A sign to the Ninevites (Sabong News)
Author
Manila Bulletin
Date
MARCH 09 2022
Seemingly, some people in the crowd are not satisfied with the mighty acts of Jesus and so, to test him, they ask for a more spectacular miracle. Jesus refuses their demand and refers only to the sign of Jonah. The “sign” could not be the miraculous saving of Jonah in the whale because the Ninevites did not know about it. What they heard from Jonah was the threat that Nineveh was to be destroyed. They acknowledged that they were indeed sinners, but they did not despair of God’s mercy, and so turned to repenting. And God did spare them. This is the message of the story of Jonah. Jesus also calls for repentance. Told of the tragedy that struck the Galilean pilgrims and the people killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them, he warns the people, “If you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!” (Lk 13:5).
Let us take advantage of this season of Lent to heed Jesus’ invitation towards conversion and penance. Like the Ninevites did to Jonah, we must also acknowledge and accept Jesus’ message of bountiful mercy for all those who consider themselves as sinners in need of his salvation and repent of their evil deeds. God does not spurn a humbled and contrite heart.
While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them, “This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah. Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. At the judgment the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation and she will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and there is something greater than Solomon here. At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because at the preaching of Jonah they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah here.”
