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True Sign
245
Then with His disciples, Jesus crossed the lake to Magdala. In
the border country of Tyre and Sidon, the remarkable trust of the
Phoenician woman had refreshed His spirit. The heathen people of
Decapolis had received Him gladly. Now as He landed once more
in Galilee, where He had performed most of His deeds of mercy, He
was met with unbelieving contempt.
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The Aristocracy of the Nation Challenge Christ
The two sects—Pharisees and Sadducees—had been bitter en-
emies, but now they united against Christ, asking for a sign from
heaven. When Israel went out to battle with the Canaanites at Beth
Horon, the sun had stood still at Joshua’s command. The leaders de-
manded some such sign from Jesus. But no mere external evidence
could benefit them.
“Hypocrites!” said Jesus. “You know how to discern the face
of the sky”—by studying the sky they could foretell the weather—
“but you cannot discern the signs of the times.” Christ’s own words,
spoken with the power of the Holy Spirit, were the sign God had
given. The song of the angels to the shepherds, the star that guided
the wise men, the Voice from heaven at His baptism, were witnesses
for Him.
“But He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, ‘Why does this
generation seek a sign?’” “No sign shall be given to it except the
sign of the prophet Jonah.” 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 how these two groups had received the word!
The people of the great heathen city humbled themselves. The high
and lowly together cried to the God of heaven, and He granted them
His mercy. “The men of Nineveh will rise in judgment with this
generation,” Christ had said, “and condemn it, because they repented
at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.”
Matthew 12:41
.
Every miracle Christ performed was a sign of His divinity, but to
the Pharisees, these works of mercy were a great offense. The Jewish
leaders looked with heartless indifference on human suffering. In
many cases, their oppression had caused the suffering that Christ
relieved. So His miracles were a rebuke to them.