The Great Miracle

Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. (Matthew 12:38-42 ESV). I believe in miracles. However, I do not believe that God does the miraculous in the same way he did in ancient times. Sometimes we fail to recognize the miraculous work of God today. Sometimes that’s true because we trivialize the work of God on our behalf. There are five prescription medications that I take each day. I wake up in the morning retrieve them one by one from their bottles, pop them in my mouth, gulp down some water and forget about them until right before bed when I repeat the process again. Each of them are designed to do something that my body can no longer do without help. That’s miraculous in itself. However, the real miracle is in having the medications in the first place. God has worked miraculously in the lives of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of gifted individuals to do the work necessary to design and manufacture those little pills and capsules so that my heart continues to beat and my body continues to function at its best. That pretty amazing to me! Many would deny that as a miracle. The religious leaders of Jesus’ day were like that. They saw him do some amazing things and still did not believe the simplest of things. They refused to believe he was the Messiah. They demanded that they show them another sign. It is here that Jesus speaks very clearly to them about their unbelief. Even a casual reading of Jesus' response seems almost harsh. After all, here were some individuals who were simply asking for a miracle. He had performed many of them. What's one more? Perhaps that miracle could have brought them to faith. Why didn't He grant their request? As He looked in their hearts, no doubt He saw the real reason behind their request. They wanted to destroy Jesus. Jesus died on the cross for them and for all of humanity, and rose again from the dead, because we all were separated from God by sin. That is the greatest miracle. It is the ultimate sign. Have you been looking for other signs? The greatest one has already been given.