Bible reading
29 As the crowds were increasing, He began to say, “This generation is a wicked generation; it seeks for a sign, and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah. 30 For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31 The Queen of the South will rise up with the men of this generation at the judgment and condemn them, because 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 stand up with this generation at the judgment and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.
33 “No one, after lighting a lamp, puts it away in a cellar nor under a basket, but on the lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light. 34 The eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye is clear, your whole body also is full of light; but when it is bad, your body also is full of darkness. 35 Then watch out that the light in you is not darkness. 36 If therefore your whole body is full of light, with no dark part in it, it will be wholly illumined, as when the lamp illumines you with its rays.”
Source: Luke 11:29-36 (New American Standard Bible)
Bible Study summary
We will look at this passage in two parts. Part one is from verse 29-32 and regarding ‘the sign of Jonah’, part two is from verse 33-36, regarding light.
Part one (verses 29-32)
Jesus begins this passage with verse 29, talking about a sign. Generally speaking, a sign is something that can be seen, it is something visual that carries a message or direction.
One of the questions that we need to ask in this bible study is – ‘what is the sign of Jonah’? This of course takes us back to the story of Jonah which can be found in the book of Jonah in the old testament:
Jonah was sent by God to the people of Nineveh, where great evil was taking place. Unwilling to go, Jonah attempts to run away from God which results in him being swallowed up by a big fish, where he stays for 3 days and 3 nights. While in the fish’s stomach, he cries out to God who saves him. After saving him, God calls Jonah to go to the city of Nineveh once more, this time he obliges. The people of Nineveh repent at Jonah’s preaching, which results in Jonah being quite displeased at the outcome and grumbling against God.
As we can see, it’s not the most impressive ending and doesn’t necessarily put Jonah in a particularly good light.
In verse 30, Jesus says :“For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation.
In this case, what is the sign? In what way is Jonah and the Son of Man similar? Those familiar with the bible will know that ‘the Son of Man’ is a title that Jesus often uses to refer to himself. However, as we just saw from the story of Jonah, it would be quite a disservice to compare the Lord Jesus to Jonah. The only aspect that’s similar is that both spent 3 days and 3 nights – Jonah in the fish’s stomach and the Lord Jesus in the heart of the earth (Matthew 12:40). Both you could say, experienced ‘resurrection’. Is the sign therefore referring to the resurrection?
If we look carefully at the verse, Jonah only became a sign because he went to Nineveh to preach there and the people repented, which took place after he was ‘resurrected’ from the fish’s belly. Therefore, if the Son of Man is a sign in the same way, it would only make sense if it were referring to him being a sign, after the resurrection. But very few people actually saw Jesus’ resurrection; and if this was addressed to the Pharisees and Scribes at the time (as we learn in the parallel passage in Matthew 12), they definitely didn’t get to see the resurrected Jesus. So, if the sign is something that can be seen, what does it refer to?
To answer that question, it is important to also understand how the word ‘generation’ in this passage is used in the bible. Our understanding is that a generation usually refers to a period of around 30-40 years. However, in the bible, a generation often isn’t determined by time. Instead, a generation is determined by its characteristics, an example can be found in Psalm 14:5, where the Psalmist refers to a ‘righteous generation’. In other words, when Jesus uses ‘generation’, it can extend to a few thousand years, even until now. Therefore, when Jesus says ‘the evil generation will see a sign’ – it must be something that all would be able to see, even the generation today.
Today, people can’t see the person of Jesus, so if he alone is the sign, then there’s no hope for people to see. Praise be to God, Jesus Christ continues to be seen through the church! The following verses are examples which highlight how Christ is manifested today.
John 14:19 “After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also.
Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
Colossians 1:27 to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Christ continues to be seen in the church, in the Christians, through all those, who have also experienced death and new life in Christ. The sign is the expression of the power of resurrection that continues to occur today in the lives of those who have been changed. It’s a resurrection where a person goes from being spiritually dead, to being spiritually alive. Isn’t it true that the way many of us came to Christ, was through seeing the lives of others? Unfortunately, the contrary is also true, many are also repelled by bad examples. We who are Christians bear the responsibility to live out a life that is a sign to bring people to God; so that anyone who has a heart to seek after what is spiritual, to seek after the truth, will be able to see it.
However, the responsibility lies not only on how bright the sign is, but also on whether a person is willing to go and seek after the sign. Which is why verse 31-32 are also so important.The story of the Queen of the South can be found in 1 Kings 10:1-9, it is about the Queen of Sheba who travelled all the way to Israel:
This Queen had heard there was a wise King in Jerusalem, related to Yahweh God. Being someone with a heart full of the desire to seek out truth, she personally went to seek after it herself. Although she was a queen, she wasn’t too good to go herself to seek it out. She was told of a sign, of wisdom, and she travelled from the ends of the earth to find it.
Jesus compares this generation, who have the opportunity to experience and see the power of God, the power of resurrection through Christ, with the Old Testament generation that didn’t have that opportunity but were not hindered in finding the truth. We have that opportunity today, so we don’t have any excuse. It all goes back to whether or not we have the heart to search for the sign and experience it ourselves. If you’re willing to search for the truth, you will find it.
Similarly, the people of Nineveh were in a state where their wickedness was so great, God had to put it to the end. Sometimes we may feel there are so many temptations and distractions in this world and the times are different nowadays. But Jesus is saying, the people of Nineveh were in this situation, but when Jonah went to preach to them, they were willing to listen and repent. They didn’t even have the opportunity to experience the power of the resurrection of Christ yet it did not prevent them from turning to God. Therefore, if we are in this state, we don’t really have anything we can blame, except for the condition of our heart.
Part two (verses 33-36)
No one, after lighting a lamp, puts it away in a cellar nor under a basket, but on the lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light.
Here we come to the parable of the lamp, which we’ve studied before in the past in Lk 8:16, which illustrated the role of Christians, is to be able to shine, to bring people to God, much like the sign, to direct people to God. But unfortunately, the light is often not shining because it’s been covered. In Luke 8:16 a container and bed are mentioned instead of a cellar and basket. And we saw how things like religion and family may become things that stop our light from shining.
In verse 33, a cellar and basket are listed. If we do a study on these words in the bible, you will find that the cellar, or basket represents a lot of everyday things, food and drink, our treasures, our possessions, our livelihood, our work and careers. All these are legitimate things that we need to do, but quite often they have taken over our lives, they have taken over our energy, they have taken over our hearts and minds, so much so that our lamp no longer shines.
The problem is not these things per se, as these things are neutral and necessary, but we get a clue what the problem is here when Jesus says in verse 34-36:
The eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye is clear, your whole body also is full of light; but when it is bad, your body also is full of darkness. Then watch out that the light in you is not darkness. If therefore your whole body is full of light, with no dark part in it, it will be wholly illumined, as when the lamp illumines you with its rays.”
The literal meaning of this Greek word translated as ‘clear’ is the word ‘single’ or ‘sincere’. What Jesus is concerned with is single mindedness, focus, oneness. The problem is that we are so distracted, we are so preoccupied with many things that it prevents the light from shining as it should.
This issue of being distracted applies both to those who are still seeking God as well as those who are already Christian. Some never seem to be able to find God, not because they’re not seeking, but because of all the distractions; they don’t have a focused heart to seek after God alone. Our lives really are like that quote that says ‘my mind is a like an internet browser, 19 tabs are open, 3 of them are frozen and I have no idea where the music is coming from’. For those who have finally found God, we also easily get distracted with many things, with our own lives– work and career, studies, relationships, entertainment, having fun, enjoyment, etc., and lack that single heartedness for God and as a result, we are unable to shine out that light, and live out the power of Christ.
In this passage, we see how Jesus addresses the problem of the heart of man. Hopefully for those of us who are still seeking, will have an attitude like the Queen of Sheba, like that of the people of Nineveh and respond while there is still the opportunity. And for those of us who have experienced the power of resurrection, let us be reminded it’s not just a one-time thing, but God’s purpose is for us to be a sign to the world to come to know Him through the body of Christ.
Bible study by Pastor Pam
Summary by Pastor Pam