Here's Your Sign

You’d have thought they would have wanted to hail Him as their King. You’d have thought they would have humbly bowed before Him in reverence and worship. You’d have thought they would have submitted joyfully in service and obedience to His lordship.

Instead they hardened their hearts against Him in unbelief. They hated Him without cause. They despised and rejected Him. And God’s set purpose was accomplished.

Who are “they?” The religious leaders of Jesus’ day. The Pharisees, the priests, the scribes and the Sadducees. Above all, they are the ones who should have recognized Him as their promised Messiah. More than anyone, they should have acknowledged that He was the One who was fulfilling the prophecies right in front of their eyes. Of all people, they should have known that Jesus was the One they had been waiting for.

The signs were obvious. All they had to do was look around and see the lame walking, the mute speaking, the deaf hearing and the blind seeing. All they had to do was look around and see the sick being healed, the diseased well, the lepers cleansed, and the demon-possessed in their right minds.

If they wanted a sign all they had to do was look to Bethlehem where Jesus was born, fulfilling Micah’s prophecy (Micah 5:2). Isn’t it something that the Magi from the east traveled so far when they saw His star, and you remember the story. Where did they first arrive? It wasn’t Bethlehem. It was Jerusalem. They came to the “city of the great King” looking for the One who was born King of the Jews.

They found out that the Christ was to be born in Bethlehem in Judea, according to the words of the prophet. Who did they find this out from? The chief priests and teachers of the law – those who knew the Scriptures, those who were considered the religious leaders among the people. They knew where the Messiah was to be born. But who among them went to Bethlehem to worship their newborn King? No one! You’d have thought the whole city would have rejoiced.

The Magi continued on their way, however, alone. They sure didn’t miss the sign. And as they went the star appeared over the place where Jesus was, and they were the ones who rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. They were the ones who bowed down to worship Him. They were the ones who opened their treasures and gave Him gifts of gold, incense and myrrh.

The signs were obvious, but the rulers of Israel were oblivious. And on at least two occasions in the gospels these leaders approach Jesus demanding that He perform some kind of sign to prove that He was the Messiah. But their motives were all wrong. They were not about to recognize Him as their King even if Jesus would have made the stars begin dancing in the sky nor if He would have written “I AM” in the clouds.

Like Pharaoh, their hearts were hardened in unbelief, and even if He would have brought someone back from the dead, still they would not have believed. If they refused to listen to Moses and the prophets, then no sign would convince them either.

So Jesus called them out and said, “A wicked and adulterous generation seeks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here” (Mt. 12:39-41).

Friend, are you waiting for a sign from heaven before you’ll believe in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord? Here’s the sign for all time for you: the empty tomb. Just like Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the fish and then was rescued by God and became the sign to Nineveh that his message was from God, so did Jesus spend three days and three nights in death’s chambers before rising from the grave as the sign of God’s salvation to this generation. God’s set purpose was accomplished in it all, and that means that now is the time to “repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).