Some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus,
“Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.”
Their motivation for seeking the sign was the problem. They weren't really interested in the possibility that Jesus was who he said he was. There had, in fact, already been an abundance of signs for them to witness. But the Pharisees were interested in sacrifice, not in mercy, so they were not open to see the signs that were before their eyes. Jesus had only just recently cured a demoniac who was blind and mute, but all the Pharisees could say was, "This man drives out demons only by the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons" (see Matthew 12:24). What sort of sign can you show to someone whose heart is in that place?
An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign,
but no sign will be given it
except the sign of Jonah the prophet.
Jesus had not given up on the Pharisees, even if they were evil and unfaithful. He would not play their games, offering his miraculous powers up to their judgment and critique. He would do something more, something which could potentially draw the Pharisees out of their passively disinterested sense of superiority.
Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights,
so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth
three days and three nights.
Jesus took upon himself the Pharisees' own hatred, and all of the violence they held in their hearts toward him. He did so, not grudgingly, but for their sakes, in order to bring them back to God and open to them the way of salvation. It was his hope that this sign would expose the violence in the hearts of the Pharisees, and indeed in all of us, to exhaust it, and potentially to allow us all to move beyond it and repent. He allowed us to have the very thing we thought we wanted the most, to definitively silence Jesus, in order to reveal to us how broken and hollow a desire it was. He did not then leave to ourselves, with no alternative but despair. Instead, he emerged from the heart of the earth, not preaching condemnation, but peace and forgiveness.
The people of Nineveh and the queen of the south were able to recognize the signs they had been given, the preaching of Jonah, and the wisdom of Solomon respectively. What did they have in common that allowed them to receive these signs that the Pharisees lacked? It must have been humility, humility that allowed the whole people of Nineveh to repent in sackcloth and ashes at the words of a foreigner, and humility that drew the queen of the south from her own kingdom to seek a wisdom that she could only find in Solomon.
For us too, the Lord willing works signs for those who stand to benefit. But these signs are inseparable from his wisdom of his words, which are signs par excellence. If we refuse the message we will also refuse the signs, because they are bound up together. If our hearts are more interested in sacrifice than mercy, in condemnation than forgiveness, we will leave Jesus little recourse, nothing left to persuade us except, hopefully for the sign of his Passion. His Passion can absorb the hardness of our own hearts, our lack of humility, and still emerge with the offer of life-giving love for us. But let us not remain in attitudes deserving of condemnation. Let us recognize the one who is greater than Jonah and greater than Solomon and open ourselves to the signs he has already shown us.
Fear not! Stand your ground,
and you will see the victory the LORD will win for you today.
These Egyptians whom you see today you will never see again.
The LORD himself will fight for you; you have only to keep still.
The Passion of Our Lord is powerful. It leaves sin, sickness, and death behind, unable to ever enslave us again. It is the beginning of our journey to the land of promise. And, in the resurrection, it is the consummation of that promise.
And you, lift up your staff and, with hand outstretched over the sea,
split the sea in two,
that the children of Israel may pass through it on dry land.
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