“The Jews demand signs” (1 Corinthians 1:22 ESV). Throughout Jesus’ earthly ministry, He worked “mighty works and wonders and signs,” which “attested to” (guaranteed) the truth of who he claimed to be (Acts 2:22). Throughout the Gospel records, He healed the sick, casts out demons and raised the dead. Yet, frequently, He was asked by His doubters and enemies, “Show us a sign!”
The signs and wonders He was doing were eminently suitable for a divine King of a spiritual kingdom, the kind of kingdom He came to establish (John 18:26). They show Him to have power over sickness, demons and death.
Jesus’ enemies were not satisfied. They wanted a material kingdom to defeat Rome, freeing them from Roman domination and establishing a kingdom in which they would rule over the nations, the Gentiles. So, they wanted some kind of sign of military power, maybe like Satan suggested: “Go up on the temple tower and jump off; the people will be amazed when angels bear you up and keep you from harm” (paraphrase of Matthew 4:5-6).
Jesus usually answered the request for a sign cryptically, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah” (Matthew 16:4). In Matthew 12:40, He added, “For just 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.” The “sign of the prophet Jonah” was Jesus’ resurrection!
It turned out just like Abraham told the rich man in torment. “But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And the rich man said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ Abraham said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”
