The Jews of John 6 just wanted one more, just one more. I wonder if they put together a sign committee to come up with their top three all time greatest signs to ask for. Imagine the discussion. "Let's ask for fire from heaven like Elijah did on Mt. Carmel. No, how about let's ask for the parting of the Red Sea? No, those were good but they didn't last. We need a sign that keeps giving. How about manna from heaven, a seven day a week sign? That's it!" So a delegation is selected to take the idea to Jesus. Now they had their presentation down. "What then do you do for a sign that we may see and believe You? What work do you perform?" Surely Jesus could not resist their request. They just wanted a little more evidence so they could believe, right? Jesus saw through their self-deception.
Now a "sign" is just that, a sign. Signs point. Signs indicate. Signs give instructions and directions and information. But at the end of the day, they are just signs. Imagine a fellow that is really into traveling and seeing the sights of the United States. You walk into a room of his house and from ceiling to floor on all the walls are signs, bumper stickers, licence plates, pictures of places to visit in each state. The man is a sign collector. He loves looking at his signs and getting one more. He loves thinking about standing at the Grand Canyon or Niagara Falls or the Golden Gate Bridge. But he has never been there and never really experienced first hand the excitement of these places. He simply looks at the signs.
The signs of the Bible were temporary pointers to the real thing. Raised people died again. Filled people got hungry again. Healed people got sick again. Signs did not last. They always had to be replaced because time wore them away. Christians today have replaced chasing miraculous signs with chasing church experiences and programs. They ask, "What program will you give us so that we might believe (in this church or this pastor)?" How quickly a church's star falls from the sky when they fail to trot out another more exciting sign. But, if a church or pastor is really into Jesus and giving people Jesus, the true bread, and the words of life, which if consumed will conquer the hunger of the spirit, then why go elsewhere and look for a "better program/sign?" We are teaching our children to be sign-chasers instead of consumers of Jesus. Looks like folks have not changed very much.
I read the following today: "Every time you hear the Word of God preached, you come away from that exposure to his truth either a little closer to God or a little further away from God...either more softened toward him, or more hardened toward him. But you are never "just the same". And don't tell yourself that if only God would perform a miracle in your life you would believe and open up. Jesus performed miracles, and (many of) the people who saw them only became further hardened (John 12:37-41). From "Isaiah" by Ortland. Page 81
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