And others, tempting Him, sought of Him a sign from Heaven. Luke 11:16
The old ‘sign from Heaven’ argument, it has been around for a long time. Most of us have heard skeptics scoff at the existence of God, saying that they have seen no evidence of His miracles. Others will say sarcastically that they would believe in God if He would perform a miracle for them. As I say, this is an old line that was proved untrue when the Lord Jesus was serving His earthly ministry. His great miracles and His invincibility in debate were proofs of His deity that we say any rational person must accept. But they did not accept Him then, and they would not accept Him now. They rejected, despised, and crucified Him then; they would do so again. For those who accepted Him then, and for those of us who accept Him today, the sign from Heaven is obvious.
Our text came just after the Lord Jesus had cast out a demon from a man who had been dumb. What greater proof did these people need? What were these people looking for? Was this not a sign from Heaven? Before them walked a Man Who had already healed many people, fed many thousands from a lad’s lunch, halted the raging elements in a storm at sea. They would reject His proofs because they would reject Him. And while He is not walking in this world today and performing miracles, His Word is with us, telling us of all His words and power. As the rejectors and despisers ignore the Word, we accept it, and give thanks for the sign from Heaven. How precious to us are the accounts in the Gospels of the compassion and caring of the Lord Jesus! We rejoice with those blind, lame, and full of leprosy who felt the touch of His hand and give thanks for the sign from Heaven. We thrill at the incredible calming of the storm on Galilee and stand in awe at the raising from the dead of a ruler’s daughter, a widow’s son and two sisters’ brother. A sign from Heaven? Oh yes, He provided plenty of signs from Heaven! And we praise our God for all of those proofs in His Word. Most of all, we praise Him for the greatest sign of all, the sacrifice of His Son for us at Calvary.
We often declare that Calvary was the world’s greatest battleground, and that the sufferings of Christ produced the greatest victory. And from the accounts in the Gospels we marvel at the greatness of this sign from Heaven. It was a sign of God’s great love for lost sinners, in the giving of His Son (John 3:16). It was a sign of God’s great provision to cover the helpless and hopeless condition of ruined mankind. It was a sign of our Saviour’s devotion to His Father and His submission to His will. It was a sign of the willingness of the Lord Jesus to endure the rejection, the spitting, the cruelty, and the hatred of men, and to endure the agony and loneliness of the cross. It was a sign of victory extended to lost sinners like us.
God has given to us all the sign from Heaven that we need. -Jim MacIntosh