In today’s passage, Jesus has just finished teaching when the Pharisees approach him and ask for a sign. This is just another way of asking their favorite question: “What gives you the authority to teach these things?” They are asking Jesus to prove that God is really with him. Jesus answers that his resurrection shall be a sign, just like Jonah emerging from the whale after three days. The Resurrection of Jesus is a sign to the Pharisees, but it is also a sign to us. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:14 that if Christ is not raised then our faith is in vain. The Resurrection is a sign to us that we can trust in Jesus Christ as the Messiah, and do not need to continually look for signs from God to see whether or not he is angry with us.

Michael Riggins

“Let Him be crucified!” This was the proclamation of a people who had seen the works of Christ. They had seen His miracles, His love and His mercy. Yet, they called for Him to die. Not just by hanging, not by some humane punishment, but by brutal crucifixion; a torcherous death thought up by the very Romans they despised. Knowing the payment for sin, for a single man, Jesus also knew the cost of redemption for all mankind. A perfect sacrifice, blameless and white as snow, He was betrayed. He stood before Pilate. He did not defend Himself. He received every blow of the whip. He bled. He was mocked. He was spat upon. With his weakened and broken body, He carried the very cross upon which He would die for the sins of man. When we take our lives for granted and knowingly live in sin without remorse, we are the very people who mocked Him. We are the very people who spat on Him. We are the ones who broke His body. However, the Gospel, the good news, is the very blood that flowed from his marred flesh, covers each and every one of us as we go on sinning so that we can face God in heaven, and having accepted His Son, will be welcome into His kingdom. There is none, nor will there ever be a greater example of love. So let us live lives that glorify Him. With every conversation, interaction, prayer, worship and praise, let us glorify Jesus Christ our King and the sacrifice He made for us.

Joshua Vasquez

Moreso now than ever, when we like something we tell the world about it. We Instagram everything, leave reviews on Yelp, and share most of our day on Facebook. Businesses love this, and many of them have their social media information readily available because they know that if we tell others about it, people will come looking for more of the same thing. Jesus is not interested in this consumer mentality. We read about a leper in the Gospel of Mark who told so many people of his healing that Jesus could no longer enter towns to teach because the people would flood him, expecting to see miracles (Mark 1:40-45). When Jesus tells his followers not to make him known, he wants to ensure that people are following him for the gospel of the Kingdom, not to witness a show. It is easy to love the things of God more than God, so let us pray today that God will help us to keep our hearts focused on Him above everything else.

Michael Riggins

Here Jesus talks of John and his ministry. He talks of how great John was and how important his work was. Through John’s ministry, people were more clearly able to see who Jesus was and how significant His arrival would become. He then goes on to challenge the generation and our criticism. Let us come with open hearts, unoffended by the teachings of Jesus. Let us learn and face our convictions humbly.

Joshua Vasquez

When Christ sees the crowds following him, weary and distressed and hungry for the gospel of the kingdom, he gives his disciples a charge: pray for laborers. Later in Matthew’s gospel, he calls them to be laborers themselves, saying, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” (Matt. 28:19). But here he just calls them to pray. The disciples do not know it yet, but they are praying for themselves, those whom they will disciple and send out, and those who will labor for the same goal across the world and throughout the history of the Church that they will never meet. Here in 2020, the harvest is still plentiful, and we are still commanded to pray for people across the world, including those in our own church, serving to bring the gospel to people around them.

Michael Riggins