Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee.
Certain religious leaders asked Jesus for a miraculous proof of His authority even though He had already healed the sick, restored sight, cast out demons, raised the dead and fed the multitude. Their demand did not come from sincere desire to understand and believe but from unbelieving, unreceptive hearts that resisted plain evidence and used calls for signs to turn minds away from the truth. Jesus would not use divine power to satisfy curiosity or to prove Himself to hostile questioners. He called that sign-seeking generation evil and adulterous and declared it would receive only the sign of Jonah, that as Jonah was three days and three nights in the fish so He would be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, while the repentance of Nineveh and the journey of the queen of the South to hear Solomon would condemn those who rejected One greater than Jonah and Solomon. No outward sign is to be expected now, for the sign continually given is the working of the Holy Spirit on the Word to impress the heart, and the greater miracle Christ continually works instead of gratifying curiosity is changing the hard heart to new life and obedience.
Setting of the Request
The request for a sign came immediately after Jesus for the second time healed a man who was possessed and blind and dumb. It came just after the Pharisees repeated the charge that He casts out devils through the prince of devils. It came just after He warned them plainly that attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to Satan cuts them off from the fountain of blessing and from the channel by which God works on the heart to bring repentance and faith.
At that time Jesus was devoting entire nights to prayer and spending the days thronged by great companies of people without time so much as to eat. His friends felt He was wearing Himself out by incessant labor, were unable to account for His attitude toward the Pharisees, and some feared His reason was becoming unsettled. The sons of Joseph were far from sympathy with His work, and reports of His life and labors filled them with astonishment and dismay. They had heard the Pharisees' charge that He cast out devils through the power of Satan, felt keenly the reproach that came upon them through relation to Him, knew what a tumult His words and works created, were alarmed at His bold statements and indignant at His denunciation of the scribes and Pharisees. They decided He must be persuaded or constrained to cease this manner of labor and induced Mary to unite with them, thinking that through His love for her they might prevail upon Him to be more prudent.
The demand was made amid constant hostile surveillance, with crowds pressing around and spies on His track watching every word and action to find grounds to accuse Him. They tracked Him saying in effect show us a sign and work some miracle, not from sincere inquiry but to report Him in distorted light. They hired men and greedily received false witnesses to furnish a pretext for condemning Him as a criminal. They sought by scandal, reproach, and falsehood to make themselves and others believe Him a criminal.
The demand was made despite abundant miracles already attesting His mission and authority. He had healed the sick, cast out demons, restored sight, raised the dead, and done other mighty works. He had fed the multitude with five loaves and two fishes, and after His command to gather the fragments so nothing would be lost twelve baskets were gathered. That gathering was sufficient evidence of His authority, but they closed their eyes to the light.
Unbelief Behind the Demand
The demand for a sign arose from unbelief and unreceptive hearts, exposing a wicked and thankless generation that resisted belief even when God had plainly attested Jesus by healing the sick, casting out demons, restoring sight, raising the dead, and other mighty works. Had they turned toward Him as the Light of the world they would have recognized Him, for the ceremonies and symbols of Jewish worship pointed to Christ as their foundation and fulfillment. The request was not sincere inquiry for clearer understanding and faith but wicked curiosity and willful refusal to receive the evidence before them. Leaders used calls for signs to distract hearers from clear evidence of truth, though Christ's miracles were divine testimony to the authority of His work and mission meant to overcome prejudice and inspire faith, and they rejected that truth even to attributing His signs to the prince of devils.
The demand grew from prejudice against His humble origins and from expectation of a Messiah coming with worldly honor and military power. Prejudice, unbelief, and false Messianic hopes combined to lead them to disregard evidence already given and the recognition their hearts had first felt, even while crowds pressed around and His healings and other mighty works already gave evidence of His divine claims. The leaders failed to understand those ceremonies and symbols and failed to recognize Him when He came as predicted. He showed from Old Testament prophecies that in rejecting Him they were fulfilling those prophecies.
The demand for a sign as proof that He was the Son of God persisted despite His miracles and the truthful simplicity and purity of His character. It stood in contrast with the Samaritans, who saw no sign and witnessed no miracles yet accepted His teaching and received Him as Saviour. The unbelieving demand for a sign and miracle as proof of being right overlooks the very kind of evidence God has already given. It comes from surface workers not sanctified through the truth, encased in self-righteousness so that sharp reproof cannot penetrate, hearing the most earnest and authoritative teaching without self-examination, most difficult to arouse. Those who shut their eyes to evidence already given and insist on further signs will be passed by while others receive the blessing they rejected.
Answer and Present Warning
Jesus would not work a miracle merely to satisfy wicked curiosity, to prove Himself to hostile questioners, or to spare Himself suffering, for having taken human nature He would not use divine power for His own advantage. The sign-seeking generation was called evil and adulterous, and it would receive no sign but the sign of Jonah. As Jonah was three days and three nights in the fish, so the Son of man would be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The repentance of Nineveh at Jonah's preaching and the journey of the queen of the South to hear Solomon would stand in judgment against those who rejected One greater than Jonah and Solomon, even after healings of the sick, casting out of demons, restoring of sight, and other mighty works had already been given.
No outward sign is to be given as then, but the sign manifest now and always is the working of the Holy Spirit on the teacher's mind to make the Word as impressive as possible. The Word of God is Spirit and life and not a dead, dry theory. Eternal life comes not by a granted sign but by receiving Christ's life-giving Word as flesh and blood, by eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of God given in His Word.
The verse warns against wanting something outside the Word to produce feeling, and against turning attention to dreams, visions, and other sensations, which call minds away from the Word. In contrast to demanding a miracle, Christ continually works the greater miracle of changing the hard heart. In that work the Holy Spirit frees people from delusion and worldly influence, brings them to understand moral truth, turns them from falsehood and sin to truth and righteousness, gives a new heart, leads them to trust Christ formed within, and makes their obedience bear spiritual fruit and their lives proclaim salvation to others. Those who shut their eyes to evidence already given and insist on further signs will be passed by while others receive the blessing they rejected.
The same condition is repeated by those who have Bibles and claim to believe them yet close their eyes to light and will not receive and practice it because it condemns transgression of the law, since clear miracles do not convince those who refuse light, as when the feeding of the multitude with five loaves and two fishes and the gathering of twelve baskets under His command that nothing be lost was still met with demand. The same spirit is acted out toward God's commandment-keeping people today by those who do not want God's way or knowledge of the truth, who greedily partake of pleasing fables, listen to falsehoods of wolves in sheep's clothing, rejoice in iniquity, infuse opposition into others, and join spies tracking every word and action to report it in distorted light and to hire men and receive false witnesses to furnish a pretext for condemning as a criminal and to make others believe it through scandal, reproach, and falsehood, though Old Testament prophecies were shown to them that in rejecting Him they were fulfilling those prophecies. Persistence in that evil course stands registered against them in the books of heaven and brought eternal infamy upon the nation that rejected Him. The unbelieving demand for a sign as proof of being right overlooks the kind of evidence God has already given and comes from surface workers not sanctified through the truth, encased in self-righteousness so sharp reproof cannot penetrate, hearing earnest and authoritative teaching without self-examination and most difficult to arouse. Rejection of warnings, reproofs, and counsels leaves heaven's illumination powerless to set such hearers in order and opens the track for deception.
Certain religious leaders asked Jesus for a miraculous proof of His authority even though He had already healed the sick, restored sight, cast out demons, raised the dead and fed the multitude. Their demand did not come from sincere desire to understand and believe but from unbelieving, unreceptive hearts that resisted plain evidence and used calls for signs to turn minds away from the truth. Jesus would not use divine power to satisfy curiosity or to prove Himself to hostile questioners. He called that sign-seeking generation evil and adulterous and declared it would receive only the sign of Jonah, that as Jonah was three days and three nights in the fish so He would be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, while the repentance of Nineveh and the journey of the queen of the South to hear Solomon would condemn those who rejected One greater than Jonah and Solomon. No outward sign is to be expected now, for the sign continually given is the working of the Holy Spirit on the Word to impress the heart, and the greater miracle Christ continually works instead of gratifying curiosity is changing the hard heart to new life and obedience.
Setting of the Request
The request for a sign came immediately after Jesus for the second time healed a man who was possessed and blind and dumb. It came just after the Pharisees repeated the charge that He casts out devils through the prince of devils. It came just after He warned them plainly that attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to Satan cuts them off from the fountain of blessing and from the channel by which God works on the heart to bring repentance and faith.
At that time Jesus was devoting entire nights to prayer and spending the days thronged by great companies of people without time so much as to eat. His friends felt He was wearing Himself out by incessant labor, were unable to account for His attitude toward the Pharisees, and some feared His reason was becoming unsettled. The sons of Joseph were far from sympathy with His work, and reports of His life and labors filled them with astonishment and dismay. They had heard the Pharisees' charge that He cast out devils through the power of Satan, felt keenly the reproach that came upon them through relation to Him, knew what a tumult His words and works created, were alarmed at His bold statements and indignant at His denunciation of the scribes and Pharisees. They decided He must be persuaded or constrained to cease this manner of labor and induced Mary to unite with them, thinking that through His love for her they might prevail upon Him to be more prudent.
The demand was made amid constant hostile surveillance, with crowds pressing around and spies on His track watching every word and action to find grounds to accuse Him. They tracked Him saying in effect show us a sign and work some miracle, not from sincere inquiry but to report Him in distorted light. They hired men and greedily received false witnesses to furnish a pretext for condemning Him as a criminal. They sought by scandal, reproach, and falsehood to make themselves and others believe Him a criminal.
The demand was made despite abundant miracles already attesting His mission and authority. He had healed the sick, cast out demons, restored sight, raised the dead, and done other mighty works. He had fed the multitude with five loaves and two fishes, and after His command to gather the fragments so nothing would be lost twelve baskets were gathered. That gathering was sufficient evidence of His authority, but they closed their eyes to the light.
Unbelief Behind the Demand
The demand for a sign arose from unbelief and unreceptive hearts, exposing a wicked and thankless generation that resisted belief even when God had plainly attested Jesus by healing the sick, casting out demons, restoring sight, raising the dead, and other mighty works. Had they turned toward Him as the Light of the world they would have recognized Him, for the ceremonies and symbols of Jewish worship pointed to Christ as their foundation and fulfillment. The request was not sincere inquiry for clearer understanding and faith but wicked curiosity and willful refusal to receive the evidence before them. Leaders used calls for signs to distract hearers from clear evidence of truth, though Christ's miracles were divine testimony to the authority of His work and mission meant to overcome prejudice and inspire faith, and they rejected that truth even to attributing His signs to the prince of devils.
The demand grew from prejudice against His humble origins and from expectation of a Messiah coming with worldly honor and military power. Prejudice, unbelief, and false Messianic hopes combined to lead them to disregard evidence already given and the recognition their hearts had first felt, even while crowds pressed around and His healings and other mighty works already gave evidence of His divine claims. The leaders failed to understand those ceremonies and symbols and failed to recognize Him when He came as predicted. He showed from Old Testament prophecies that in rejecting Him they were fulfilling those prophecies.
The demand for a sign as proof that He was the Son of God persisted despite His miracles and the truthful simplicity and purity of His character. It stood in contrast with the Samaritans, who saw no sign and witnessed no miracles yet accepted His teaching and received Him as Saviour. The unbelieving demand for a sign and miracle as proof of being right overlooks the very kind of evidence God has already given. It comes from surface workers not sanctified through the truth, encased in self-righteousness so that sharp reproof cannot penetrate, hearing the most earnest and authoritative teaching without self-examination, most difficult to arouse. Those who shut their eyes to evidence already given and insist on further signs will be passed by while others receive the blessing they rejected.
Answer and Present Warning
Jesus would not work a miracle merely to satisfy wicked curiosity, to prove Himself to hostile questioners, or to spare Himself suffering, for having taken human nature He would not use divine power for His own advantage. The sign-seeking generation was called evil and adulterous, and it would receive no sign but the sign of Jonah. As Jonah was three days and three nights in the fish, so the Son of man would be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The repentance of Nineveh at Jonah's preaching and the journey of the queen of the South to hear Solomon would stand in judgment against those who rejected One greater than Jonah and Solomon, even after healings of the sick, casting out of demons, restoring of sight, and other mighty works had already been given.
No outward sign is to be given as then, but the sign manifest now and always is the working of the Holy Spirit on the teacher's mind to make the Word as impressive as possible. The Word of God is Spirit and life and not a dead, dry theory. Eternal life comes not by a granted sign but by receiving Christ's life-giving Word as flesh and blood, by eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of God given in His Word.
The verse warns against wanting something outside the Word to produce feeling, and against turning attention to dreams, visions, and other sensations, which call minds away from the Word. In contrast to demanding a miracle, Christ continually works the greater miracle of changing the hard heart. In that work the Holy Spirit frees people from delusion and worldly influence, brings them to understand moral truth, turns them from falsehood and sin to truth and righteousness, gives a new heart, leads them to trust Christ formed within, and makes their obedience bear spiritual fruit and their lives proclaim salvation to others. Those who shut their eyes to evidence already given and insist on further signs will be passed by while others receive the blessing they rejected.
The same condition is repeated by those who have Bibles and claim to believe them yet close their eyes to light and will not receive and practice it because it condemns transgression of the law, since clear miracles do not convince those who refuse light, as when the feeding of the multitude with five loaves and two fishes and the gathering of twelve baskets under His command that nothing be lost was still met with demand. The same spirit is acted out toward God's commandment-keeping people today by those who do not want God's way or knowledge of the truth, who greedily partake of pleasing fables, listen to falsehoods of wolves in sheep's clothing, rejoice in iniquity, infuse opposition into others, and join spies tracking every word and action to report it in distorted light and to hire men and receive false witnesses to furnish a pretext for condemning as a criminal and to make others believe it through scandal, reproach, and falsehood, though Old Testament prophecies were shown to them that in rejecting Him they were fulfilling those prophecies. Persistence in that evil course stands registered against them in the books of heaven and brought eternal infamy upon the nation that rejected Him. The unbelieving demand for a sign as proof of being right overlooks the kind of evidence God has already given and comes from surface workers not sanctified through the truth, encased in self-righteousness so sharp reproof cannot penetrate, hearing earnest and authoritative teaching without self-examination and most difficult to arouse. Rejection of warnings, reproofs, and counsels leaves heaven's illumination powerless to set such hearers in order and opens the track for deception.