Mark 8:11-13 The Pharisees came and began to question Jesus. To test him, they asked him for a sign from heaven. He sighed deeply and said, “Why does this generation ask for a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, no sign will be given to it.” Then he left them, got back into the boat and crossed to the other side.
As surely as Satan came to tempt Jesus in the desert, he used the Pharisees as they tested Jesus by asking for a sign from heaven to prove He was who He said He was. In essence, they were declaring, your wisdom and these miracles of yours are not enough for us, call down power from on high to show us that God has truly sent you. As always they hoped to show him up as a fraud. When He sighed deeply, we sense his frustration and disappointment must have been great. He undoubtedly considered all the Holy Spirit had led him to do and say when He asked, “Why does this generation ask for a miraculous sign?" Why must I face so much unbelief? Why must you continually try to trick me instead of turning from you wicked ways to God's holy truth? He could have said as He did to the devil in the desert, "Do not put the Lord your God to the test,” for He had no plan to react to their challenge. According to Bible commentaries, when Jesus says, "I tell you the truth, no sign will be given to it (this generation),” this statement represents in Greek a shortened form of the Hebrew self-imprecation: "If I do such a thing, may I die." In other words, there is no way God is going to send you a sign from heaven to verify his own work and Word when He has sent you his only begotten Son. The Good News had not changed since the angel first spoke to the shepherds watching over their flocks at night: An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” (Luke 2:9-12)
To further show his disdain for this interaction, Jesus immediately turns away from the Pharisees, gets back into the boat, and crosses to the other side. He seems to say, if you cannot talk about the things of God, the holy things that men of God should speak about, then we will not speak at all. Sometimes we think God is silent, and we ask him for a sign from heaven to prove He is alive. Oftentimes, we are like the Pharisees: we are asking for the wrong sign from God, and we have failed to see the signposts along the way. God has revealed himself to us in many ways and at many times, but we have not been looking for him or listening for his voice. We want God to fit into our mold and our time schedule. As Christians we have Christ in us, our hope of glory, and we are filled with the Holy Spirit, the great Comforter and Counselor. Yet we sometimes want to be in charge of our lives. The Bible is clear that we yield control of our lives to God. As the disciples, we leave our old manner of living and take up the cross and follow Jesus. We are more than able to follow the leading of the Lord because He constantly speaks to us: In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. (Hebrews 1:1-3) If we truly believe He created all things and sustains all things, then we will trust him with all things pertaining to our lives. As we pray in faith believing, we will not ask him as the Pharisees did to prove himself to us, but we will trust him in every circumstance to bring us through to glory. It is not a trite saying to count your blessings, for they are many.
When Peter described the church of the living God, he was not at a loss for words: But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (1 Peter 2:9-10) He did not require another miracle or a sign from heaven to know what Christ had accomplished at the cross. When Peter looked back, He saw the finished work of God's mercy and grace. When he looked forward, he saw lives in need of a Savior--people in darkness, waiting for the wonderful light. Once Peter denied Christ, but he understood the forgiving love of his Lord, and he carried that love in his heart to all he met. We have that same opportunity, that same responsibility. The enemy will try to get us off track. He will test us by trying to get us to ask God for a sign from heaven. "If you are real God, give me what I really want." A selfish request goes against the grain, against the heart of the gospel. We must die to ourselves and come alive to God. Jesus prayed, "Not my will but yours be done." (Luke 22:42) Paul said, "May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." (Galatians 6:14) The way of the cross is a way of sacrifice, but it is also a way of joy unspeakable and full of glory. We are free in the Lord, free from the weight of sin and the cares of the world. We can joyfully declare: I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)
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