Matthew 16:1-4 – Study Lesson about Looking for Signs
What did Jesus say about looking for signs in the sky?
Do you sometimes have doubts about your faith.
Have you ever wished you could see a miracle from the sky to prove Gods existence or to have a more stable belief in Christ?
Me too. Even John the Baptist doubted his faith at one time.
But, as we learn in this Bible study lesson the key word here is faith which is based on belief.
Faith is not always seeing or hearing or touching. This is something the atheists can’t seem to understand.
Jesus explains below about looking for signs of God in the book of Matthew.
Seeing Is Believing? What Did Jesus Say about Looking for Signs?
The Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and testing Jesus, they asked Him to show them a sign from heaven.
But He replied to them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’
And in the morning, ‘There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.’
Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times?
An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and a sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah.”
And He left them and went away. – Matthew 16:1-4 NASB
Are We Looking for a Miracle or Sign? Signs from God
First, let’s look at a bit of Bible history. Jesus had two adversaries, the Pharisees and Sadducees.
These two groups disagreed on many points of Scripture. But, they were unified in their hatred for Christ.
When they joined forces to trick Jesus, He knew exactly what they were doing. He also knew they would not believe no matter what miracle from the sky He performed.
Believing in Miracles
With that said, what about people nowadays?
Even with all the evidence in the Bible, from the miracles of Moses to Jonah (mentioned above and also alluding to the resurrection after three days), to the New Testament healing and wonders, we still sometimes look for “signs from the sky” to believe.
We are a skeptical people. We have heard the phrase all our lives that “Seeing is believing.” so we base our beliefs on what we can see, touch or hear.
Faith is Knowing
Faith is based on what we know in our hearts about Christ as Savior and our relationship with God.
We pray for miracles and God grants them – when it is within His will and for the benefit of completing His plan for our lives.
Christ Helps Us Through the Tough Times
Take a moment and think about things that have happened since you became a Christian.
Some are good and some are not so good but that’s the way life works.
The difference is that we have Christ and his Holy Spirit as our Lord, friend, advisor and comforter when the bad situations come our way. We also have a cheerleader for the good times in our lives.
What more of a sign could we ask for?
I’ll sum up with a quote from Jesus …
[easyazon_image align=”left” height=”160″ identifier=”1414380461″ locale=”US” src=”https://makingchristknown.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/51AfIYajhKL.SL160.jpg” tag=”bobpardphot-20″ width=”107″]Read John 20-29:
“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
God has nothing to prove. We just need to have faith and believe without seeing. Then, we’ll be blessed.
Love In Christ
– Bob
If you would like to discover how to receive the love and life-changing experience of Jesus Christ, please take a moment to read John 3:16 for more information.