"Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here. The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here."
In this lesson, after being asked to give a sign that would cause the scribes and Pharisees to believe in Him, Jesus drew a parallel between the three day adventure of Jonah in the belly of a fish, with the three day ordeal of His own upcoming death, burial, and resurrection. He explained how the people of Nineveh had repented because of the message Jonah brough, and how, even though He was so much greater that Jonah, His own people, the Jews, would not repent at His coming.
Jesus used the example of the relationship between "the queen of the south" and Solomon, to explain how the Gentiles would eagerly accept Him and build upon His Church.
The unwillingness of the Jewish nation to accept Jesus Christ as the Messiah, cost them their "chosen people" status with God.
In Matthew 3:7-10, John the Baptist gave the example of how the "trees"(The Jews) would have the axe laid to their root because they "bringeth not forth good fruit". John also explained how being a Jew no longer mattered since God is able to raise up His children from stones. (The "children" raised up from those "stones" would later prove to be the Gentiles who took over the Church that Jesus established, the new "chosen people".)
"But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire." Matt. 3:7-10~
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