Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, “Teacher we want to see a miraculous sign from you.” Matthew 12:38

The first question I ask when I read this verse is, would they have believed the miracle if Jesus had performed it right there on the spot? Probably not. Yesterday’s devotion touched upon the crowds liking Jesus and hanging around him for more. The spiritual leaders seem to have just the opposite reaction. Jesus was threatening their power, and they wanted him out of the limelight quickly. They were hoping to ridicule and mock him.

So what was Jesus’ reaction? “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” In essence he says, “Wait, and you’ll see a miracle that you can’t explain away! I will be the miracle! Then you’ll have to deal with it in a very different way.”

Jesus knew what those leaders were after. He knew their hearts and motives. He stood up to them and they probably walked away scratching their heads at “the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”

Rejoice today that the Son of Man spent three days and three nights in the heart of the earth for us.