344
The Desire of Ages
angels to the shepherds, the star that guided the wise men, the dove
and the voice from heaven at His baptism, were witnesses for Him.
“And He sighed deeply in His spirit, and saith, Why doth this
generation seek after a sign?” “There shall no sign be given unto it,
but the sign of the prophet Jonas.” As Jonah was three days and three
nights in the belly of the whale, Christ was to be the same time “in
the heart of the earth.” And as the preaching of Jonah was a sign to
the Ninevites, so Christ’s preaching was a sign to His generation. But
what a contrast in the reception of the word! The people of the great
heathen city trembled as they heard the warning from God. Kings and
nobles humbled themselves; the high and the lowly together cried to
the God of heaven, and His mercy was granted unto them. “The men
of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation,” Christ had
said, “and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of
Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.”
Matthew 12:40, 41
.
Every miracle that Christ performed was a sign of His divinity. He
was doing the very work that had been foretold of the Messiah; but
to the Pharisees these works of mercy were a positive offense. The
Jewish leaders looked with heartless indifference on human suffering.
In many cases their selfishness and oppression had caused the affliction
that Christ relieved. Thus His miracles were to them a reproach.
That which led the Jews to reject the Saviour’s work was the
highest evidence of His divine character. The greatest significance
of His miracles is seen in the fact that they were for the blessing of
humanity. The highest evidence that He came from God is that His life
[407]
revealed the character of God. He did the works and spoke the words
of God. Such a life is the greatest of all miracles.
When the message of truth is presented in our day, there are many
who, like the Jews, cry, Show us a sign. Work us a miracle. Christ
wrought no miracle at the demand of the Pharisees. He wrought
no miracle in the wilderness in answer to Satan’s insinuations. He
does not impart to us power to vindicate ourselves or to satisfy the
demands of unbelief and pride. But the gospel is not without a sign
of its divine origin. Is it not a miracle that we can break from the
bondage of Satan? Enmity against Satan is not natural to the human
heart; it is implanted by the grace of God. When one who has been
controlled by a stubborn, wayward will is set free, and yields himself
wholeheartedly to the drawing of God’s heavenly agencies, a miracle