From the Deacon's Desk

Each day, I reflect upon a word or a phrase inspired by the readings of the day. I encourage you to do the same and perhaps incorporate that word or phrase into your daily prayer.

“Jesus sighed from the depth of his spirit and said, ‘Why does this generation seek a sign?’” (Mark 8:11-13)

SEEKING A SIGN: Sounds like people had asked Jesus to “prove it” once too often.

They were seeking a sign, so that they might believe in Him. People wanted to know, “What can you do? What powers do you have?”

Our initial reaction might be, “Who do you think you are? Don’t you know who you’re talking to? That’s Jesus!” In reality, we need to cut these sign-seekers some slack, because they did not know who they were talking to!

At that point, Jesus was just another prophet – another guy who could talk a good game. They were waiting for the Messiah. They had been promised a Savior. Jesus seemed different from the others, but they wanted to know for sure. Impatience took over – so are you the one or not? Show us! Prove it!

It is understandable that Jesus needed to prove himself to his contemporaries. More concerning is how even today we seem to be asking Jesus to prove himself. Jesus has spent the last 2,000 years proving himself to us – what more do we need?

Every time we lack faith, we are saying to Jesus, “Prove it!” Following Thomas’ demonstration of doubt, Jesus told him, “Happy are those who have not seen and have believed.” That is the essence of our faith.

Jesus has nothing to prove to us.