The sign of Jonah

“‘A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.’ Jesus then left them and went away.” Matthew 16:4
On a couple of occasions in the gospels, Jesus refers to the sign of the prophet Jonah as proof to the Pharisees that He is the Messiah (Matt. 12:39-40, Matt. 16:4, Luke 11:29-30). In particular, the ‘sign of Jonah’ refers to the three days and nights that Jesus would spend in the tomb before rising again. “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matt. 12:40).
It is kind of ironic that when Jesus did perform miraculous signs, the Pharisees did not believe He was the Messiah. Scripture had prophesied that He would heal the sick, make the blind see, cause the lame to walk, and so forth. There was one miracle that the rabbis taught only Messiah could do: casting out a demon that was mute. The reason for this was that the Jewish method of exorcism began with asking the demon its name. But if the person possessed by the demon was unable to speak, then the demon could not be cast out. Yet when Jesus did cast out a mute demon, the Pharisees criticised Him, saying that He must be casting out demons by the power of Satan (Matt. 12:22-24). And then they have the nerve to ask Him for a miraculous sign!
Sadly, there are people today seeking the same thing. They want to see miraculous healings, and millions of dollars miraculously appear in their bank accounts. ‘If God does this for me, then I’ll believe in Him,’ they say. But even if they see those things, they’ll still find a reason not to believe. The sign that Jesus is the Messiah is still the same for us today as it was for the people back then: Jesus died, and three days later rose again. We don’t need any more proof than that.