URC Daily Devotion 8 January 2026

St Matthew 12: 38 – 45

Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.”
He answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.  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.  The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here.  The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now something greater than Solomon is here. “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it.  Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.”

Reflection

I recall reading a comment that one of the more mystical sounding aspects of British life was the recitation of the football results on television and radio on a Saturday teatime.  Alongside some fairly straightforward names of clubs are some more exotic sounding others: Oldland Abbotonians, Hereford Pegasus, Whitehawk, Heart of Midlothian, Queen of the South.  Today’s passage has a similar effect on my brain.  Jesus is talking in some sort of code, referring here to a rather mysterious sounding, ‘Queen of the South’ – here is a reference to the Queen of Sheba who is recorded as visiting King Solomon in 1 Kings.  (The football club based in Dumfries got its moniker as a result of a 19th century election campaign.)

Pharisees and others wanted to see a sign from Jesus.  The Church tends to be somewhat dismissive of these requests made of Jesus reading them as a critique from those asking.  The Gospels, though, are full of signs:  miracles, Jesus teaching people with simple, yet soul piercing, stories.  Signs are something that the human mind likes as many of us prefer a bit of evidence with our beliefs.  The tricky thing though is that we are all subject to confirmation bias where we are more likely to seek and accept evidence that supports what we think already.  Perhaps this was Jesus’ issue with those asking for a sign.  They weren’t engaging with open hearts and minds but with a particular agenda that they wanted or needed to confirm.  

Jesus is scathing here.  The Queen of the South will rise at the judgement and condemn the generation too.  She knew wisdom when she encountered it and Jesus is saying that he had not noticed much of that in his time.   We ponder our own need to look for signs.  Signs of God’s presence among us.  Signs of a world getting better or worse.  Signs that God’s kingdom is indeed breaking in among us.  

Prayer

Holy One, 
like many before us 
we notice our own need for signs.  
Give us the gift of discernment
that we may see where your 
Holy Spirit is moving 
in our midst
and in ourselves.  
In Jesus’ name.  Amen.