Signs

“The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a sign from heaven. He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowering. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times? A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed,” Matthew 16:1-4, KJV.

We must be mindful of the motives behind the Pharisees and Sadducees as they approached Jesus. Notice the word tempting; this is a tactic of the enemy as their motives were not pure. They sought to trap Him by disproving Jesus’ ability. It wasn’t because they hadn’t already seen or heard of the miracles he had performed. “And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them. And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan,” Matthew 4:23-25, KJV. By this time, Jesus had already been traveling throughout the country so they were well aware of the previous miracles he had performed in addition to John the Baptist speaking on the Savior’s behalf.

It’s amazing how the appearance of the sky is so predictable of the weather, yet the signs of the times lack understanding. “But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart,” 2 Corinthians 3:14-15, KJV. Some people don’t receive because of the hardness of their hearts, and some may never receive as they are drawn away by their own lusts.

As Christians, we are to be Christ-like. We are to seek after Him and not after signs, for in His word He says, “A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas.” Jesus does not say this to be mean; he says this out of honesty for we have all of the signs that we need. We have His word and His life’s story. So, we should not seek after additional signs as the sign have already been given to us. We are not to argue with non-believers, we are to share the Gospel. It is not our job to force them into receiving the Word, for God has given us free will to choose. Notice what Jesus did when He had finished speaking to the Pharisees and Sadducees, “And he left them, and departed.”