I suspect that along our way we’ve all encountered an unbeliever who said something approximating this: ‘I will believe in God, and in Christianity, if He will prove Himself to me by performing a miracle, one that will demonstrate beyond all doubt that He is real.’

This very theme surfaced often during the earthly ministry of our Lord. We see just such a thing transpiring in Luke 11:29-32. This time, it is a large crowd surrounding Jesus that in unison requested such proof from Him. The idea was initially put on the table by the Pharisees in Luke 11:16 where they demanded that Jesus give them “a sign from heaven.” Everyone seemed to agree that Jesus should and must do this if He were to be believed and accepted as God’s Messiah.

The reply of our Lord, however, was as stunning as it was terribly blunt: “This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah” (v. 29).

What are we to make of this rather mysterious reply? What is here for us to learn as we think of our own lives as disciples of Jesus? What do the words of our Savior tell us about the world we live in?