“Why does this generation seek a sign?” asked Jesus, and with a profound sigh, he got into the boat and went away to the other side. Even though Jesus was constantly in conflict with the religious leaders, their demand for a sign seems to have hurt him to the core. What made the hurt more painful is the fact that the demand came on the backdrop of a sign Jesus had just performed (the miracle of the loaves). Moreover, the Pharisees’ request for a sign was an indication that they had doubts on the Messiahship of Jesus (and by doing so they had effectively rejected both Jesus and God whose work Jesus was doing).
We can today point to the Pharisees and criticize them for their failure to recognize the many signs Jesus had worked as we ask ourselves: “What else did they want Jesus to do? What other sign would point to Jesus being the presence of God in their midst other than the healing of the sick and feeding of the hungry that Jesus was doing? What other sign would point to God visiting his people than Jesus involving himself in the lives of the people?” But even as we do so, let us not forget that we too are guilty of the same offense. For we too have asked God for signs. We do this when we give God conditions: when we ground our continued trust in God on a successful completion of an endeavor we are undertaking; when we ask God to reassure us of God’s presence in our lives by healing us or getting us out of an impossible situation. We do this, not because we like doing it, but rather because we spend our lives trying to fit God into our idea of God (we try to create God into our own image). The greatest sign that God can give us has already been given us: Immanuel – God with us. We only have to open our eyes and hearts to him and all our questions will be answered.