Luke 11:27-32

J.B. Phillips New Testament

Jesus brings sentimentality down to earth

²⁷ And while he was still saying this, a woman in the crowd called out and said, “Oh, what a blessing for a woman to have brought you into the world and nursed you!”

²⁸ But Jesus replied, “Yes, but a far greater blessing to hear the word of God and obey it.”

His scathing judgment in his contemporary generation

^29-32 Then as the people crowded closely around him, he continued, “This is an evil generation! It looks for a sign and it will be given no sign except that of Jonah. Just as Jonah was a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be a sign to this generation. When the judgment comes, the Queen of the South will rise up with the men of this generation and she will condemn them. For she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and there is more than the wisdom of Solomon with you now! The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and will condemn it. For they did repent when Jonah preached to them, and there is something more than Jonah’s preaching with you now!”