Why Would Anyone Follow Jesus? by Ray Comfort

Author:Ray Comfort
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Apologetics;Jesus Christ;REL067030;REL030000;REL017000
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2022-01-17T00:00:00+00:00

Give Me a Sign

In Matthew 16, the Pharisees came to Jesus and asked Him for a sign. This request sounds reasonable. If Jesus was the promised Messiah, He could give them some miracle or sign that would convince them once and for all. But their questions weren’t sincere:

Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven. He answered and said to them, “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” And He left them and departed. (vv. 1–4, emphasis added)

How often we hear similar requests from skeptics, who ask for “just one sign that God exists,” saying that if we can provide that one sign, they will then believe. Their questions and requests are insincere, just as the Pharisees’ requests were. The heavens declare His glory, but that isn’t enough for skeptics and Pharisees. The invisible things of Him are clearly seen from the creation of the world, but they want more. They don’t want to know and love God; they want to test Him endlessly. They don’t have humility, and they don’t want faith.

Jesus called out the Pharisees’ hypocrisy because they came to test Him, and He said they were “a wicked and adulterous generation.” However, before He walked away, He gave them knowledge of the greatest sign sinners could ever hope to see. He said, “No sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” Jonah was a foreshadow of the One who would be rejected by men and be tossed over to death—to be swallowed by it for three days and three nights: “For 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” (Matt. 12:40).

The sign of which Jesus spoke was the gospel. If the world wants an immutable sign of who Jesus is, they need only look to Him who suffered on the cross—to the only One who can save them from sin and death. Then they will know the truth, and the truth will make them free. He will transform them in a moment of time—from loving sin to loving righteousness, born again with a new heart and new desires. God Himself will cause them to walk in His statutes. That “sign”—their own personal miracle—will be all they will ever need. But the sign only comes to those who come to Jesus as humble children. It is hidden from proud-hearted, accusing sinners, who seek Jesus only to test Him.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.