Daily Devotional For Sunday, October 11, 2026
Good morning Southside! I am following the One Year Chronological Bible reading suggestion and any Bible verses you see highlighted in bold (ex. John 3:16), means it is a link to that verse. All you have to do is click on the reference and it will take you to the verse online. Our daily devotional for today comes from the words of Jesus found in Matthew 16:1-4:
“One day the Pharisees and Sadducees came to test Jesus, demanding that he show them a miraculous sign from heaven to prove his authority. (2) He replied, ‘You know the saying, ‘Red sky at night means fair weather tomorrow; (3) red sky in the morning means foul weather all day.’ You know how to interpret the weather signs in the sky, but you don’t know how to interpret the signs of the times. (4) Only an evil, adulterous generation would demand a miraculous sign, but the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah.” Then Jesus left them and went away” (NLT).
Have you noticed that people keep looking for hope in so many places? For example, as our culture has changed to be more healthy for example, white bread is out and wheat bread is in today. Sodas and energy drinks are out and bottled and water purifiers are in now. Years ago, people loved to live downtown and now with crime so high, they moved to the suburbs, thinking they were safe. As smog and pollution became an issue, people started moving out from the suburbs to the country. When public schools were in, now private schools are the thing. In Matthew 16:1-4, Jesus calls His disciples to remind them anyone who wants to be ready for the future must know his or her own times.
We live in a culture where people want signs of the times. Signs that indicate how the economy and financial world is going. Signs how their sports teams are doing. Signs of how the political world is going. In 1971, a song came out titled, “Signs, Signs, Everywhere Signs.” In fact, there was a movie that came out in 2002 called “Signs.” In Jesus time the religious leaders wanted Jesus to do a sign for them to prove He was who He claimed to be. Now, before we get mad at them, the Old Testament Law commanded Jews to test the claims of anyone who claimed to be a prophet (Deut. 18:21-22).
There is a saying, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” In this case, the Pharisees and Sadducees combined forces against Jesus to force Him to do a sign for them. These two groups hated one another and were polar opposites. For example, Pharisees accepted all the Old Testament and the traditions that came with it. The Sadducees only accepted the first 5 books of the Mosaic Law. The Pharisees believed in angels and the resurrection of the dead, but the Sadducees did not. Sadducees were usually from the wealth class and Pharisees were not. For them to ask for a sign was not unbiblical. They probably had heard about Jesus’ miracles and wanted some kind of proof.
A sign was often used by God and his prophets to accomplish two purposes: (1) It showed trustworthiness or reliability—if a prophet said something would happen and it came to pass, this would demonstrate that in all his prophecies he was telling the truth from God. (2) A sign showed power—if a message were accompanied by a sign, this would authenticate the power and authority of the prophet. Jesus would not give them the sign they demanded. He had in mind an even greater evidence of his power. They had previously discounted Jesus’ miracles as trickery, sleight of hand and empowered by demons.
Jesus told them that the sign was there if they would open their eyes to see it. This is why He Jesus said what He did in verses 2-3. Some think this is a different verse of Luke’s version in Luke 12:54-56. Jesus said that while the religious leaders were great at looking at the signs of weather to know what the weather was going to be, they were blind to the spiritual signs right in front of them that He was the Messiah. Jesus said the only sign they would have was the sign of Jonah. Meaning since Jonah had been 3 days and 3 nights in the belly of some huge fish, He would be in the grave for 3 days and 3 nights.
Jesus did not want people to believe in Him only for His miracles, but to have faith in Him for who He was and is. These self-righteous leaders were doomed because they refused to come to Jesus in faith. They wanted some sign. They already had plenty, but even these were not enough. Jesus had raised people from the dead, fed over 5,000 people not counting the women and children, had walked on water, and etc. What sign would suffice then? In Jesus’ day, the religious leaders taught there were certain signs that would prove who was the Messiah.
Jesus had already done these. So, there was nothing else He had to do. Jesus said this in John 20:29, “Blessed are those who believe without seeing Me” (NLT).Jesus accused the Jews and their religious leaders as being adulterers because of the apostasy of their hearts. They believed in their traditions. They believed in their self-righteousness. They believed in their religious acts, but their hearts were as far from God as east is from the west.
Reflection Assignment: What signs do you wish Jesus would do for you to prove He is who He said He is? Why do you want those? The Old Testament is full of prophecies that prove this. Why do you think so many people, even Christian people, live their lives as doubting Thomas before He saw the resurrected Jesus?
Scripture To Meditate On: 1 Peter 1:8, “You love Him even though you have never seen Him. Though you do not see Him now, you trust Him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy” (NLT).
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Lord, please forgive me when I refuse to walk by faith. Lord, faith is tough. Yet, that is the way I want to live. Please Holy Spirit help me with my unbelief and with my faith. I love You Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly