| Geneva Study Bible But he answered and said unto them, An evil and {f} adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: (f) Bastard, who fell from Abraham's faith or forsook the true worship of God. People's New Testament 12:39 An evil and adulterous generation. We must keep in mind that the Lord is speaking to his enemies. He compares them to a faithless wife. They were faithless to God. See Mt 16:4. The sign of the prophet Jonah. See Mt 12:40. Wesley's Notes 12:39 An adulterous generation - Whose heart wanders from God, though they profess him to be their husband. Such adulterers are all those who love the world, and all who seek the friendship of it. Seeketh a sign - After all they have had already, which were abundantly sufficient to convince them, had not their hearts been estranged from God, and consequently averse to the truth. The sign of Jonah - Who was herein a type of Christ. Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary 39. But he answered and said unto them-"when the people were gathered thick together" (Lu 11:29). an evil and adulterous generation-This latter expression is best explained by Jer 3:20, "Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with Me, O house of Israel, saith the Lord." For this was the relationship in which He stood to the covenant-people-"I am married unto you" (Jer 3:14). seeketh after a sign-In the eye of Jesus this class were but the spokesmen of their generation, the exponents of the reigning spirit of unbelief. and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary 12:38-45 Though Christ is always ready to hear and answer holy desires and prayers, yet those who ask amiss, ask and have not. Signs were granted to those who desired them to confirm their faith, as Abraham and Gideon; but denied to those who demanded them to excuse their unbelief. The resurrection of Christ from the dead by his own power, called here the sign of the prophet Jonah, was the great proof of Christ's being the Messiah. As Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale, and then came out again alive, thus Christ would be so long in the grave, and then rise again. The Ninevites would shame the Jews for not repenting; the queen of Sheba, for not believing in Christ. And we have no such cares to hinder us, we come not to Christ upon such uncertainties. This parable represents the case of the Jewish church and nation. It is also applicable to all those who hear the word of God, and are in part reformed, but not truly converted. The unclean spirit leaves for a time, but when he returns, he finds Christ is not there to shut him out; the heart is swept by outward reformation, but garnished by preparation to comply with evil suggestions, and the man becomes a more decided enemy of the truth. Every heart is the residence of unclean spirits, except those which are temples of the Holy Ghost, by faith in Christ. | 
