One greater than Solomon and Jonah

“The Queen of the South will rise at the judgement with the men of this generation and condemn them; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgement with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here.” Luke 11:31-32
Here we see Jesus giving two examples, to make a single point. The people were once again showing their unbelief by asking Him to show them a sign from heaven. Here was the Son of God, the Messiah, who the nation of Israel should have welcomed with open arms, yet they refuse to believe in Him. Jesus says that both of these examples – the Queen of Sheba, and the people of Nineveh (incidentally, both Gentiles!) would judge those people asking Him to show them a miraculous sign.
We read about the Queen of Sheba in 1 Kin. 10. She came to visit Solomon, to see if the glory of his kingdom and the extent of his wisdom was really as great as she had heard. The people in Jesus’ time had a much greater witness – here was the Son of God, the source of all wisdom and knowledge, and He had come right to them. They didn’t have to travel over land and sea to see Him.
The men of Nineveh responded in repentance to an eight-word message from the most reluctant prophet the world has ever seen: “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned” (Jon. 3:4). In contrast, Jesus willingly and patiently taught for 3 ½ years, expounding God’s truth.
These people had been given the greatest light of all, and they chose to reject it. Therefore their judgement would be more severe than those who had been shown less light than them. The same is true for us. Have you responded to the light that you have been shown?