Christ Is The Only Sign

𝐉𝐔𝐋𝐘 𝟐𝟏, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐒𝐈𝐗𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐇 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄

𝟏𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐄𝐱𝐨 𝟏𝟒:𝟓-𝟏𝟖

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟏𝟓:𝟏-𝟔 “𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐮𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝; 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐢𝐧 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐲.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐓 𝟏𝟐:𝟑𝟖-𝟒𝟐

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “…𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝑺𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒎𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆.” (𝒗.42)

𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄'𝐒 𝐎𝐍𝐋𝐘 𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐒𝐈𝐆𝐍 - 𝐉𝐄𝐒𝐔𝐒!

         Christ had performed many miracles, yet the people still asked for a sign (𝐉𝐧 𝟏𝟐:𝟑𝟓-𝟒𝟑) and Jesus promised only one sign is forthcoming: His death, burial and resurrection, as pictured by Jonah. We must always keep in mind that Jonah was a messenger sent to the Gentiles which is another indication that Israel would reject Christ.

How is Christ greater than Jonah? (𝐯.𝟒𝟏), He is of course greater in His ministry, since at the beginning had disobeyed God, Jesus is greater in His message, since He preached salvation and not the coming judgment.

But notwithstanding the many instances of healings, of the dead rising again and, of people freed from demon-possession, the religious leaders and some of the Jews in the early days kept pressing on Jesus to give them a sign to support his claim that he was indeed the Son of God.

         And this unbelief was what moved Jesus to say what a wicked generation it was that the Jews kept asking for a sign that hides their real intent which was they just couldn’t accept that Jesus to be the Son of God because the Jews were expecting someone more than just a carpenter’s son to save and liberate them.

         Instead of providing them with a sign which was yet to come, and which was going to be the biggest sign the world will ever see, Jesus brought those listening to him to the events of the past when the people of Nineveh repented after they heard Jonah preached to them (𝐯.𝟑𝟎) even if Jonah resented it for he was biased against the Ninevites.

         Jesus also refreshed their memories to the events surrounding the Queen of Sheba who praised God whom she recognized after she heard Solomon speaking words of wisdom even though Solomon had many faults of his own.

         What Jesus was trying to emphasize to the Jews was the irony behind these two events in the Old Testament in that God can use even those who are imperfect to bring the message of salvation to the people and that he whom the Jews do not recognize was greater than Jonah or Solomon for that matter.

         What Jesus was also pointing out was that the healing, the miracles and deliverance from demon-possession were enough signs of someone greater than Jonah or the wisdom of Solomon but which the religious leaders still refused to acknowledge.

         In effect what Jesus was saying in this Gospel was that “𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐨. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐡?” What he was trying to stress was that the Jews stand to be condemned because they had more privileges than the people of Nineveh or the Queen of Sheba who repented after they heard the Word of God spoken to them.

         And this is what Jesus is also telling our present generation that He has practically given us all the privileges to live our lives as comfortably as we can so that we can find the time to abide by his statutes and yet there are still many in today’s generation who appear to be waiting for a sign before they turn away from their sinfulness.

         Compared to the people of Nineveh, to the Queen of Sheba and even to the Jews in the olden times, we all have seen the signs that should make us accept Jesus as the Son of God. The more than 2,000 years following his passion, death and resurrection were filled with accounts of those who were witness to his ministry, to the greatest sign on Calvary, the Pentecost event. All these have been captured in the Scriptures. There also are the messages of Fatima, apparitions in Naju, Akita and Medjugorje that call on the world to be faithful to God.

        Our lives are filled with signs and symbols from the moment we wake up in the morning up to when the day comes to an end. We rely on traffic signs to get us to where we want to go. We depend on cloud formation and how the wind blows on our faces to give us a feel of the kind of weather we will be experiencing for the day.

        There are some who look to number signs, dates and times or even circumstances to help them with their business decisions. Worst, there are some and I was one of them who placed even their future on fortune tellers and ancient methods such as geomancy. I used to believe in feng shui before and I didn’t know that as a Catholic I am not supposed to delve in such practices. When the Lord revealed himself to me through the Marriage Encounter and the Life in the Spirit Seminar, I knew that I have found the only sign that I will ever need in life because Jesus is the only sign who can assure us of our eternal salvation.

         Today, the Sacred Scriptures is available to anyone who would devote time to know God – who he is and what he did and what he continues to do for us. No other book in history has survived the test of time, translated into practically all the languages of the world and used as reference for millions of books that has been printed ever since.

         Accounts of healing and even instances when those who have been pronounced as clinically dead but who by the Grace of God miraculously recovered, stood up and lived. How about the many prayers that we uttered and were answered.

         Indeed, God is the only sign we need and will ever need. What more signs do we need to make us believe and live the kind of life that God wants us to live – an abundant life (𝐉𝐧 𝟏𝟎:𝟏𝟎) but a life that is disposed to serving Him by serving our neighbor. The signs are all over our midst and have been available to us to help us increase our faith that we may believe that Jesus is Lord. Our faith is even sustained with the help of new technologies as the Word of God is also now available on cyberspace.

         With these privileges to know God more and what he has given us  including the material comforts that we now enjoy – jobs, homes, clothes, cars, jewelries and, food on our table – we are now called upon to be  responsible for what God has provided for us and we can begin by acknowledging him as the source of all we have (1 𝑪𝒐𝒓 10:26) “𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅’𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒕.”        

          Out of what Our Lord has made available to us, we as Christians especially for disciples must respond to the Lord with complete devotion and setting aside whatever doubt or unbelief we have because “𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒎, 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒐𝒅” (𝑱𝒏 1:12)         

          And those who will continue and persist in their refusal to accept him as Lord and Savior will be condemned. Let us not miss the opportunity to meet, know and be faithful to someone greater than Jonah or Solomon for there are only two choices in life – it’s either we are for Him or against him.

          Putting your life at great risk and losing it in wild abandon is something you shouldn’t do in your lifetime. Remember too that everything in this earth including the life we live in belongs to the Lord. As such, our main preoccupation is to remain faithful and keep the sacredness of this life we live so that when the Lord returns, we won’t hear him say: “𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑴𝒂𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒔, 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒉?” (𝑳𝒌 18.8). (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 - 𝘑𝘶𝘭𝘺 21, 2025)