‘No sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah’ (Mt 16:4). It was the Lord’s reply to an evil and adulterous generation that failed to interpret the signs of the times (Mt 16:4). And we know that their interest was just to test Jesus (Mt 16:1. It is not surprising that, for them, the signs of the times will be out of reach. They will surely come across the truth but will not understand it. Of those two criminals who were crucified on either side of Jesus, one understood the truth, while the other failed in the test. Pilate, in spite of an extensive encounter with Jesus, could not understand the truth which his wife understood without even having a word with the Lord.
It was Pilate’s ultimate tragedy that even after hearing Jesus, the very source of truth, he kept on asking; ‘What is truth?’ (Jn 18:38). So it is not strange that he did not wait for a reply, but rather went back to the same crowd who were shouting for the blood of Jesus. Thus Pilate too missed his last bus.
We should fear such a tragedy would befall this generation also. Our biggest sign is the Risen Lord who conquered death once and forever. Jonah was a mere symbol. We have already seen the sign of Jonah being fulfilled in the Risen Lord. If we, after seeing all these signs, still stumble in the Lord, there is no greater tragedy awaiting us. Paul calls his people ‘foolish Galatians’ for the sole reason that they stumbled on the crucified Lord. He exclaims who had bewitched the Galatians, when before their own eyes, Jesus Christ was publicly exhibited as crucified ( Gal 3:1).
No other sign will help those who are reluctant to believe the ultimate truth of resurrection. They will fail miserably to interpret the signs of the times in which they live. There is only one instrument that will help us to interpret the signs of the times, and that is faith. For those who lack faith, the current wars are similar to previous wars. Natural calamities are similar to that older generations experienced. Plagues are but a revisit of old diseases. Famine and starvation happened even during Pharaoh’s times, they would argue. They would console themselves by saying that apostasy was rampant in the early Church also and that there were disciples who, because of their love with this present world, deserted their ministry (2 Tim 4:9). Those who ignore the sign of the Risen Lord will interpret the book of Revelation as a historical narrative of what happened during the reign of Nero, forgetting that we are at the threshold of those events unfolding before our own eyes.
They would reason that ‘ever since our ancestors died all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation’ (2 Pet 3:4). This false confidence will lead them to deny the imminent second coming of Lord Jesus Christ in glory. Let us pray for them so that they be on their guard against their hearts getting weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life and that day catch them unexpectedly, like a trap (Lk 21:34).
As for the rest of us, there is nothing to boast of, because we are living ‘the ends of the ages’ (1 Cor 10:11) when those who think they are standing, should watch out that they do not fall (1 Cor 10:12). Since the Lord has told us about every sign of the times, well in advance, we have no excuse but to prepare.
These are days of preparation. A time to ‘be alert at all times, praying that we may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man’ (Lk 21:36). Never forget that our brothers and sisters who fail to interpret the signs of the times too deserve our prayers.
