Jesus talks about Jonah the prophet as a sign to his Jewish hearers. Jesus teaches valuable lessons about faith, obedience, and God’s mercy. Jonah was a prophet who traveled in a whale or a great fish to Nineveh with much faith. Jonah had great faith in God’s willingness and disposition to extend grace, show compassion, and give the gift of repentance. Jonah’s faith in God’s willingness to save, his faith in the fact that it was God and not Jonah’s preaching that ultimately would bring about the salvation of the Ninevites, was so great that Jonah refused to go do it. Jonah prays to God and is given a second chance to fulfill his mission. The city of Nineveh is now called Mosul in northern Iraq with a Jewish quarter, synagogues, study halls, and a cemetery. Jesus himself seems to clearly affirm Jonah as a historical figure. The point of the passage focuses on unbelief and belief, unbelief by these Jews, and belief by those Gentiles.
It reads in Luke 11:29-32 Easy English Bible> The crowd around Jesus was growing very large, so he began to speak to them. ‘The people that are alive today are very bad,’ he said. ‘They want God to show them something powerful. But God will not do this for them. They will only see the same powerful thing that God did for Jonah. Jonah showed God’s power to the people who lived in Nineveh. They knew that God had sent him. In the same way the Son of Man will show God’s power to the people that are living today. Then they will know that God has sent me. Also, the queen of Sheba travelled a long way to see King Solomon. She wanted to hear his wise words. When God judges everyone, she will stand up. She will speak against you who are alive today. She will show that you are bad people. She listened to King Solomon. But look! There is someone here now who is greater than Solomon was. When God judges everyone, the people who lived in Nineveh will be there. They will stand up and they will speak against you. They will show that the people who are alive today are bad. When Jonah spoke to the people in Nineveh long ago, they stopped doing bad things. But look! There is someone here now who is greater than Jonah was.’