Decide Who I Am
- Deacon Dan DeLuca
- Oct 11, 2022
- 5 min read
Decide who I am! That is in essence what Jesus is telling the crowd in our Gospel reading: decide who I am. He has presented sufficient evidence for his identity yet the crowds ask for one more sign. Give us one more piece of evidence Lord, then we will repent and believe. We do the same thing. Give me one more sign Lord and then I will put aside my sinful behavior. That is a stall tactic and in the Gospel reading below, Jesus calls us out on that. Let’s listen to his response to the crowd.
The Sign of Jonah
When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, “This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah became a sign to the men of Nineveh, so will the Son of man be to this generation. The queen of the South will arise at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineveh will arise 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. Luke 11 : 29-32
Scriptural Analysis
Recall that earlier in chapter eleven of Luke’s Gospel, Jesus had driven out a demon. Instead of wonder and belief, some in the crowd raised two objections against Jesus: he drove out demons by the power of Satan and they demanded a sign. He has already addressed the first objection. In this passage we just read, Jesus is addressing the second objection.
Jesus tells us that seeking a sign is an indication that this generation is an evil generation. This phrase, “evil generation” likens this generation of Israelites to the evil generation that wandered in the wilderness: prohibited from entering the promised land, “And the Lord’s anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the Lord was consumed.” (Numbers 32:13) The rejection of Jesus earns this generation a warning: that they will be condemned for failing to hear the message of Jesus and repent. In other words, they will not enter the new promised land, heaven.
Jesus tells the crowd that the only sign they will get is the sign of Jonah. On one level, this is a foreshadows of his death and resurrection. Jonah was in the belly of the whale for three days before he was returned. Likewise, Jesus died and rose on the third day. However, given the proximity in the Gospel to the passage about hearing the word of God and keeping it, the reference here is likely a reference to Jonah’s preaching. In response to Jonah’s preaching, the Ninevites repented. Jesus is telling the crowd they need to do the same, that his preaching is enough for them to believe and repent.
There is also an emphasis on the Gentiles hearing the word as represented by the queen of the south (Sheba) who came to hear the wisdom of Solomon:
Now when the queen of Sheba[a] heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to test him with hard questions. She came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue, with camels bearing spices, and very much gold, and precious stones; and when she came to Solomon, she told him all that was on her mind. And Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing hidden from the king which he could not explain to her. And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, the food of his table, the seating of his officials, and the attendance of his servants, their clothing, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings which he offered at the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her. 1 King 10:1-5
With these comparisons between Jonah and Solomon we are reminded that Jesus is both Prophet and King.
Daily Application
Upon witnessing Jesus drive out the demon from the possessed man, the crowd demanded another sign from him. Jesus would have none of that. He tells the crowd to stop stalling, you have all of the evidence you need to decide who I am. Now is the time for you to make a decision. He draws two comparisons. The first comparison was to their ancestors who were freed from Egypt, freed after ten plagues befell the Egyptians, freed after seeing the Red Sea parted, freed after seeing Pharaoh’s army swallowed up by the sea, and yet they still strayed and worshiped a calf made out of gold. The second comparison was to the Ninevites . All they had was Jonah’s preaching. There was no parting of the Red Sea, there was no driving out of demons. There was only a prophet telling them to repent or face destruction. To that alone they responded and decided who God was.
We are not much different from the crowd. The Prophets still speak to us. Additionally, we have been blessed with the New Testament. We have a Church that, despite numerous attempts to drive it into the ground, has survived for over 2000 years. We have the Saints. Most all, we have the same Jesus Christ speaking to us today that spoke to the crowd 2000 years ago. We have all of the evidence we need to decide who Christ is and to listen to his message.
However, we delay. We keep that decision at arm’s length: kicking the can down the curb. We do that because one we acknowledge who we know Christ to be, we acknowledge who we are: sinners who are in need of a savior. That makes a claim on us. It makes a claim on our need to repent, our need to reexamine how we live our lives, a need for conversion. Ultimately it means we need to change and change can be difficult: downright painful at times. So we stall, we delay. We wait until the last possible moment to make a decision. Only, sometimes that moment never comes. Our life is demanded from us before we had a chance to decide. Our delay is costly.
It is time to decide who Jesus is, who he truly is. Once you have decided who Jesus is, allow that knowledge to transform your life. Knowing he is the Lord, should change your life. Pray for the Grace of God to open up your understanding of who Jesus is. Then listen to the voice of God saying to you, “Decide who I am.”
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