11Then the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him. 12But He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign? Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation."
This one puzzles me somewhat. Why does Jesus say no sign shall be given to this generation? Hasn't there already been many signs? What about at his baptism when God said from heaven "You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."? What more direct sign could there be? Or what about all the miracles that he has performed? Aren't these also signs? Aren't the upcoming death and resurrection also signs that will be seen by many born during this time?
Or was there some particular sign they were asking for? It does say they were asking for a sign, testing Him. It doesn't say they were begging for a sign so they could solidify their faith, but that they were testing him. As described in Matthew 4:6-7, the devil tempted Jesus to test God. Jesus' answer was "You shall not tempt the LORD your God." Neither would Jesus let the Pharisees test Him. If they were asking for a sign to test Him, Jesus had no intention of participating, no sign would be given. When Jesus sighed deeply in His spirit, I wonder if it was because He recognized the devil bringing the same temptations to this generation that He endured in His 40 days in the desert?
Many times, we get what we expect only because we expect nothing else. The Pharisees were testing Jesus because they didn't expect him to be the Messiah. Because they didn't expect him to be the Messiah, they couldn't recognize the many signs that had occurred already. Do we let our expectations blind us too? Remove your expectations, and you may be surprised at what you see, often times much more than you could have expected!
Though it still bothers me a little about Jesus' statement about this generation. To help me with this, I consulted the dictionary and found more than one definition for generation. One definition is the average time interval between the birth of the parents and the birth of the offspring. I guess it is because I was thinking of this definition that this bothered me. This statement then conflicts with the fact that there are those born during this time period that would see signs.
Another definition for generation is a group of contemporary individuals. I happen to be currently living in the baby boomer generation, a yuppie generation. I was a child during the hippy generation. The term generation used in this way doesn't mean everyone living during these times were yuppies or hippies. Maybe Jesus just meant the Pharisee generation, that many at that time who believed as the Pharisees were not going to be given any signs.
Regardless by what He meant by this generation, I still think the real message is to not test Him. He will provide us with what we need. We just need to have faith. What we need to know will be revealed to us in due time. Trying to force the issue through testing will only make it harder for us to see the truth.