The Sign of Jonah

³⁸ Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.”^(A)

³⁹ But He answered them,^(B) “An evil and adulterous generation demands a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.^(C)

The Yeast of the Pharisees and Herod

¹¹ The^(A) Pharisees^(B) came out and began to argue with Him, demanding of Him a sign^(C) from heaven^(D) to test^(E) Him. ¹² But sighing deeply in His spirit,^(F) He said, “Why does this generation^(G) demand a sign? I assure you:^(H) No sign will be given to this generation!” ¹³ Then He left them, got on board the boat again, and went to the other side.

¹⁴ They had forgotten to take bread and had only one loaf with them in the boat. ¹⁵ Then^(I) He commanded them: “Watch out! Beware of the yeast^(J) of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.”^(K)

¹⁶ They were discussing among themselves that they did not have any bread. ¹⁷ Aware of this, He said to them, “Why are you discussing that you do not have any bread? Don’t you understand or comprehend? Is your heart hardened?^{(L) 18} Do you have eyes, and not see, and do you have ears, and not hear?^(M)[a] And do you not remember?^{(N) 19} When I broke the five loaves for the 5,000, how many baskets full of pieces of bread did you collect?”

“Twelve,” they told Him.

²⁰ “When I broke the seven loaves for the 4,000, how many large baskets full of pieces of bread did you collect?”

“Seven,” they said.

²¹ And He said to them, “Don’t you understand yet?”^(O)

Interpreting the Time

⁵⁴ He also said to the crowds:^(A) “When you see a cloud rising in the west, right away you say, ‘A storm is coming,’ and so it does.^{(B) 55} And when the south wind is blowing, you say, ‘It’s going to be a scorcher!’ and it is. ⁵⁶ Hypocrites!^(C) You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why don’t you know how to interpret this time?^(D)