and Pharisees challenge Jesus to prove himself by doing a miracle. Sort of a dare. Jesus was not opposed to working miracles as a testimony for individuals who were honestly interested in finding out who Jesus really was, but we find no record where he did a miracle to satisfy curiosity or to entertain anyone.

1 Corinthians 1:22 tells us it is common for the Jew to ask for a sign.

Jesus does not intend to perform any miracle for the Jews to satisfy their curiosity. The miracles he has already accomplished, these men had seen the devil cast out of the deaf mute man earlier.

He does give them a prophecy to think on. He calls it the sign of the prophet Jonah.

Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish. Jesus said as sure as Jonah did that and came out alive and functioning, He would be buried in the earth for three days and three nights and come out as unharmed as Jonah was when the great fish spit him out onto dry land. For Jesus to spend the three days in the earth then it would prove Him to be a man under the care of God. And it will prove to these Jews He is a true prophet.

The people of Nineveh which repented after being preached to by Jonah will condemn the Jews, they will not be on the judgment seat, only Christ will be on the throne of judgment on that day, but their act of repentance will condemn the Jews because they heard Jonah's message, they believed, and they repented, but the Jews hear Jesus message and disbelieve, and Jesus is the Son of God which is so much greater than a prophet.

This is a lesson of responsibility based on the opportunity given to the Ninevehites compared to the Jews, the Jews have the Son of God to learn from the ones from Nineveh had a prophet.

The Queen of the south or the Queen of Sheba which traveled a great distance to experience the wisdom of Solomon would also condemn them because of the belief she had in a wise human, while these had the one who granted the wisdom to Solomon, Jesus who is the word of God. (John 1:1 – 4)

We have so much greater an opportunity than those in the old testament times or even the Jews which lived in the time of Jesus, we have the recorded history which is given to us to read and learn from. If we do not believe and follow the word then we are also condemned as well as those Jews.