But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.”
Matthew 12:39
Those who rejected Jesus’ teaching and His miracles dared to ask Him for a “sign”. They wanted something else than what was right in front of them. They wanted a miracle on demand. They wanted to control the experiment before they would believe. And Jesus would not have it.
This same group had in their statements before this request for a sign implied that Jesus cast out demons by Satan’s authority, not God’s. They damned themselves with blasphemy against God’s Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:22-32). So basically they were pre-disposed to interprt any “sign” the same way. This was a biased test Jesus would never pass because of their unbelief.
The only sign needed is the gospel… prefigured as Jesus taught in the story of Jonah who was “buried” in a fish for three days. Jesus would be crucified by this same band of deniers, buried in a tomb for 3 days, and rise triumphant over sin and death. It’s all the sign any of us should ever need and we dare not every ask for another… no matter how personal… no matter our experience… no matter our pain. The gospel proves God is for us. There is no need for a sign from God! It’s already here in Jesus.
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