Knowing The Word in Luke 11:27-32, Blessedness and the Sign of Jonah

After a woman interrupts Jesus with a blessing, he does not denounce her statement but points to the greater significance of those who hear his words, believe in him, and follow him. In other words, it is not a physical relationship with Jesus that is important but a spiritual relationship with him. In the next section we find there is evidently a wide-spread demand for a sign. But God will give no sign abstracted from Jesus. In Nineveh the prophet Jonah and his preaching led to repentance, but neither Jesus’ resurrection—the sign of Jonah—nor his preaching would bring about repentance in the people of his day. Jesus will pick his own sign and not one requested by the people. God always has something greater in mind than our limited requests.

27 As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!” 28 But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

29 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. 30 For as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31 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. 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.

Prayer: Almighty God, from whom every good prayer cometh, deliver us, when we draw nigh to thee, from coldness of heart and wanderings of mind, that with steadfast thought and kindled desire we may worship thee in the faith and spirit of Jesus Christ our Lord.

William Bright, 1824-1901