Needing More Evidence
Antony Flew was a British philosopher and a leading voice for atheism in the twentieth century and an outspoken critic of Christianity. He said that “the onus of proof is on the theists since atheism is prima facie the more reasonable position.”[1] In other words, he believed atheism was correct until someone could prove otherwise. He wouldn’t believe in God until he had more evidence.
But then Flew changed his mind! In late 2004, at the age of 81, he said he believed in the existence of an intelligent designer of the universe. He said he believed in a God who made everything but who wasn’t involved in the universe he made. The famous atheist became a deist.
Though Flew was open to the possibility of divine revelation, he didn’t believe in the God of the Bible or the gospel of Jesus Christ. He needed more evidence to move from deism to Christian theism.
The Danger of Not Responding
There were people like Flew in Jesus’ day, people who believed in God but not in Jesus. Some had chosen to become Jesus’ followers, while others rejected him and claimed he was of the devil. But others wanted more evidence (Lk. 11:16). These folks wouldn’t believe in Jesus until they had more evidence that he was the Son of God.
Their position seems reasonable. They wanted more information before making a big decision. They didn’t want to jump into anything too quickly. They were trying to be thoughtful and rational and careful. But in our text today, Jesus tells them that they’re in danger of walking off a spiritual cliff. He tells them that his word demands a response. He tells them that a cold and indifferent and detached approach to him, an approach that wants more evidence, is actually evidence against them.
The main point of our text today, Luke 11:27-36, is that Jesus’s message demands a response. His response to the doubters and skeptics is that there’s a great danger in not responding to him. He even says that those who reject God’s work in him do so because they’re filled with darkness and will be judged for it!
Today’s text is about the danger of not responding to Jesus with faith and repentance. We’ll see the importance of action (vv. 27-28), the danger of inaction (vv. 29-32), and the reason we respond the way we do (vv. 33-36).
The Importance of Action
In verses 27-28, we see the importance of action. Jesus just cast out a demon and answered his critics who’d started a smear campaign against him. But not everyone in the crowd was a critic or a skeptic. There was at least one woman who was so overcome with admiration that she publicly praised Jesus (v. 27).
Technically, she praises Jesus’ mom, Mary, saying, “What an honor it must be for her to have a son like you!” At that time, women were generally expected to be silent in a mixed audience. But she courageously and very publicly expresses her gratitude for Jesus’ ministry.
In his response, Jesus doesn’t say she’s wrong. But he does say she’s missed the point (v. 28). Jesus’ mother was blessed (1:48). But as blessed as Mary was to be Jesus’ mom, Jesus says it’s even more blessed to hear and do the word of God.
Jesus’ mom, Mary, is actually a good example of someone who heard and did the word of God. God called her to be the mother of the Messiah and she believed God’s word and submitted herself to God’s will.
The Roman Catholic Church says Mary should therefore be adored and worshipped as a result. But this is a mistake because only God deserves our worship. Rather than an object of praise, Mary is an example of faith. As Augustine said, “Mary was more blessed in accepting the faith of Christ than in conceiving the flesh of Christ.”[2]
Jesus says that the truly blessed ones are those who hear and keep the word of God. He says biology doesn’t bring blessing, obedience does. By way of application, when discerning someone’s character, it’s better to believe what they do over what they say. Our actions reveal what we really believe. For Jesus, those who hear him preach and respond with repentance and faith are the ones blessed by God.
The Danger of Inaction
Some people, like Antony Flew, aren’t content with a word to hear and believe and obey. They want a sign to see. Jesus senses this in the crowd that day, but he doesn’t give into the demand. Rather, he says those who refuse to respond to his word are in grave danger.
So second, in verses 29-32, we see the danger of inaction. Jesus says in verse 29 that his generation is “evil” because they’re seeking for a sign from him. He’d performed many miracles, even one before them when he healed the mute man (v. 14). So they didn’t need more signs. They needed to believe the signs they’d been given. One writer says it like this:
“The fact is that the people who demanded another sign would not have been convinced by it or by any number of signs. Their seeking of a sign was not an indication of their willingness to believe if only adequate evidence were provided, but a rationalizing of their unwillingness to believe the perfectly adequate evidence they already had.”[3]
They were trying to justify their view with reasons that weren’t true. The truth is that they didn’t need more evidence. The truth is that they didn’t believe the evidence they had. Like many today, they said, “We need more proof!” in order to hide their unwillingness to accept the proof that was right in front of them. This is an indictment to those who say, “I’ll believe if God gives me a sign!” These people clamor for more signs rather than turning to God. God is what they need, not signs. But they don’t want to admit their need, so they call for more proof.
The Sign of Jonah
Notice in verse 29 that, in mercy, God does give them a sign, “the sign of Jonah.” What’s that? Let’s remember who Jonah is. He was the prophet God called to go to Nineveh, the capital city of the hated Assyrians. In response, Jonah purchased a one-way ticket in the opposite direction. But God’s plan wouldn’t be stopped so he sent a storm and Jonah was thrown overboard. The God sent a fish and Jonah was swallowed alive. After the fish vomited him up, Jonah finally went to Nineveh where he preached that God’s judgment was coming and the people needed to repent. And they did! The whole city, even the king, repented as a result of Jonah’s preaching.
Jesus is drawing a connection between Jonah’s ministry and his own. But what’s the connection?
Jesus is saying that, just as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so he was a sign to this generation. But what’s the nature of the sign? A sign in the Bible is something miraculous that reveals God’s power and work. Jesus says that it “will be” given, or that it’ll come in the future. So what’s the sign?
Luke doesn’t mention it specifically. But Matthew brings it out in Matthew 12:38-40. The “sign of Jonah” that Jesus will give is his death, burial, and resurrection. Just as Jonah was entombed in the belly of the fish and spit out into new life, so also Jesus will be entombed in the belly of the earth and spit out into new life. The sign of Jonah is the death and resurrection of Jesus.
God has given us the “sign of Jonah” to point us to the truth of his word. Many people wonder whether the gospel is true. Did Jesus live a perfect life? Did God accept his sacrifice for our sins? Can we find eternal life in Jesus? How do we know we’ll live forever if we trust Jesus? Because Jesus rose from the dead! Even Antony Flew understood the uniqueness of the resurrection, saying:
“The evidence for the resurrection is better than for claimed miracles in any other religion. It’s outstandingly different in quality and quantity, I think, from the evidence offered for the occurrence of most other supposedly miraculous events.”[4]
The death and resurrection of Jesus is the sign God has given all generations. The good news of the gospel is that God saves sinners through Jesus’ death on the cross and his return from the grave. Will this sign be the kind of proof that skeptics want? No, but it’s a sign nonetheless. We either take it or leave it. If we believe it, we’ll be saved! If not, Jesus says we’re in trouble.
Something Greater
Everyone who believes Jesus died and rose again will be given eternal life. But we have to believe and repent. In verses 31-32, Jesus uses two examples from the Old Testament to prove this.
First, he mentions the “queen of the South.” Who’s that? In King Solomon’s day, a wealthy queen from Sheba visited him because she’d heard about his wealth and wisdom and wanted to see it for herself (1 Kgs. 10:1-13). So she comes and tours his treasuries and hears his wisdom and it takes her breath away (v. 5). She said to King Solomon, “I didn’t believe the reports until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, I was not even told half. Your wisdom and prosperity far exceed the report I heard…Blessed be the Lord your God!” (vv. 7, 9).
The Queen came to verify Solomon’s identity and found that he was more than expected. Jesus says that she (a Gentile) will judge these Jews who aren’t accepting Jesus. She responded to Solomon whereas this generation is failing to respond to Jesus, who’s greater than Solomon. Jesus’ point is simple: if the Queen of the South responded to Solomon, they should respond to him.[5]
Jesus’ second example is the Ninevites (v. 32). Again Jesus contrasts a Gentile response with Jewish rejection. He’s saying that if the pagans in Nineveh repented at Jonah’s preaching, then the Jews should do likewise. If the people of Nineveh received Jonah when he came back from the sea, then the people of Israel should receive Jesus when he comes back from the dead.
Jesus uses these Old Testament examples to warn the skeptics that it’s not safe to remain undecided about him. They had every opportunity to believe. They were in the presence of someone greater than Solomon and greater than Jonah. If they refuse to believe and repent, then at the tribunal of the final judgment, the Queen of the South and the people of Nineveh will rise up and be witnesses against them and will condemn them.
Jesus is saying that those who refuse to respond to his word by trusting in him and turning from their sins are in grave danger. Where you spend eternity hangs on what you do with Jesus. At the final judgment, we’ll all be held responsible for what we’ve done, or failed to do, with Jesus. If we receive Jesus by faith, then we’ll be standing on judgment day. If we reject Jesus, God will reject us forever.
The Reason We Respond the Way We Do
In our unbelief, we think the problem is outside of us, not inside of us. We say, “I’ll believe if God would only show me a sign!” But this isn’t the real problem. The sign of the gospel is there, the problem is that we don’t believe it. This is the point of the illustration about light in verses 33-36. Here we see the reason why we respond the way we do.
The light in verse 33 is the light of Jesus. He’s saying that his person and work is out in the open for all to see, not hiding down in the basement. Like a lamp in a lighthouse, his truth shines for all to see.
So if any of fail to see Jesus, it’s not because he doesn’t want to be seen. There are plenty of lumens in his lantern.[6] The problem is that our eyes are too dim to see his glory. Jesus’ teaching isn’t secretly disseminated but is openly proclaimed.[7] If someone doesn’t respond to him, it’s not because the lamp is hidden, but because the light of the lamp is rejected.
In verse 34, Jesus uses a word-picture to illustrate how our response is related to our spiritual perception. If the eye brings in light, the whole person will glow. But this only happens if the eye is healthy, if it wants to receive spiritual truth from Jesus. If the eye isn’t healthy, if it makes poor spiritual judgments, then darkness is the result.
Jesus makes a similar point in John 3:19-21. Our problem is two-fold: we have bad spiritual eyes (Luke) because we love darkness more than light, or because we prefer evil over God (John). And Paul, in 2 Corinthians 4:4-6, says that we can’t see God’s light in Christ because Satan has put spiritual blinders over our spiritual eyes.
Again, the problem isn’t that we don’t have enough light or that God needs to give us a more brilliant sign. He’s given us a blazing light of glory in the gospel! But we can’t see it because our hearts are still in darkness. This is what was wrong with the people demanding a sign from Jesus, and why he calls them “evil” (v. 29). Jesus was shining a spotlight of love on them but they couldn’t and wouldn’t see it. So to shift the blame they say he’s the problem, when the problem is actually their own inner darkness.
This is why he gives them the warning of verse 35. He’s talking to a bunch of religious people, telling them that what they think is light in them may actually be darkness. This is a warning for any of us religious people who know things about Jesus but haven’t submitted to him as Lord. Maybe you attend church regularly, are a church member, have been baptized, are morally respectable, and even help people as much as you can. You may think that all this light on the outside means you have light on the inside. But inwardly you’re a mess. You know that your religion is a show, that it’s more about performing or conforming to expectations. You know there’s no deep love for Jesus. You know about your love for sin and love for things of this world. Jesus is saying, “It’s time for an eye check, rather, time for a heart check.” He says to be “careful” because the consequences are too great to be flippant with these things.
Then in verse 36 Jesus ends on a positive note. If you’re full of light and not darkness, if you’re spiritually healthy, you’ll walk in light and reflect the light. Your life will be “wholly bright.” Like a lamp, Jesus’ word has lit up your life and made your life shine with spiritual health.
Jesus is saying that those who take in his light will be spiritually healthy and will shine brightly, giving off his light. But this health is only for those who respond to the gospel of his death and resurrection with faith and repentance. It’s for those who hear and do the word of God.
The Response of those Who Have Responded
Many of us have responded to Jesus’s gospel, so what does responding to him look like now? Maybe you have habitual and secret sin in your life that you know needs to be brought into the light, you know you need help fighting it, but you haven’t taken that step? Maybe you know you should give to support the ministry of the church, but you haven’t taken steps to make that happen? Maybe you know you need to seek reconciliation with someone who’s hurt you, but you’re putting it off hoping the hurt feelings just go away? Maybe there’s one of your children who’s struggling and needs more of your time and presence? Maybe your spouse needs more attention? Maybe a neighbor or friend at work needs the gospel, or needs a hand with a project?
Even if we’re already following Jesus, there are many ways we need to be responding to God’s word. One of the things following Jesus means is committing to a life-long process of conforming our lives to God’s word. Jesus’ message demands a response, initially and perpetually. How is God calling you to respond to him?
Responding to Jesus with continual faith and repentance is the result of seeing him for who he is, as the “Something Greater” that he is. It happens when we see him for the “sign” that he is.
When we see the Sign, Jesus Christ, for who he is and understand that he died for our sins and rose to give us new life, no one has to drag us into responding to him with faith and repentance, we don’t demand more evidence like Antony Flew.
When we see the beauty of his light, we’re drawn into the place we were made for, the place where we belong. So, “Where do you belong?” In the light of Jesus’ love and truth. Are you there? Have you seen the Sign?
[1]Quoted in Philip Graham Ryken, Luke, Volume 1: Luke 1-12, Reformed Expository Commentary (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2009), 607.
[2]Quoted in ibid., 609.
[3]David Gooding, quoted in ibid., 610.
[4]Quoted in ibid., 612.
[5]Darrell L. Bock, Luke, Volume 2: 9:51-24:53, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 1996), 1098.
[6]Ryken, 615.
[7]Bock, 1100.