Daily Bread

Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, ‘Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.’ But he answered them, ‘An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was for three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so for three days and three nights the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth. The people of Nineveh will rise up at the judgement with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the proclamation of Jonah, and see, something greater than Jonah is here! The queen of the South will rise up at the judgement with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and see, something greater than Solomon is here!

Oh my goodness there's a lot to unpack in today's Bible passage from Matthew!

Okay... so first off, the scribes and Pharisees were demanding a sign from God. They were, in effect, telling God what to do, and implying that everything that Jesus had provided thus far was insufficient.

Jesus replied by comparing the greatness of his life, and forthcoming death, and resurrection with two 'inferior' stories from the Old Testament — two stories where people also questioned or interrogated the authority and mercy of God — those of Jonah and the Queen of Sheba visiting Solomon.

The whole 'sign of Jonah' thing was that Jonah was miraculously delivered, and Jesus was pointing to the fact that he would also be miraculously delivered. This would be the 'mother' of all signs! In the story of Jonah, the city of Nineveh repented and was saved and all those who bore witness to this 'minor' event would have masses to say about Jesus and this 'major' event! Similarly, the visit of the Queen of Sheba to Solomon was a great event, one in which she went away satisfied and convinced about God, and it's definitely worth having a read of 1 Kings 10:1–13.

For me, I suppose the faith lesson is to ask myself the question, "What would be enough to convince me?" As in, what would be enough to convince me that Jesus was who he said he was? The events of Jesus' mission and ministry exists for me only in the past. They were historically time-limited, constrained by the physics of space and time, and it takes a great deal of faith to trust in something that took place 2000 years ago, and something I did not witness!

The truth is though, that I need to simply trust. Jesus invites all of us to come to him, and it is when we trust in Jesus that we discover his message to be true, and once that happens, we no longer need a sign.

Holy God
Forgive me when I have
challenged you and failed to
trust in your unfailing love.
May I truly appreciate
just how awesome you are
and how your life,
death, and resurrection
have set me free.
Now and forever.