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Did Jesus give signs to show who he was, or refuse to give any?
Hard question · The life of Jesus · raised by 2 of the lists sceptics circulate
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The Pharisees, testing him, demand a sign from heaven; Jesus says no sign will be given to this generation.
And the Pharisees came forth, and began to question with him, seeking of him a sign from heaven, tempting him. And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and saith, Why doth this generation seek after a sign? verily I say unto you, There shall no sign be given unto this generation.
No sign will be given to an evil generation except the sign of Jonah: three days and nights in the heart of the earth.
Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Jesus did many signs; these are written so that readers may believe he is the Christ.
And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.
God approved Jesus among the people by miracles, wonders and signs.
Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:
The objection
When the Pharisees asked Jesus for a sign, he said, “There shall no sign be given unto this generation.” Yet John says Jesus did “many other signs” so that people might believe, and Peter says God approved Jesus “by miracles and wonders and signs”. Did Jesus give signs or refuse them?
The answer
What Jesus refused was a sign on demand for people who had already rejected the signs he had given. Mark sets the request straight after the feeding of the four thousand (Mark 8:1–10), and the Pharisees asked for “a sign from heaven, tempting him” (8:11): not more evidence, but a heavenly display of their own choosing, as a test. Jesus would not perform for unbelief; his miracles were acts of mercy and signs for those willing to see what they meant (Matthew 11:4–5).
Even then he did not leave them without a sign. Matthew records the fuller saying, “no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas” (Matthew 12:39), meaning his death and rising (12:40). The signs John and Peter speak of are the ones Jesus did give, openly, and the greatest was the one he promised the Pharisees: his resurrection.
From the classic commentators
They demanded of him a sign from heaven, as if the signs he gave them on earth, which were more familiar to them, and were more capable of being examined and enquired into, were not sufficient.Matthew Henry, Commentary on Mark 8:11–13 (1706–1721)
why doth this generation seek after a sign? when so many have been shown among them, and they will not believeJohn Gill, Exposition on Mark 8:12 (1746–1763)
Sources
- Matthew Henry, Commentary on Mark 8, at HelloAO
- John Gill, Exposition of the Bible: Mark 8, at Bible Hub
- John Gill, Exposition of the Bible: Matthew 16, at Bible Hub