It is often said that to someone who refuses to believe, no sign or proof is enough, but to someone who believes, no sign or proof is necessary. Jesus’ exasperation with the Jewish authorities demanding signs is not so much that they are asking for signs in the first place. Naturally, Jesus would have understood their desire for signs. For throughout their whole history, God has been showing them signs of his liberating or salvific love for them. What Jesus makes issue of is that no matter how many signs he has already performed in their midst, they continue to demand for signs. They refuse to look at or marvel at the signs Jesus has already performed. So what would another sign do, Jesus would have asked in his mind. And why is the sign of Jonah singled out as the sign? Because it alludes to the identity of Jesus and what he would undergo; namely, that just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale for three days (then spewed out), so also will Jesus remain in the womb of the earth for three days and rise again. Ultimately, the problem lies in the hardness of their hearts to accept and believe that Jesus is the Messiah promised by God to them. And so, they fail to see not just the many signs performed by Jesus before their eyes but also the very SIGN himself.

Some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” He said to them in reply, “An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. At the judgment, the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and there is something greater than Jonah here. At the judgment the queen of the south will arise with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and there is something greater than Solomon here.”