Matthew 12:38,39 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

Then certain of the Scribes, &c.— Though our Saviour's reasoning was clear and unanswerable, yet some of the Scribes and Pharisees, desirous to divert the discourse to another topic, and fully demonstrating the hardness of their hearts, required a sign from heaven; as much as to say, "Master, thou professest thyself a teacher of extraordinary authority, and we may justly expect some proportionable proof of it: Now these supposed dispossessions which we have lately seen or heard of, are so liable to fraud and collusion, that we cannot fully acquiesce in them, but would gladly see a more remarkable and convincing sign from thee; and particularly some such celestial appearance as several of our ancient prophets gave." The words of St. Luke 11:16 expressly fix it to this sense: and St. Matthew, in another relation of this kind, ch. Matthew 16:1 tells us they demanded a sign from heaven; (See Mark 8:11 the note on ch. Matthew 4:6 and John 6:30.) and they might probably conclude, that they had the better excuse for making such a proposal, as Moses, Joshua, Samuel, and Elijah had given such signs. Jesus told them, that their requiring a sign after so many miracles were wrought to convince them, shewed them to be a wicked and adulterous generation, a spurious breed which had degenerated from the faith and piety of their great progenitor Abraham; for which reason they should have no other, but such as they were every day beholding in his miraculous works, the sign of the prophet Jonah excepted. He meant hereby the miracle of his own resurrection from the dead, typified by the deliverance of Jonah from the fish's belly, and to which he often appealed, as the great evidence of his mission from God. We may just observe, that as the resurrection of Christ was attended with the appearance of a descending angel, it was, with greater exactness than is generally observed, the very thing which these Pharisees demanded; a sign from heaven. Some have objected to our Saviour, as being unwilling to give all the evidence of his mission which he might have given, on account of his refusing a sign when it was demanded. But to this it may be replied, that as the persons who made this demand were actuated byno laudable motives, but by perverseness and prejudice, which had already made them withstand the clearest evidence, and the greatest miracles, and which it was in vain to expect to conquer by working more miracles; it was therefore as reasonable to refuse to work more, as it is not to persist in reasoning with a man, who shews that he reasons only for the sake of contention, without any concern to discover truth. But when we recollect what was the sign which they desired, the objection is even absurd. It was a sign which they were led to expect only by their false notions of a temporal Messiah; it was absolutely inconsistent with the truth of the Messiah's character: to have given it, would have been to become just such a deliverer as the Jews expected; it was therefore impossible that it could be given: instead of giving it, it was proper to affirm expressly, as Jesus did affirm, that it never would be given, and that it did not belong to the Messiah, justly conceived. Whenever a sign was asked, he appealed for the certainty of his mission to his own resurrection from the dead. So far was he from refuting any rational evidence of his mission, that even their perverseness hindered him not from voluntarily pointing out the strongest. His resurrection was in itself the most stupendous miracle, and its force was increased by its being in this manner appealed to; for it thus became the accomplishment of the prophesies uttered by him. But there is a farther propriety in his foretelling it, when they required a sign: it was a plain insinuation that their opinion of the manner of the Messiah's appearance was wrong; that he was not such a prince as they expected; for by it he informed them expressly, that he must be put to death, or at least die, before he entered on his kingdom. His answer was therefore fit for leading them to a juster interpretation of Daniel's prophesy (ch. Matthew 7:13-14.), and for preventing their rejection of the Messiah, because he wanted a character which was never predicted of him. See Dr. Gerard's Dissertations on subjects relating to the Genius and Evidences of Christianity, p. 186, &c.