The Three Day Sign
By Blesson Selvanesan
The Word: John 2:18-21
18 So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body. (ESV)
Jews were searching for a Messiah, when John the Baptist ruled himself out and pointed towards Jesus, They came to Jesus. They were confused and amazed by what Jesus did. They expected Messiah to come from a palace with pomp and pride. When they saw Jesus, they could not imagine a Messiah in Jesus. Jesus had just performed his first miracle by turning the water into wine at Cana. As the town was talking about it, Jesus spoke with authority in the temple and called it ‘my Father’s house’. The pious people were confused and concerned. They demanded that Jesus show a sign. He gave them a sign as they demanded, but they were blinded that they could not understand and walked away from Jesus. People had they eyes on the temple of God but Jesus wanted to bring their attention towards God. They did not know what a real temple meant. Jesus followed through with the sign and only a few realized that when he rose again.
Application: God is an amazing God who follow through with his words. Religious Jews at that time were blinded and could not recognize Messiah and his signs. God works in mysterious ways and if we are blinded we will not be able to recognize and accept what God has done and is willing to do for us. It is very easy to forget signs and miracles. If we depend upon signs and miracles, we will only end up chasing behind these signs and wonders and not God. God is not a cosmic magic man to entertain us rather he is our Father who is interested in our lives and wants to have a relationship with us. The biggest miracle is defeating death, which Jesus did. Death lost its sting. Is that enough to make us believe in the Messiah? Are we convince by the three day sign?
Prayer: Heavenly Father, Give us faith to trust in you and your Words and believe in your ability. Help us to believe that you are able to bring breakthroughs in our lives. Help us to open our hearts and eyes. Let us not be blinded like the religious Jews who failed to recognize you. Help us to recognize your works in our lives. In Christ’s name Amen.