November 22

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…A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.’ Jesus then left them and went away. Matthew 16:4, NIV

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🔊 Paul said that ‘the Jews’ sought miraculous signs – 1 Corinthians 1:22. This can be taken to include not only Jews, but a certain kind of person. There are some who are naturally drawn to signs, while others, like the Greeks, are drawn to arguments. The astonishing thing about signs and arguments is that there is an abundance of both. When the Jews asked Jesus to give them a sign, He had just fed the five thousand! I personally know three trustworthy, rational individuals who have seen angels; I know of two who have heard them singing. I know many ordinary people who have been healed of incurable diseases by an act of God. The strange thing is that no amount of miraculous signs or arguments will ever be enough to make people trust God. Faith in God is a response to His Word and, above all, to the message of the death and resurrection of Jesus. There is something about God’s own act of love and mercy in dying for the human race, that creates faith in a way nothing else can. Signs and arguments may impress for a moment, but they cannot replace faith. In the end, we must simply believe. If we examine things carefully, we will discover that we have enough evidence to make faith reasonable. But it is still a moral choice that we must make. We must cease the unbelieving demand for signs and ‘proof’, and simply put our trust in Him.