Seeking a Sign

“And He sighed deeply in His Spirit, and saith, Why doth this generation seek after a sign?  Verily I say unto you, There shall no sign be given unto this generation”.  Mark 8:12

Jesus had emotions just like any human, and He displayed His emotions, yet with meekness and self-control.  In the passage from which the above verse was taken, Jesus had just miraculously fed 4,000 people with a few loaves of bread and a few fish.  After everyone finished eating, there were seven baskets full of food left over, a bona fide miracle if there ever was one!  I doubt that the Pharisees and other religious leaders were among the folks feasting on this lunch provided by Jesus, but they were either standing nearby watching or if not watching they surely heard about this miracle.  Even so, they asked Him to show them a sign that He was truly from God.  No wonder Jesus called them “blind guides” (Matthew 23:16,17,24,26).

Since Jesus felt human emotions, He must have been completely exasperated at those to whom the evidence of His identity had been shown time after time, yet it was never enough to satisfy them because they didn’t want to believe Him.  In addition to Jesus’ deep sigh, I can picture in my minds’ eye Jesus dropping His head down, letting out this big sigh, and then shaking His head from side to side like we do when we become irritated at another’s failure to “get” what is clearly obvious.  In the eyes of the Pharisees, scribes, elders, and Sadducees, Jesus was a huge threat to their power and positions as Israel’s religious leaders.  They wanted to maintain control over the masses of folks whose work and donations kept them living “high on the hog”.  Well, not really hogs for they wouldn’t touch them with a ten-foot pole or even touch the ten-foot pole.  I am assuming that they were meticulous about observing God’s command not to eat pork, but they were not perfect examples of following God’s law completely.  They put heavy burdens upon the people, but not upon themselves (Matthew 23:4).  Besides calling them “blind guides”, Jesus also called them hypocrites (Matthew 23:1).

Before we get exasperated at these leaders who gave Jesus such a hard time as He traveled about healing the sick and speaking the words of His Father to those who would listen, we need to examine our own needs for seeking a sign from heaven which proves Jesus as God’s Son.  Some folks get all excited when they see an image of what folks think Jesus looks like in a pizza or a tree trunk or some other inanimate object.  Authorities for years have tried to prove the Shroud of Turin is the authentic linen cloth in which Jesus was wrapped for burial because there is an image imprinted on the cloth.  We know from scripture (John 20:6-7) that Jesus’ head was wrapped in a separate cloth (napkin), thus if the shroud is only one piece, then it is a fake.  There have been claims that Noah’s ark has been found.  These would be exciting discoveries if it could be proven that they were real.  However, we don’t need these images and artifacts to prove that Jesus was and is a real person, who is also God, and who walked the earth some 2,000 years ago, was crucified on the cross, rose again, and returned to heaven awaiting the time when His Father will send Him back to rid the world of evil and to rule in righteousness.

If we truly know Him in our heart, the Holy Spirit gives us all the evidence and assurance that Jesus was and is exactly who He said He was, the Son of God, who takes away the sin of the world.  When we truly know something, no one has to try to convince us by external evidence.  After all, our hope in Christ is based on faith in Him and His work on the cross which paid the penalty for our sin.  We don’t need to see with our eyes what we know is in our heart.  The Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God (Romans 8:16).  If the gospel of Christ as witnessed by the power of God’s Holy Spirit cannot convince one of the truth, then nothing can.