In today’s Gospel the Jews ask Jesus for a sign. Not content with witnessing  what he did and what he said, they wanted proof that Jesus did indeed come from God. They failed to see that Jesus himself was The Sign; and no other sign would, or even could, be given.

The Gospels have much to say about signs. John, for example,  tells us that everything Jesus did was a sign of God’s Presence among us: water turned into wine, the cure of the blind man, the raising of Lazarus, all tell us that something new is happening; that God is here among us. The synoptics point to the resurrection: “No other sign will be given except the sign of Jonah. 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.” And Paul offers the explanation: “Jews demand signs,” he says. “And Greeks look for wisdom. . . but we preach a Crucified Christ, a stumbling  block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.”

The Gospel message turns our world upside down. God’s values are not yet our own. We do not yet understand that God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom and God’s weakness greater than our hman strength.

Lord, open our eyes that we may see. Enlighten our minds to understand, we pray.