From time to time, during the public ministry of Jesus, the Pharisees ask Jesus for a sign that His authority comes from above (Mark 8, 11-13, for example). The trend seems to be that they get disturbed by what Jesus is saying and doing, and so they demand some “heavenly sign” to indicate that His authority comes from God. As we might imagine, He refuses to give in to their request, He refuses to give them a sign on their terms.
The irony, of course, is that Jesus’ whole life is a sign! Everything He does and says is a sign of God’s loving presence among us. In St. Mark’s Gospel, the ordinary people can see this clearly, but the leaders and even Jesus’ own disciples are slow to learn. So, signs are there in abundance, but many cannot see because they do not want to see; they choose spiritual blindness. Isn’t it true that we, too, need to be aware of our own blindness and our failure to see the “signs” of God’s love operating in our everyday lives?
Open My Eyes: https://youtu.be/wLWYXpJjrjg
