Seeking a Sign From God?

Thinking Through Easter

by Clarke Dixon

One day some teachers of religious law and Pharisees came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, we want you to show us a miraculous sign to prove your authority.”

Matthew 12:38 (NLT)

Do you ever wish God would give you a sign? Many of us would love a sign. “God, if you exist, and if you love me, make it plain!”

But what kind of a sign are we looking for?

Any sign God might give, we could explain away. If we saw clouds form into letters saying “I am God, and I love you,” we would of course think that we were going crazy. No sign could be trusted.

If we do not want to believe in God, we will tend to find reasons not to believe. No sign will be good enough. If we do want to believe, we will tend to see reasons to believe everywhere. Every little coincidence might become a sign to us that God cares for us.

Religious leaders came to Jesus looking for a sign which is quite remarkable since Jesus had been doing signs and wonders all along. However, Jesus was also doing and saying things that did not fit the religious status quo:

So the Jewish leaders began harassing Jesus for breaking the Sabbath rules. But Jesus replied, “My Father is always working, and so am I.” So the Jewish leaders tried all the harder to find a way to kill him. For he not only broke the Sabbath, he called God his Father, thereby making himself equal with God.

John 5:16-18 (NLT)

Given the kinds of things Jesus was saying and doing, the religious leaders wanted some hard evidence that Jesus was from God. All the signs so far could be explained away: “But the Pharisees said, “He can cast out demons because he is empowered by the prince of demons”” Matthew 9:34 (NLT). No sign would be enough for them as hard evidence.

Jesus went on to speak about a sign that would be given to them:

But Jesus replied, “Only an evil, adulterous generation would demand a miraculous sign; but the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.

Matthew 12:39-40 (NLT)

Jonah, who should have been dead, lived. He was alive to fulfill his calling and identity as a prophet. Jesus, who should have been dead, would be alive. He would be alive to fulfill his calling and identity as someone greater than a prophet. Of all the signs Jesus gave, the resurrection was the one that confirmed, not just that he was a good teacher, a wise person, a wonder worker, but really from God, the king, and in fact, King of kings and Lord of lords.

There is something very important we should notice about Jonah. God rescued Jonah so God could rescue the enemy. That is the reason Jonah fled in a ship in the opposite direction in the first place. Nineveh was the capital of Assyria. The Assyrians were the enemies of God’s people. Jonah didn’t like the idea that God would show the enemy any kind of kindness:

When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways, he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened.
This change of plans greatly upset Jonah, and he became very angry. So he complained to the LORD about it: “Didn’t I say before I left home that you would do this, LORD? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people.

Jonah 3:10 – 4:2 (NLT)

Jonah was a sign that God loves the enemy.

Likewise, the death and resurrection of Jesus is a sign that God loves the enemy. In fact from all the conceptions of God that are available to us, from beyond, and within, Christianity, the resurrection of Jesus is a sign that the God that is, is the God that loves.

God gives the opportunity of being reconciled, even to enemies. That was the sign of Jonah. God would rather be crucified by the enemy than crucify the enemy. That was the sign of Jesus.

This is good news. If we ever find ourselves being an enemy to God, there is opportunity:

When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.

Romans 5:6-11 (NLT)

This is also challenging news. If Jesus is risen, then the God that is, is the kind of God that loves anyone we might consider our enemy. We are challenged to think of God’s love for our enemies but we are also challenged to love our enemies:

You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.

Matthew 5:43-48 (NLT)

Are we going to be like Jonah and run from that challenge? Or are we going to be like Jesus and pick up our cross and follow?

Are you looking for a sign that God exists and loves you? You are not likely to get one, at least not one that you can’t explain away. But there was a sign given in history, the death and resurrection of Jesus. There are good reasons to treat it seriously as history, to give it some serious thought. There is a sign given by God, that God is, and that God is for you and not against you. Even if you are God’s enemy.

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Clarke Dixon is a pastor in the Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec denomination. Previous sermon summaries can all be found at Thinking Through Scripture.