SIGNS THAT ERASE OR RAISE DOUBTS?

Mt 12:38-42

When we are in doubt, we seek for a sign. When we see the sign is our doubt gone? Not always.

A sign does not always automatically erase our doubt because sometimes we doubt even the sign itself. We ask, “Is this really the sign?” or “Am I not mistaken in interpreting the sign?” Judging a sign to be authentic and interpreting it correctly requires the gift of discernment. But sometimes, we doubt the sign given us simply because we expect something different from what we see.

Certitude is arrived at through a process that involves intelligence and freedom. Certitude is not always guaranteed by the tangible proofs. To see is therefore not always to believe. Instead, to believe is always to see. One who believes sees but one who sees does not always believe.

There are times when the more signs we are given the more doubts we have. Openness to the sign, and not the sign in itself, casts away any doubt. For one whose mind is close and whose heart is hard, even a million signs may not suffice. But for one whose mind and heart are open, no sign is required. Consider this: For one who believes no miracles are needed, but for one who does not believe no miracle will do.

The generation of Jesus was expecting a different Christ. Jesus did not fit its expectations. Thus, it rejected Jesus and even crucified Him. The generation of Jesus had its mind and heart closed to Him.

The sign of Jonah was God’s act that certified Jonah’s call to the Ninevites to repent from their evil ways. For three days and three nights God kept Jonah alive inside the belly of a big fish. The fish brought him straight to the shores he did not want to step on in the first place.

The sign was Jonah but the reality that sign pointed to was Christ. God’s act through Jonah foreshadowed God’s act through Jesus Christ, His Son. After three days in the tomb, the Father raised His Son back to life. The resurrection of Jesus testified to the truth of all that He taught and claimed to be. For our part, we, as disciples of Jesus, must be signs of His lordship.

Are we signs that faithfully point to Jesus as the Christ? Or are we signs of Jesus that raise even more doubts about Him in the hearts and minds of the unbelievers? Please do not forget to give a visible sign of your response.