29 - Mark 8:12

’Verily I say unto you, There shall no sign be given unto this generation.’ -Mark 8:12. On more than one occasion certain of the Scribes and Pharisees sought of Jesus a sign from heaven. First they said that it was by the power of Beelzebub that he wrought his marvellous miracles; then they asked of him a sign from heaven, just as though the signs given were not from heaven. They asked him in fact to concede that their explanation of his miracles was the correct one, by renouncing this sort of evidence, and giving them the sort of testimony that they would indicate. It seemed to them a very small thing, a thing by no means demonstrative of the working of God, to be delivering poor men, beggars and such, from blindness, deafness, leprosy, and various ailments. Who cared whether such people were cured or not? What difference did it make that there should be a few less, suffering from these infirmities? But now if some creature the like of which one had never seen, half horse, half bird, should come down from heaven; or if some sentence should appear written on the face of the skies in dazzling letters; or if a goodly company of angels should descend from heaven and hover over us, and tell us plainly that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah; if these or something similar that we should designate might be wrought before us, then should we be ready to acknowledge the truth of Christ’s mission. Did not Gideon ask for a particular sign, the sign of his own choice, and get it; and did he not ask for a second, and obtain it?

’Yes, but Gideon was a believer; a notable element of difference, this. And he was singled out from all the community for a special mission, and it was fitting that he should have special testimony. But I, Jesus, am sent to the entire Jewish people, and the credentials needed are those that will commend themselves to men generally as divine. What is wanted is such a display of the power of God as shall testify to men that I am from above. You wish that power to be divorced from beneficence; you wish for something portentous, that shall not do any one any good. But God is what he is, and is true to himself in all his work, and the miracles chosen by him are such as illustrate all his perfections. My disciples once angrily wished that fire should fall from heaven and destroy men. Would this content you? Yes, if it destroyed your enemies. But the Son of man is not come to destroy but to save, and his miracles should be in harmony with his mission. It cannot be safely left to you to indicate what God shall do with his power. When you shall bring us those who are able to open the eyes of the blind, to unstop the ears of the deaf, to heal the leper, and to raise the dead, by a word, then may you with some propriety demand from me more certain displays of Divine power than these. But since I entered upon my ministry, all pretenders to superhuman powers have fled from my path; not one of your children has come forward to do any work like my works. Go, seek out some adulterous woman who has left the home of her husband and her children, and gone off with a paramour; try to prove to her that her husband is worthy, and that she should go back to him in sackcloth and ashes; where is the proof that she will not laugh you to scorn? And what have we here but an adulterous generation; one that has departed from the living God; made void his word by its traditions; eager to secure to itself the honour that cometh from man; turning religion into an engine for self-advancement. The point is this: There is utter antagonism between your will and the will of God brought near to you in me, and while you can possibly avoid it you will cling to your will and reject his. But there is a possibility of avoiding it; you have simply to be dissatisfied with whatever evidence is given, and to demand evidence of a different character. So that it matters little what sign is given you; you can conceive of something greater, at all events different, and thus neutralize all the testimony offered. Wherefore then should a sign be given to this generation? The simple fact that it refuses to recognise the abounding evidence furnished by my gracious miracles is proof of a state of mind not to be overcome by evidence.’ The proofs which the Scribes and Pharisees sought to stigmatize as inadequate, the miracles that seemed insignificant to that adulterous generation, seem to this adulterous nineteenth century incredibly great. The men of this day are staggered by the greatness of the supernatural element in these works. They would listen to Christ better if he would let alone cleansing the lepers and raising the dead. The supernatural, the Divine is too clearly marked in all these miracles.

Yet there have been sceptics who desired a sign. Lord Herbert of Cherbury wrote a book against the credibility of the Scriptures, and then on his knees asked God for a sign that he should publish this book; asked God for a miracle to justify him in rejecting the miracles and grace of the Saviour; and gazing fixedly into the heavens imagined that he saw the desired sign; the camel-like cloud became like a whale; this or something similar was quite enough, tallying as it did with his strong inclination, to outweigh the mighty proofs of the Gospel. So thousands in these days, having no faith that could be satisfied with the promises of Christ, have yielded a portentous credulity to Spiritualism. Some find the sign they seek in one direction, some in another, according to the character of their minds, the tendency of their thoughts; this teacher is to some a. sign, that preacher is a sign from heaven to others; this and that writer to others. To millions the priest is all the sign they want, and whatsoever he does is miraculous. When the Scribes and Pharisees saw Christ on the cross between two thieves, they exclaimed, Here is our sign! What more do we need? heaven itself testifies that it has no part or lot in this man; it lets him go down to everlasting night. Does it? wait three days; wait till Pentecost; now indeed you have a sign from heaven; do you submit to it?