The Sign of the Resurrection

In our discipleship course at Calvary Chapel Sydney, we discussed Matthew 16.  Matthew 16:1 begins with Jewish religious groups who opposed one another united in tempting Jesus:  "Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven."  The Pharisees and Sadducees in unbelief came to Jesus and demanded a sign from heaven, ignoring the fact Jesus IS the sign from heaven promised in the Law and Prophets.  Not only that, but Jesus provided clear evidence of His divine power, character, and wisdom which accompanied His daily walk.  But as a dear sister said last night, "Miracles do not make believers."  Jesus said of those who will not hear Moses and the prophets, even someone rising from the dead will not persuade them to believe.

Matthew 16:2-4 reveals the response of Christ.  "He answered and said to them, "When it is evening you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red'; ³ 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. ⁴ 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."  Jesus called the Pharisees and Sadducees hypocrites because with confidence they predicted the weather based upon the colour of the sky, yet for all the signs He had provided them they did not affirm He was the Messiah sent by God.  Jesus was born of a virgin, turned water into wine, fed 5,000 men plus women and children with 5 loaves and 2 small fish, cast out demons, opened the eyes of men born blind, cleaned lepers, healed the lame, and raised the dead.  No amount of signs were enough to induce the unbelieving hypocrites to believe.

Jesus pointed to the prophet Jonah as a sign provided for that wicked, adulterous generation which has survived to this day.  Jesus explained in greater detail what He meant in Matthew 12:40-41:  "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. ⁴¹ The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here."  Jesus predicted His death and after three days He would rise again.  This was the sign He offered unbelievers, and it is a sign which has endured until this day.  After Jesus drove the merchants from the Temple, people questioned the authority of Jesus.  John 2:18-22 reads, "So the Jews answered and said to Him, "What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?" ¹⁹ Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." ²⁰ Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?" ²¹ But He was speaking of the temple of His body. ²² Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said."  The words Jesus said agreed with the Scriptures already delivered through the Holy Spirit.  The Pharisees searched the Scriptures, thinking that in them they would find eternal life - and those same Scriptures testified of Jesus (John 5:39).  Psalm 16:10 had said, "For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption."

Jesus provides eternal life and light to all who believe.  It is folly to demand a sign from heaven "to believe" when Jesus has already provided the sign of His resurrection.  Jesus rose from the dead and proved once and for all He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God!  He rode into Jerusalem on a donkey as a suffering servant, but when He returns He will sit upon a war horse with eyes aflame.  God holds all men accountable to His righteous standard, as it is written in Acts 17:30-31:  "Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, ³¹ because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead."  Jesus is the Messiah, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.  He is the Bread of Life, the Good Shepherd, the Door, the True Vine, the Light of the World, the Judge of All the Earth, the Son of God, the Way, Truth, the Resurrection and Life, the great I AM.

Are you seeking a sign?  Do not make the mistake of ignoring or discounting the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ.  He is not dead but alive!  He was carried up alive into heaven before hundreds of eye witnesses.  Consider the implications!  The resurrection validated all the Word of Christ beyond any doubt.  The prophets and spiritual sages many believe and follow are dead men, but Jesus proved Himself greater than them all.  He is God of the living, not the dead!  Men who follow prophets or idols end up dead like them, but those who trust in Christ will be raised to eternal life.