Flashback Episode — The Sign of Faith: Matthew 12:38-45

If you ever wished for God or Jesus to give a clear, unquestionable sign that He exists, you may find this passage interesting, or maybe even a little problematic.

While many of us have a tendency to experience doubts living over 2,000 years after Jesus was here on earth, some of us may believe that a sign from God would be nice – if only to assure us that He is still present and interested. According to what our passage for this episode says, those living during Jesus’ life on earth had their doubts and skeptical attitude, and even with Jesus present, they were interested in seeing some type of unquestionable, irrefutable sign from God.

But let’s read how Jesus answers them. Our passage for this episode is found in the gospel of Matthew, chapter 12, and we will read it using the God’s Word translation. Starting in verse 38, Matthew tells us:

³⁸ Then some experts in Moses’ Teachings and Pharisees said, “Teacher, we want you to show us a miraculous sign.”

³⁹ He responded, “The people of an evil and unfaithful era look for a miraculous sign. But the only sign they will get is the sign of the prophet Jonah. ⁴⁰ Just as Jonah was in the belly of a huge fish for three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. ⁴¹ The men of Nineveh will stand up with you at the time of judgment and will condemn you, because they turned to God and changed the way they thought and acted when Jonah spoke his message. But look, someone greater than Jonah is here! ⁴² The queen from the south will stand up at the time of judgment with you. She will condemn you, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear Solomon’s wisdom. But look, someone greater than Solomon is here!

What I find amazing in Jesus’ response is that He responds counter to the “seeing-is-believing” attitude that was present in the minds of these skeptics. From the description present in this passage, Jesus knows that there will always be skeptics, and there will always be people who discount or rationalize their faith away from God. Most of these people never admit that they are simply shifting what they place their faith in, because in their minds, faith is a pointless concept.

But when we look closer at Jesus’ response, He does give these skeptical religious leaders a sign to watch for – but it was far from what they were looking for. There was a point when Jesus’ prediction about Himself came true, and He was in the grave like Jonah was in the fish. Jonah likely never even imagined His rebellion would turn into a Messianic symbol, but Jesus draws upon the key event in Jonah’s life as a symbolic representation of Himself.

Jesus then moves the focus of His response onto two events where faith was present. First, the people of Nineveh had faith in Jonah’s words – perhaps because He stank like fish or maybe because He had God at His back – and the people of Nineveh changed their ways. Interestingly enough, Jonah’s prediction did not come true because the people turned away from sin and towards God. The faith the people of Nineveh had was not based on much evidence, they simply trusted that Jonah’s words were important enough to pay attention to – even though Jonah had no previous track record of successful predictions that we are aware of for them to look back on.

Jesus’ other example is of the queen from the south. She heard rumors about Solomon, and perhaps some of these rumors seemed a little too unbelievable to be true. However, instead of writing off the rumors, she decides to investigate further to see if there was any truth in what she was hearing.

In this way, by traveling a great distance to meet someone she had only heard rumors about shows how she had great faith in those spreading the information. She was so far away that there was likely no way for her to have seen any tangible, irrefutable evidence to support the claim that Solomon was uniquely gifted in wisdom. But that didn’t stop her from making the trip to confirm or deny her curiosity.

Both the people of Nineveh and the queen from the south had enough faith in what they heard that they changed their actions and plans in light of the evidence they had. Those in Nineveh had a prophet who stank like fish, and the queen from the south had rumors, some from potentially reliable sources, but perhaps a number from some questionably reliable sources as well.

The key idea Jesus is making is that no amount of signs and miracles can convert a stubborn heart. Jesus is also sharing a key insight regarding God’s character: God is okay with individuals exercising their free will to refuse believing in Him. He doesn’t like it when people refuse those He has sent, but He is reserved enough to know that belief that is bought through spectacular, miraculous signs is cheap. Someone who follows simply because of the miracles is blessed for following, but if they never grow past the miracles themselves, then they are prime to be swept away when someone else comes who is able to perform even more spectacular signs.

It seems that God gives or allows miraculous signs to happen as a way to point us to pay attention to an individual. It is then up to us, knowing what we know about God and His character, to determine if the miracle-worker has God as his or her Source, or of they have a different spiritual force at their back.

God wants our faith and trust not simply because of miracles or signs, but because of who He is and what He is like.

As we conclude another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always open these challenges by saying in one way or another, intentionally seek God first in your life. Choose to follow God because of who He is and because of what Jesus showed us He is like. While other people in your circle of friends might not understand your decision, know that when you make a decision to follow God, you are looking at life from eternity’s perspective and have heaven to look forward to.

Also, as I always challenge you to do, purposefully choose to pray and study the Bible for yourself and look for how God has revealed His character in each event you read. The Bible shares more details about God and His character than we might think at first, but in order to see what God is like in the pages of the Bible, we must be intentionally on the lookout for it.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or abandon where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!