29 When the multitudes were gathering together to Jesus, he began to say, “This is an evil generation. It seeks after a sign. No sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah, the prophet. 30 For even as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will also the Son of Man be to this generation. 31 The Queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and will condemn them: for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, one greater than Solomon is here. 32 The men of Nineveh will stand up in the judgment with this generation, and will condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, one greater than Jonah is here.

33 “No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, that those who come in may see the light. 34 The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore when your eye is good, your whole body is also full of light; but when it is evil, your body also is full of darkness. 35 Therefore see whether the light that is in you isn’t darkness. 36 If therefore your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly full of light, as when the lamp with its bright shining gives you light.”

Luke 11:29.32 - World English Bible

In Luke 11, Jesus complained about the selfish contemporaries who sought a heavenly sign, an event to awe and dazzle them. He fleshed out his critique with two analogies: the preaching of Jonah and the light from a lamp. Like Jonah who spread God's word among the pagan Ninevites, Jesus evangelized among the people with a message of repentance. The call to metanoia was the sign but, unlike the people of Nineva, many in his audience failed to recognize it, much less heed it. As a result, the righteous Gentiles, the Queen of the south, those of the nations who came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, even the men of the Assyrian capital, all would stand to condemn Jews who failed to change their ways for the Kingdom. Notice the judgment did not come from the prophets or great men from Israel's past, but from outsiders. An insult, indeed.

Jesus employed the lamp as an analogy to what someone saw. The decision where to look revealed his inner character. Did that person look upon the good or the evil? If he looked upon righteousness, he would stand in the light, but if he gazed upon wickedness, he would hide in the dark. In the context of Jesus' complaint, he defined the good as conversion, the bad as shunning the message. The “sons of light” (a favorite phrase from the Dead Sea Scrolls) received the word of God with joy, while the “sons of darkness” rejected any call to repent.

How have you heard God's call today? How has his word changed you?