Today's Gospel

You Don't Need a Sign

Welcome back to Radical and Relevant, where each day we explore the genius of the gospels, the genius of Jesus' teachings. Today's reading is from the Gospel of Matthew 12:38-42. Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, "Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you." But he answered them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign. But no sign shall be given to you except a sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will arise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it. For they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. The Queen of the South will arise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it. For she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And behold, something greater than Solomon is here."

What jumps out at you today? Well, the people, they come to Jesus, the scribes in the Pharisees, and they say, "Give us a sign." And it's lunacy, right? When you think about it, when you step back and think about it, it is lunacy. Why? Because he's given them signs every single day. He's healing people. He's preaching in ways they've never heard someone preach. He's making the lame walk and the blind sea. I mean, just every day, he's doing these miraculous things. So the idea that the Pharisees and scribes show up, we're about halfway through his public life, and say, "Hey, Jesus, give us a sign," is lunacy. It's insulting, right? And of course, Jesus says it to him pretty straight. He says, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign." And then he says, "There's something greater than Jonah here. There's something greater than Solomon here. Pay attention. You're missing the point. You're not seeing what's happening. Pay attention."

And I think that's what jumps out at me today is, are we paying attention to what God is doing in our lives? Are we over here saying, "Hey, God, can you do this," when God is over here doing something else in our lives? Are we over here asking for God to do this or that or the other thing," when God is beckoning us over here trying to get us to focus on what matters most? Jesus is saying to the people today, particularly the describing Pharisees, "Pay attention, it's right before you." And so as we go out to the world today, let's pay attention to what God is doing in our lives right now. We're not what we want him to do tomorrow, next week, or next year, but what is he doing in our lives right now? Have a great day. And remember, Be Bold, Be Catholic.