Christian, Do You Demand A Sign?

I am going through the gospel of Matthew and this morning this passage in chapter 12 caused me to ask this question- do I demand a sign from Christ before I will truly believe His word. Read the following account-

The Sign of Jonah

12:38 Then some of the experts in the law ⁵⁵ along with some Pharisees ⁵⁶ answered him, ⁵⁷ “Teacher, we want to see a sign ⁵⁸ from you.” 12:39 But he answered them, ⁵⁹ “An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 12:40 For just as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish ⁶⁰ for three days and three nights, ⁶¹ so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. 12:41 The people ⁶² of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented when Jonah preached to them ⁶³ – and now, ⁶⁴ something greater than Jonah is here! 12:42 The queen of the South ⁶⁵ will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon – and now, ⁶⁶ something greater than Solomon is here!

I don’t think it a big stretch to say Jesus was not too cool on the idea of having to perform a sign just for people’s satisfaction or to prove His deity. Think about this for just a moment would you- do you pray demanding that God answers your prayer a certain way? do you expect God to meet your criterion in a particular circumstance before you will believe that He is who He says He is? I think we do it all the time. I would say we are Gideons all of the time with certain “fleeces” for God to meet. Why is it when things turn out the way we want them, God answered prayer and we all live happily ever after? Why is denial of a request an unanswered prayer? Why do want God to meet our standards and instead of us meeting His?

Jesus used Jonah and Solomon. Both great men, but both fallible if you ever take the time to read their biographies in scripture. Jesus said He is greater than both these men and that He is! Christians testify all the time He is the Lord of Lords and yet in the little things of life and the biggies, we tend to fall into little mojo, hocus pocus, meet the desired test of authencity to feel yeah, we win, yeah God is great and yeah we know God is true because He met our totem requirement.

Friend, this passage has opened my own eyes to the practical atheism in my own life and prayer. It revealed to me the great sin of pragmatism that still exists within my heart. Jesus, by His Spirit, unveiled the hypocrisy that can so easily creep in when it comes to “living by faith”. As a Christian, I need only one “sign” -the empty tomb. Christ is alive, He sits at the right hand of the Father. He is who He said He was and in that my soul must rest. In His promise to work all things for my good must reign supreme no matter how my prayers are answered and how my life turns out. In Christ I have someone greater than myself, greater than my enemies and greater than all the riches in the world. This is the only sign I need, how about you?