...sign

There are some examples in the Bible in which people have asked the Lord for a sign and God responded to their request. Gideon was an Old Testament soldier called by God to lead an army and save Israel from the Midianites. He humbly asked for more than one sign, to which the Angel of the Lord obliged Judges 6:11–40. 

But in the New Testament, we find a sobering statement by Christ to the scribes and Pharisees who said, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You” Matthew 12:38. You might think this is an innocent request, but if you look at the whole chapter, you see constant opposition against Jesus. They accuse Him of breaking the Sabbath, they plot to destroy Him, and claim He uses the power of Satan. 

It is to these wicked leaders to whom Christ said, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign.” Jesus had plainly spoken to them. Evidence of His divine mission had already been shown, yet they continued to resist Him. Unlike Gideon, their motives were not genuine. They were not seeking to believe, but to destroy. A sign would not change their hearts. They were not interested in God’s truth. 

Christ once said of these stubborn religious leaders, “If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead” Luke 16:31. Notice their response to Lazarus being raised from the dead. “Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, ‘What shall we do? For this Man works many signs.’ … Then, from that day on, they plotted to put Him to death” John 11:47, 53 

When the Word of God has been plainly spoken, we do not need a sign to determine whether we should obey the Lord. If our motive is to follow God, He will make the truth plain to us. 

"But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:"Matthew 12:39

-doug batchelor