The Greatest Sign - Mt 12:38-42
The twelfth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew is distinguished by its rich content and thematic ambivalence: from Beelzebub and demons to the Holy Spirit, from the crowd of Jesus' followers to looking for a way to eliminate the inconvenient Teacher, from healing people to calling them the offspring of vipers. Another pericope completes this repertoire. In place of the rivalry between the thief and the host whose house he came to plunder, trees bearing fruit and a treasury of good or bad content, Jesus brings well-known figures straight from the Old Testament in order to make understandable what was not obvious to everyone. The Pharisees come again, this time with teachers of the Scriptures. Perhaps it is the same body that suspected Jesus of being demonic and previously defended the integrity of the Sabbath vehemently. This time they did not attack Jesus directly, but demanded a sign confirming His mandate.
The multitude of miracles performed and the blunt teachings of Jesus could not convince them of his person and mission. The demand for a sign was not sincere, it was not out of good will. It expressed their disbelief, looking for a starting point to bring further charges, and perhaps most clearly showed their helpless thrashing when faced with the power and wisdom of Jesus. Therefore, they did not get what they demanded, and at the same time they risked another exposure of their dullness. In Jesus' opinion, they were evil and faithless people. The Greek adjective ponera has a much broader meaning and a stronger overtone than just evil. It also means: wicked, mean, hideous. The second term for the adversaries of Jesus, moihalis, literally means an adulteress, and the adjective means adulterous. The sound of such accusations from the mouth of the Son of God remains all too eloquent ...
After presenting the situation related to the religious attitude of the Pharisees and Scripture teachers, Jesus referred to the prophet Jonah. It was about the hero of the Book of Jonah, unlike Jonah, a prophet who was active in the 8th century BC in the Northern Kingdom of Israel (2 Kings 14:25). The Lord Jesus mentioned two episodes in the life of Jonah, extracting from them two important theological themes. As we read in the Book of Jonah, the prophet was thrown into the sea and swallowed there by a large fish. He stayed in its gut for three days, after which he was spit ashore by the fish. After this experience, he began the preaching mission that God called him to do. Jesus applied this biblical event to his future resurrection. He, too, will spend three days in the tomb and then be resurrected.
So, we see that Jesus gave the full meaning of Jonah's story, previously unreadable. It is de facto the first announcement of His death and resurrection. Jesus announced his passion, death and resurrection three times very specifically (Mt 16:21; 17: 22-23; 20:17-19), but it was here that he first touched upon the subject. His resurrection will be the greatest sign given to the world. The victory over death will be the greatest proof of His Deity. This was the sign he had in mind when addressing the Pharisees who were attacking him. There will not be a more expressive sign. The future will show, however, that it was not so obvious to everyone. Hardness of heart and bad will prevented the leaders of the nation and people like them from believing in the resurrection of Christ, accepting the greatest good given to people by God.
The second theological idea that comes from the biblical account of Jonah is about conversion. Jonah called for the conversion of the people of Nineveh and those who obeyed his word with great responsibility undertook the work of conversion, which in turn released God's mercy towards them. The story of conversion is so unusual because Nineveh evoked negative thoughts, because it was the capital of Assyria, Israel's mortal and ruthless enemy. The imperialist expansion of Assyria led to the capture of Samaria in 721 BC and the deportation of thousands of Israelites from the Northern Kingdom. This hostile and hated city appears in the Book of Jonah as an example of openness to God's call, and this fact was recalled by Jesus. How hardened the hearts of the people around him were, when he rated the inhabitants of the pagan city higher and foretold them a better fate at the final judgment.
Jonah might have upset and angered the people of Nineveh with his preaching, and yet they believed him, even though he was actually nobody. He did not introduce himself to them and made no sign of his mission being from God. And Jesus came as the One who was foretold and expected from ages, taught, performed miracles and signs, and yet was not accepted, was rejected and destroyed. The same is true of the story of the Queen of Sheba, to which Jesus also referred. The monarch was visited by King Solomon and was charmed by his wealth and power. Hearing about the remarkable ruler, she took the trouble and traveled a long way to see for herself his wisdom. A pagan woman full of good will and commitment in striving to learn higher values in Jesus' opinion is incomparably higher than the generation of his contemporaries, narrow in their perception of reality, rejecting the possibility of personal contact with God's Son, someone incomparably greater than the famous Solomon.
The resurrection of Jesus and the open gate to eternal life for all who believe in him are at the heart of Christianity. Without the truth about the resurrection, about the eternal life of man, there is no Christianity, there is no Church. This is the greatest sign given to humanity by God's Son. You just must believe. It is a strange paradox that what is the greatest good for man often remains something impossibly difficult to accept. The discussion of the rabid Pharisees with Jesus repeats itself over and over again in the history of salvation. And yet, if Christ has not risen, our faith is in vain (cf. 1 Cor 15:17), our existence on earth is completely in vain. Everything loses its sense and purpose. That is why His resurrection is indeed the greatest and most important sign for man, a sign in the richest possible sense of the word.
“For if we have grown into union with him through a death like his, we shall also be united with him in the resurrection” (Rom 6:5)
Until Tomorow
fr. george