In Search Of A Miracle



We always hear how big God is, so it would be easy to think that if God is big enough, He can convince all of us to give our hearts to Him - but that's not true. He doesn't force the gospel message on anyone. He can only draw people whose eyes and hearts are open and who want to know truth.

The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven. He replied, When evening comes, you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,' And in the morning, 'Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.' You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.(Matt. 16:4)

They were asking Him, "Come on - just show us a sign. If you show us a sign, then we can believe You're the Son of God." They were wanting Jesus to stoop to their level and show them a logical, tangible reason to believe He was the Son of God. He had been performing miracles all around them, but they didn't want to believe those - they wanted to see their own personal miracle.

Jesus wouldn't show the Pharisees and Sadducees a sign, because He knew the wickedness in their hearts. The only sign He was going to give them was the sign of Jonah, and they all knew the story about Jonah going into the city of Nineveh and warning the people of the destruction to come if they didn't repent from their evil ways. (See Jonah 1-3.)

Jesus didn't want to convince them logically that He was the Son of God, because He didn't want their faith to be based on a miracle. He wanted their eyes to be opened and the truth to be revealed to them.

The problem is the attitude in their question. They were acting like they wanted to know Jesus only if He would show them a sign. That is how much of the world is. They will believe if they can see a sign. The very essence of that is a mocking attitude and spirit. In reality they were saying, "If You're so big and powerful, why don't You prove Yourself?"

Jesus was telling them, "With an attitude like that, you're not gonna get anything. Your eyes don't want to see. Your heart is not open to the things of God. You don't even want to know truth, so I'm not going to waste a miracle on that kind of attitude."Many people today say, "Well, if God would just show me some kind of sign, then I would believe." But if their belief in Him is based on a miracle, what are they going to believe when the excitement of the miracle is gone? Will it take another, even more amazing miracle to hold their belief?

We've got to make sure we're not looking for another sign or another reason to believe in Jesus. We must base our faith and our life on knowing that Jesus is real. Our eyes have been opened and we can see Him for who He is. If we never see another miracle for the rest of our life, we know that Jesus is alive, because He's changed our life.