So it was with the shepherds of Bethlehem. The gleaming angelic visitor said, "And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger" (Luke 2:12).
After the messenger had left they went on a most unexpected journey back into the tiny village where they saw the baby and his mother exactly as they were told. This was a story they had to tell, one I can imagine they retold again and again for the rest of their lives.
What part do signs play in the Bible? This is a large topic.
During His public ministry the Lord Jesus was challenged by the ultra-conservative Pharisees. If he was to be taken seriously they needed a sign from heaven, that is direct from God. Jesus pointed them to the red sky in the morning, the universal sign that a storm is approaching. "You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky," he went on, "but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be give to it except the sign of Jonah" (Matthew 16:3-4).
What in the world did that mean? Jesus explained to his disciples that Jonah was in the belly of of a fish for three days and nights before being vomited onto dry land and sent off to preach a message of repentance to Nineveh (Jonah 1:17).
Shortly before returning to heaven Jesus opened the Scriptures to his disciples and taught them again that it was written that the Son of Man was to suffer, die and rise from the dead on the third day. Then they were to preach a message of repentance and forgiveness of sins to all nations beginning in Jerusalem (Luke 24:45-48).
The church, the living body of Christ on earth, with her message of Jesus' cross and resurrection is a sign to all. The promised Christ has come. God's love and mercy is offered and available to anyone who will turn from sin.
More on this another time.
