As the crowds increased, Jesus said, “This is a wicked generation. It asks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation. The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the people of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom; and now something greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and now something greater than Jonah is here.

--Parallel verses:
‭‭Jonah‬ ‭1‬:‭15‬-‭17‬
Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him. Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Jonah‬ ‭2‬:‭10‬
And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

To truly understand this passage we must go back to the story of Jonah and find out what transpired there. Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian empire during the reign of King Sennacherib (705-681 B.C.). It was strategically located east of the Tigris River in a very fertile plain. Ninevites were known for their worship of Ishtar, the fertility goddess. It was a bloody city, as the Assyrians engaged in many wars and conflicts and used extremely brutal methods in killing the warriors they captured. They tortured their victims grotesquely before killing them. Nahum 3 tells us some of the sinful practices of the Ninevites. They were bloodthirsty, full of lies and deception, hoarders of resources, and they practiced prostitution and sorcery and used these vices to entrap and enslave others.

God called Jonah to go and preach to these people. In our modern era, this would be like asking him to go and preach to a drug cartel in Mexico and ask them to repent of their sinful lifestyle. Any rational person would assume they would not only be killed, but likely tortured and made sport of.

So Jonah ran away from God and took a boat in the opposite direction to the farthest place from Nineveh he could imagine. Not only did he not want to go there, he rationalized that they did not deserve salvation — they were too sinful.

God sent a massive storm to stop Jonah. Jonah knew he was under God’s judgment, and he did not want the sailors to die, so he told them to throw him overboard. They did, the storm stopped, and Jonah was swallowed up by a great fish. He stayed in the belly of the fish for 3 days and nights. Jonah then repented to God. ““When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them. But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’ ”(‭‭Jonah‬ ‭2‬:‭7‬-‭9‬)

The fish spat him out on dry ground and he went and obeyed the Lord and preached judgment against Nineveh and the King, and the city repented of their sins.

Jesus’ statement here against the crowd of Jews around him is a stark condemnation. His point here is, as evil as the Ninevites were, at least they, when confronted with their sin by Jonah, repented. These Jews were seeing someone more powerful and mighty than Jonah speaking the truth about their own religion, and they were hard-hearted and remained sinful.

Jesus also used Jonah to prophesy about his own death and resurrection. He was in the grave for three days, and Jonah was in a virtual grave in the belly of a giant fish underwater for three days.

The wisdom of God is to be honored, sought after, and held high. We are not to flippantly cast it aside for our own convenience to continue to live selfish lives full of greed and pleasure. We must serve God and be his ambassador to others. And at times, preach repentance to those who we don’t think deserve it.

Lord, help me to always have a humble and soft heart towards you. May I truly listen to your instruction and apply it in obedience, regardless of if others deserve my efforts. Thank you for your love. You always have my best in mind!