Sign or No Sign?
John was in prison, but word about Christ's deeds still reached him. Jesus instructed the two disciples John sent to return and tell John what they saw. When the disciples asked if Jesus was the Messiah they had been hoping for, he pointed to the blind receiving sight, the lame walking, lepers cleansed, the deaf hearing, the dead raised, and the good news preached to the poor (Matthew 11:1-6).
Not much later, scribes and Pharisees asked Jesus for a sign. Presumably, they wanted proof that he was the Messiah they had been waiting for. This time, Jesus told them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah" (Matthew 12:39). John the Baptist sent for encouragement, and he was told to look at the events of Jesus' ministry. The Pharisees demanded a sign to prove that Jesus was who he claimed to be, and they were rebuked, called an evil generation who would only receive the sign of Jonah. Which is it? Why the difference?
In both cases, the deeds of Christ were evident. The blind, lame, lepers, deaf, and dead received the miracles prophesied in Isaiah 29:18-18, 35:5-6, and 61:1. These may have been the deeds John had already heard about. Yet, when John was genuinely seeking the Messiah, he was gently reminded to see the fulfillment of Scripture in the events of Christ's ministry. The Pharisees, however, were already set on rejecting the events and demanding Jesus prove himself by their terms. They had already rejected Christ. Therefore, Jesus told them the only sign a wicked and evil generation would receive was the sign of Jonah.
Jesus went on to describe one aspect of the sign of Jonah--that just as Jonah was in the fish for three days, so the Son of Man will be three days in the earth. But this is less of a sign than what Jesus says next. "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" (Matthew 12:41).
The more excellent sign of Jonah is repentance. Everyone but Jonah repents and willingly obeys God in the book of Jonah except Jonah. Creation submits to God even when Jonah does not. Yet the book of Jonah ends with another chance for repentance. Because Jesus will be in the earth for three days, repentance and salvation are possible. One must repent if one desires to see and believe that Jesus is who he says he is. As their actions showed, the Pharisees had already rejected that sign.
When preaching either Text—Matthew 11:1-6 or 12:38-41—the contrast between John the Baptist and the Pharisees provides a straightforward approach to presenting repentance in light of Jesus's deeds. These two events are well-tied together and worth seeing side-by-side.