The Demand for a Sign - Matthew 16
The Demand for a Sign
16 The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven.
2 He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ 3 and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. 4 A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Jesus then left them and went away.
Reflection: As we begin chapter 16, there are no more miracles in this chapter, but it begins with the Pharisees testing Jesus by demanding a sign from heaven. What is curious about this is that Jesus has already done plenty of signs, and yet the Pharisees and Sadducees have rejected all of them. After all, feeding thousands on a few fish and loaves would be pretty convincing. Or, giving sight to the blind and healing the lame might be pretty good evidence. But the Pharisees could not see past their rule books. And the Sadducees could not see past their worldview that didn't have any room for the supernatural. Sort of like the modern era in the church where supposedly smart people tried to explain away everything that couldn't be proved.
The fact of the matter is no matter what Jesus did, there was only a small chance it would lead to belief. There are certain people who will come in with a mindset of unbelief and unless there is a movement of the Spirit, there is unlikely to be spiritual re-birth. As we will soon discover even Jesus rising from the dead, the sign he refers to as the sign of Jonah (for Jonah was three days in the belly of the whale a foreshadowing of the resurrection), would not lead them to belief. The problem with the "we are looking for a sign mentality" is that it not based on faith but sight. And the bible teaches us that without faith it is impossible to please God. Why is faith so important? Because faith is about trust, and God wants us to trust Him. Jesus has come into the world as a sign of God's great love but it is faith that trusts in the promises of God as revealed by Jesus' life, death and resurrection.
So bringing it forward, where are you tempted to demand a sign? Where do you have the mindset, "Unless you show me a sign God I will not believe!"? As the Pharisees tested Jesus, our adversary is always testing us saying to us, "Do you really believe in Jesus, what has He done for you lately?" As our faith matures we should be less dependent on signs and more reliant on the chief sign we will celebrate this Holy Week when we cry, "Christ is Risen!" Then as we live by faith in the Risen One, our lives will become a sign to those who don't believe of Jesus' resurrection power!
Jesus this week we remember your death, what you did on the cross for us. We contemplate what it meant for you as the Son of God to do for us what we could not do for ourselves. And then we rejoice in your victory over death when you rose from the dead. A sign for those of us who believe that death is not the end of the story, only the beginning. Amen.
16 The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven.
2 He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ 3 and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. 4 A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Jesus then left them and went away.
Reflection: As we begin chapter 16, there are no more miracles in this chapter, but it begins with the Pharisees testing Jesus by demanding a sign from heaven. What is curious about this is that Jesus has already done plenty of signs, and yet the Pharisees and Sadducees have rejected all of them. After all, feeding thousands on a few fish and loaves would be pretty convincing. Or, giving sight to the blind and healing the lame might be pretty good evidence. But the Pharisees could not see past their rule books. And the Sadducees could not see past their worldview that didn't have any room for the supernatural. Sort of like the modern era in the church where supposedly smart people tried to explain away everything that couldn't be proved.
The fact of the matter is no matter what Jesus did, there was only a small chance it would lead to belief. There are certain people who will come in with a mindset of unbelief and unless there is a movement of the Spirit, there is unlikely to be spiritual re-birth. As we will soon discover even Jesus rising from the dead, the sign he refers to as the sign of Jonah (for Jonah was three days in the belly of the whale a foreshadowing of the resurrection), would not lead them to belief. The problem with the "we are looking for a sign mentality" is that it not based on faith but sight. And the bible teaches us that without faith it is impossible to please God. Why is faith so important? Because faith is about trust, and God wants us to trust Him. Jesus has come into the world as a sign of God's great love but it is faith that trusts in the promises of God as revealed by Jesus' life, death and resurrection.
So bringing it forward, where are you tempted to demand a sign? Where do you have the mindset, "Unless you show me a sign God I will not believe!"? As the Pharisees tested Jesus, our adversary is always testing us saying to us, "Do you really believe in Jesus, what has He done for you lately?" As our faith matures we should be less dependent on signs and more reliant on the chief sign we will celebrate this Holy Week when we cry, "Christ is Risen!" Then as we live by faith in the Risen One, our lives will become a sign to those who don't believe of Jesus' resurrection power!
Jesus this week we remember your death, what you did on the cross for us. We contemplate what it meant for you as the Son of God to do for us what we could not do for ourselves. And then we rejoice in your victory over death when you rose from the dead. A sign for those of us who believe that death is not the end of the story, only the beginning. Amen.
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