"Something greater is here." The stories of Nineveh repenting and the Queen of the South traveling to hear Solomon are familiar and accepted. But do we ever stop to think, "Would I have done the same?" What was it about Jonah or Solomon that warranted such a reaction?
That generation did not repent. Will yours? As Peter said, "Save yourselves from this crooked generation!"
38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.”
39 But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.
40 For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
41 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.
42 The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.
Luke 11:49–51…The Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’ so that the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation.
Acts 2:40And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.”
Philippians 2:14–16Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life….
What sign did Jonah do? In the context of this teaching, it was a type of resurrection. Jesus is indicating witnesses at the time knew Jonah should have been dead but was not. The weight of such an event is consistent with the heed Nineveh gave Jonah’s preaching.
Jonah 2:2–3…Out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
and you heard my voice.
For you cast me into the deep,
into the heart of the seas….
In other words, if Gentiles can be saved by a lesser prophet and smaller sign, what excuse can Judah offer when the Son of God is rejected among them? This generation will be condemned by the fact that someone else proved they could have done better.
Hebrews 11:7By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
The Greek here literally says, “they repented into the preaching of Jonah.” In other words, they brought their lives into conformity to his teaching.
Since this translation has seen fit to take sides in a controversy, we take this opportunity to comment. Following is an examination of the idea that the Greek here could mean anything other than purpose or direction.
Many churches in the religious world do not require baptism “in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” as expressly commanded in Acts 2:38. They are being told by their scholars and seminarians that the verse doesn’t require baptism, but that Acts 2:38 could be translated, “be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ because of the forgiveness of your sins” rather than “for the forgiveness of your sins.”
The claim arises from these churches’ scholarly works. The grammar books and curriculum they use in seminaries to teach Greek to their pastors often claim the preposition “for” (εἰς) used in Acts 2:38 can also mean “because of.” This is why today these churches argue that baptism is not required in order to be forgiven, but rather that baptism is a sign of the fact that a person has already been forgiven.
However, the picture is quite different when we look at sources that are not funded by churches and do not have a stake in the outcome: secular schools of Classics. There is not a shred of evidence in any such objective source that the preposition ever means anything else but purpose or direction! This preposition is not an advanced topic, either, but is quite common and must be covered in any first-semester Greek class. Here is an example from a first-semester class at a public university; this definition of the preposition in question comes from ‘Appendix 3: Prepositions’ in the book, “Introduction to Greek” (Cynthia W. Shelmerdine, Introduction to Greek, Second Edition. (Newburyport, MA: Focus Publishing; R. Pullins Company, 2008), 270.):
εἰς (+ accusative):This preposition only ever indicates movement towards something, with such meanings as entering a building, putting something into a container, heading in a new direction in life, etc..
into, onto, to; for (a purpose)
in composition:
into, in, to
Nevertheless, seminarians argue the current reading in Matthew 12:41 is an example of a place that requires the preposition to mean origin or cause. This reasoning is why the ESV has rendered it, “they repented at the preaching of Jonah,” instead of, “they repented into the preaching of Jonah.” But the claim is simply unnecessary. It may be true that some Assyrians repented because of what Jonah said, but the verse does not have to mean that. There’s nothing wrong with what the verse says. They repented, and they changed the direction of their lives by bringing them into conformity to the message Jonah brought them. They moved out of their old system of beliefs into the new system of belief in God.
Translating the verse using the simplest meaning of the preposition makes perfect sense here and in the wider context. Changing its meaning to agree with modern religions is simply not honest.
The Son of God walks among them.
John 1:14And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.