Demanding A ‘Sign’ From Jesus

“Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You” (Mt. 12:38). There came a time in Jesus’ ministry when the Jewish religious groups actively and openly began to oppose Jesus and His ministry. In Matthew 12, we find these religious folk demanding a sign, a miracle that they could see with their eyes. They hoped Jesus would try and fail, thus showing the people that He was a fraud and that they were the true spiritual leaders.

However, Jesus saw through the fake respect of these leaders, “But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet…” (Mt. 12:39). We Christian apologists should take a lesson here from Jesus. Many of us get caught up in feeling that we always need to respond to the skeptic and his or her claims; however, Jesus shows us here that there comes a time to stop submitting evidence and let the Holy Spirit work on the heart and mind of the unbeliever. There are those out there who would not believe in Jesus even if they had seen Him come out of the tomb; so, we must decide when we’ve done all we can to witness to those individuals and move on.

Jesus has now verified His truth, just as He promised in this passage, “…for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Mt. 12:40). The Gospels contain the record of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. Jesus told the scoffers and skeptics what He was going to do…and He did it.

The Bible tells us that Jesus’ rising from the dead is all the proof that is needed to believe in Him, “…who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord…” (Romans 1:4). This verse, along with many others, declares that there is no scarcity of evidence for the reality of God. It is only the hardness of the human heart that refuses to surrender to Him as God.

“Extraordinary” Evidence

Today, just as in Jesus’ day, skeptics are always asking for more ‘signs’ or ‘evidence’. Even though Jesus submitted proof, many committed skeptics continue to claim that there just isn’t enough evidence to believe in God. Some demand ‘extraordinary’ evidence for the existence of God.

Frank Turek and Norman Geisler, in their book I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist, say this about what ‘extraordinary’ evidence skeptics are asking for the Resurrection of Jesus:

(1) “If it means beyond the natural, then the skeptic is asking the Resurrection to be confirmed by another miracle” (p. 320). However, one of the skeptics’ presuppositions is the denial of the miraculous. Therefore, they simply continue to ask for another miracle to support the last miracle that they have denied.

(2) “If “extraordinary” means repeatable as in a laboratory, then no event from history can be believed because historical events cannot be repeated…Besides, atheists who demand repeatability for biblical miracles are inconsistent because they do not demand repeatability of the historical “miracles” in which they believe—the Big Bang, spontaneous generation of first life, and macroevolution of subsequent life forms” (p. 320-321).

(3) “If “extraordinary” means more than usual, then that is exactly what we have to support the Resurrection. We have more eyewitness documents and earlier eyewitness documents for the Resurrection than for anything else from the ancient world” (p. 321).

Conclusion

Just as some people refused to believe in Jesus’ day, so there are those who refuse to believe today. Often, they demand “extraordinary” evidence and say that, because it doesn’t exist, there is no reason to believe in God. While they do not require “extraordinary” evidence for the things they hold dear, in their arrogance they require it of God.

Although, plenty of evidence for God exists all around us (see Romans 1), Jesus gave the people of His generation, and all who follow, one final sign that He was who He said He was; He was crucified, buried, and rose again three days later. The Resurrection stands as proof that Jesus was, “…the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

Article by Robert Driskell

*All Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible