Eighth Monday after Pentecost

2020.07.27 on Matt 16.1-6

How often do we find ourselves asking a sign of God to prove Himself? Among the unbelievers the request is often posed, “If God is real, let Him show us a sign and reveal Himself.” Yet God has done this, having proven Himself in the faithfulness of Christ and shown signs and wonders that reveal Himself.

The condemnation of such a unbeliever is pronounced with that of the Pharisees as “an evil and adulterous generation.” This spurs from Christ’s perception of their hearts: although they request signs under the supposed pretense that they must be certain before they believe lest they be led astray (a presumably laudable intention in the light of the Old Testament), yet their hearts had no intention to believe in Christ, as their reaction to His previous signs and wonders had already betrayed. Jesus condemns their hypocrisy by pointing out their “mastery” in interpreting of the signs of the earth but their ignorance in understanding the signs of heaven already performed before their very face. Or what of the unbeliever today? Has not man received the infallible Word of God? Has he not been given countless saints and martyrs who have proclaimed, lived, and died for God accompanied by such signs and wonders that countless souls were saved by them? Whatever era of history, man will not believe God even should He Himself “rend the heavens and come down” (Is 64.1) if His heart does not desire belief.

The condemnation of the believer arises when we wish God to prove Himself and His will, even when we have sufficient proof of such things. To be sure, there is great virtue in asking God to reveal His will regarding a particular decision; it is asking God to prove it specifically with remarkable signs and wonders—especially when He has made it clear already—that we condemn ourselves as “evil and adulterous,” refusing belief until God would “rend the heavens and come down” (Is 64.1). Even without clear direction of God’s will in our lives, we nevertheless understand God’s general will for us, namely that we live a life of faith and prayer in patience, waiting upon God to reveal Himself and His will in His own time. We learn this from the Prophet Isaiah, who instructs us to wait for God with faithful patience: “When you did awesome things that we did not look for, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence. From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him” (Is 64.3-4). Therefore, although Isaiah wishes for God to act as he wishes, he realizes that God is a God who works in His own ways and time, revealing Himself in marvelous and perfect ways.