The Cross Is The Proof

𝐅𝐄𝐁. 𝟐𝟓, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔: 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐎𝐅 𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐓

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟏: 𝐉𝐨𝐧 𝟑:𝟏-𝟏𝟎

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟓𝟏:𝟑-𝟒, 𝟏𝟐-𝟏𝟑, 𝟏𝟖-𝟏𝟗 “𝐀 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐎 𝐆𝐨𝐝, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐧.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐋𝐤 𝟏𝟏:𝟐𝟗-𝟑𝟐

𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞: “𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐰𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧…” (𝐯.𝟐𝟗) 

         “Prove it to me!” is what we often hear in this perverse world that we live in and even what was before immoral has now become a pervading culture. This is what people who commit wrongs say when they are corrected and as the growing culture of relativism sweeps through our society what may be wrong in our eyes may be right for others.

         With the Chinese New Year that we just celebrated about a week ago, many people especially those with Chinese ancestry looked to feng shui for signs and some even relied on the position of the sun and planets and the weather as determining factors to guide their business and personal decisions. Doors, windows and even the kind of furniture that you bring into your homes must conform to what feng shui principles say in order to harness positive energies that bring luck and fortune.

         Today, many motorists, travelers, hikers, trekkers, mountaineers, or those who step out of the safe confines of their homes to go to an appointment, meeting, or workplace have also made it a habit to look for signs such as road signs to guide them to where they are headed. When we go on out-of-town jaunts, I normally look for signs so that I won’t get lost on the way.

         Specifically, we need to pay careful attention especially to warning signs because fatal accidents could be avoided if people only pay attention to such signs especially in Metro Manila where an average of three fatal accidents involving motorcyclists are recorded in the metropolis almost everyday.

         Signs are important in the life of the Jew, and we see it in this Gospel passage today when the religious leaders demanded a sign from Jesus who in turn gave them a serious warning to avert spiritual disaster. It has been the culture of the Jews to ask for a sign as a way of verifying the authenticity of those claiming to be messengers from God and when the religious leaders asked Jesus for signs he simply responded by saying that he was God's sign and that they need no further evidence from heaven than his own person.

         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 is 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.

         But instead of providing them with a sign which was yet to come and which was going to be 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 healings, the miracles and deliverance from demon-possession were enough signs of someone greater than Jonah or the wisdom of Solomon that the religious leaders refuse to acknowledge.

         In effect what Jesus was saying in this Gospel is 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 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.

         What more signs do we need to make us believe and live the kind of life that God wants us to live – a life that is disposed to serving Him by serving our neighbor.

         Today, the Holy 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 references for millions of books that have been printed ever since.

         Accounts of healing and even incidents of those who have been pronounced as clinically dead, but who miraculously rose and lived, of the many prayers that have been answered, these are signs that have been available to us for which we are to believe that Jesus is Lord. Our faith is even sustained with the help of new technologies as the Word of God is also now 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 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 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. So don’t play games with your lives, it’s the only life we’ve got. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 - 𝘍𝘦𝘣. 25, 2026)