Asking for signs

When I was living in Montreal, I went through a period of time when I felt powerless and unsure about many things, the worst of which was the feeling that God was not there. In my prayers I pleaded that God would give me a sign, like speaking in tongue or any manifestation of His Spirit. He never gave me that. Instead, one evening a surprise visitor came, KW. He and his wife came to my Sunday School years ago when I was still in medical school. Being a very intelligent man and had been influenced by the writings of Bertrand Russell, he had many tough questions for me. I would never imagine that my Sunday School classes had given him any help to lead him to Christ. However, that evening he shared with me that he had become a Christian and had decided to pick up a Christian name - David! What a sign!

In this passage in Mathew 12:38-42, one may jump to the conclusion that one should never ask for a sign. But I think when one cries out to God, He is delighted to give him more than he asks!

The Sign of Jonah

Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.” He answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah,and now something greater than Jonah is here. The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now something greater than Solomon is here.

In this passage a sign is more like a proof, a miracle. We like God to prove Himself to us. Is He powerful enough to save us from our troubles? As if the work of His hands (creation all around us) is still not enough, we want more. In fact we want to see proof that will bring direct benefit to ourselves, like good health and wealth. Instead, He gave us the best we can ever ask for, Himself, through His beloved Son. He makes it possible for us to have a relationship with Him by sending His Son to die for us on the cross to pay for our sins. He was buried for three days as in Jonah's story ( which the Jews in His days were very familiar with). He then rose from His death!

What should I ask next time I walk through "the valley of the shadow of death" (Palms 23:4 RSV)? God has already answered my prayers. Remember Jonah's story!

Just as an aside, there are many "sin cities" mentioned in scripture: Sodom and Gomorrah, Tyre and Sidon, and here the city of Nineveh. Jesus often reminds us that unrepentant hearts will be worse off in judgement days than what had happened to these cities. What a sobering thought!