(29) And when the people were gathered thick together, he began to say, This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet. (30) For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation. (31) The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgement with the men of this generation, and condemn them: for she came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon: and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here. (32) The men of Nineve shall rise up in the judgement with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas: and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here. (33) No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light (34) The light of the body is the eye; therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness, (35) Take heed therefore, that the light which is in thee be not darkness. (36) If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light.
Our Lord's discourse in this place, illustrated as it is by those beautiful histories of the Queen of the South, and the Men of Nineveh, deserves our awakened attention. Jesus plainly shows that his Gospel, in his own open and free preaching of it, became a candle placed most conveniently for giving light, and not obscurely hid. But such was the prejudice of darkened nature, that the very light arising out of it, like the vicious humours of the body, only tended to render it indistinct. Both the Queen of the South, and the Men of Nineveh, must alike arise to condemn the generation before whom Christ preached. For the former came from a vast distance to hear the mere wisdom of a man; but they passed by in their own streets with contempt, and staid not to hear the wisdom of the Son of God. And the latter fell down in sorrow and sackcloth, at the preaching of Jonas, from a single sermon; whereas, the repeated discourses of Jesus were utterly disregarded by them, and despised.