J.C. Ryle's devotional thoughts on the Gospel of Luke. Section 72. The Sign of Jonah. Luke chapter 11, verses 27 through 32.

And it came to pass as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked. And he said, Yea, rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.

And when the people were gathered thick together, he began to say, This is an evil generation, they seek a sign. And there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet. For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of Man be to this generation. The Queen of the South shall rise up in judgment with the men of this generation, and condemn them. For she came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And behold, a greater than Solomon is here.

the men of Nineveh shall rise up in the judgment with this generation and shall condemn it for they repented at the preaching of Jonas and behold a greater than Jonas is here

A woman is brought before us in this passage of scripture of whose name in history we know nothing. We read that as our Lord spoke, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice and said unto him, Blessed is the mother that gave you birth. At once our Lord founds a great lesson on her remark. His perfect wisdom turned every incident within his reach to profit.

We should observe in these verses how great are the privileges of those who hear and keep God's word. They are regarded by Christ with as much honor as if they were his nearest relatives. It is more blessed to be a believer in the Lord Jesus than it would have been to have been one of the family in which he was born after the flesh. It was a greater honor to marry herself, to have Christ dwelling in her heart by faith, than to have been the mother of Christ and to have nursed him on her bosom.

We're generally very slow to receive truths like these. We are apt to imagine that to have seen Christ, and heard Christ, and lived near Christ, and been a relative of Christ according to the flesh, would have had some mighty effect upon our souls. We are all naturally inclined to attach great importance to a religion of sight, and sense, and touch, and eye, and ear. We love a physical, tangible, material Christianity far better than one of faith. And we need reminding that seeing is not always believing. Thousands saw Christ continually while he was on earth and yet clung to their sins. Even his brethren at one time did not believe in him. John chapter 7 verse 5.

A mere fleshly knowledge of Christ saves no one. the words of Paul are very instructive though we have known Christ after the flesh yet we do not know him anymore in this way 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 verse 16

let us learn from our Lord's words before us that the highest privileges our souls can desire are close at hand and within our reach if we only believe We need not idly wish that we live near Capernaum or nearby Joseph's house at Nazareth. We need not dream of a deeper love and a more thorough devotion if we had really pressed Christ's hand or heard Christ's voice or been numbered among Christ's relatives. All this could have done nothing more for us than simple faith can do now.

Do we hear Christ's voice and follow Him? Do we take Him for our only Saviour and our only Friend, and, forsaking all other hopes, cleave only unto Him? If this is so, then all things are ours. We need no higher privilege. We can have no higher blessing until Christ comes again. No man can be nearer and dearer to Jesus than the man who simply believes.

We should observe, secondly, in these verses the desperate unbelief of the Jews in our Lord's time. We are told that they gathered thick together to hear Christ preach. They still professed to be waiting for a sign. They pretended to need more evidence before they believed. Our Lord declares that the Queen of Sheba and the men of Nineveh would put the Jews to shame at the last day.

The Queen of Sheba had such faith that she travelled a vast distance in order to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Yet Solomon, with all his wisdom, was an erring and imperfect king. The Ninevites had such faith that they believed the message which Shumna brought from God and repented. Yet even Jonah was a weak and unstable prophet. The Jews of our Lord's time had far higher light and infinitely clearer teachings than either Solomon or Jonah could supply. They had among them the king of kings, the prophet greater than Moses. Yet the Jews neither repented nor believed.

Let it never surprise us to see unbelief abounding, both in the Church and in the world. So far from wondering that there have been men like Hobbes and Paine and Rousseau and Voltaire, we ought rather to wonder that such men have been so few. So far from marveling that the vast majority of professing Christians remain unaffected and unmoved by the preaching of the gospel. We ought to marvel that any around us believe at all. Why should we wonder to see the old disease which began with Adam and Eve infecting all their children? Why should we expect to see more faith among men and women now than was seen in our Lord's time? The enormous amount of unbelief and hardness on every side may well grieve and pain us, but it ought never to cause surprise.

Let us thank God if we have received the gift of faith. It is a great thing to believe all the Bible. We do not sufficiently realize the corruption of human nature. We do not see the full virulence of the disease by which all Adam's children are infected and the small number of those who are saved. Have we faith, however weak and small? Let us praise God for the privilege. Who are we that God should have made us to differ? Let us watch against unbelief. The root of it often lies within us, even after the tree is cut down. Let us guard our faith with a godly jealousy. It is the shield of the soul. It is the grace above all others which Satan labors to overthrow. Let us hold it fast. Blessed are those who believe.

We should observe, lastly, in these verses, how our Lord Jesus Christ testifies to the truth of a resurrection and a life to come. He speaks of the Queen of the South. He says, she shall rise up in the judgment. He speaks of the men of Nineveh, a people who have passed away from the face of the earth. He says of them also, they shall rise up.

There's something very solemn and instructive in the language which our Lord here uses. It reminds us that this world is not all, and that the life which man lives in the body on earth is not the only life of which we ought to think. The kings and queens of olden time are all to live again one day, and to stand before the judgment bar of God. The vast multitudes who once swarmed around the palaces of Nineveh are all to come forth from their graves, and to give an account of their works. To our eyes, they seem to have passed away forever. We read with wonder of their empty halls, and talk of them as a people who have completely perished. Their dwelling places are a desolation, their very bones are dust. But to the eye of God, they all live still. The Queen of the South and the men of Nineveh will all rise again. We shall yet see them face to face.

Let the truth of the resurrection be often before our minds. Let the life to come be frequently before our thoughts. All is not over when the grave receives its tenant and man goes to his long home. Other people may dwell in our houses and spend our money. Our very names may soon be forgotten. But still, all is not over Yet, in a little while, we shall all live again. The earth shall cast out the dead. Isaiah 26, verse 19. Many, like Felix, may well tremble when they think of such things. But the men who live by faith in the Son of God, like Paul, should lift up their heads and rejoice.