“And there came to him the Pharisees and Sadducees tempting: and they asked him to shew them a sign from heaven. But he answered and said to them: ‘When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ And in the morning: ‘to day there will be a storm, for the sky is red and lowering.’ You know then how to discern the face of the sky: and can you not know the signs of the times? A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign: and a sign shall not be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet.’ And he left them, and went away.”
The Pharisees and Sadducees go to Him asking a sign, as if the miracles He had already done in their midst were nothing. St. John relates the miracle they were searching for: “They said therefore to him: ‘What sign therefore dost thou shew, that we may see, and may believe thee? What does thou work? Our father did eat manna in the desert, as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat’’” (John 6:30-31). In this there is an indication that God may not work the miracle that you seek, but constantly showers upon you blessings, graces, love, and truth the more you seek Him: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with spiritual blessings in heavenly places, in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3). However, even if Jesus were to bring manna from heaven, which in a way He did: “And they that did eat, were four thousand men, beside children and women” (Matthew 15:38), they would still not believe. Jesus then answers that those questioning Him and demanding from Him a sign had a grasp on the natural sciences and the way the world worked, as well as being acclaimed as doctors of the Law, but did not discern the coming of Love Incarnate through the words of the Scriptures: “I have had understanding above ancients: because I have sought thy commandments” (Psalm 118:100). In this there is a reprimand, that to have a great grasp on worldly events and an abundance of knowledge, even about matters of the faith, is nothing without genuine love: “And if I should have prophecy and should know all mysteries, and all knowledge… and have not love, I am nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:2), which was absent from the interrogators of Jesus. There is also a spiritual meaning to Jesus’ allegory, that in the evening of Jesus’ life, which was His Passion, there is the red of the Precious Blood which brings about the fair weather of peace between God and man: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you” (John 14:27), showing the merciful Lover of souls, whereas the storm indicated by the red morning is that the dawn of eternity will come with the fire of justice for those that did not love: “He bowed the heavens, and came down: and darkness was under his feet. And he ascended upon the cherubim, and he flew; he flew upon the wings of the winds” (Psalm 17:10-11). He came with littleness and love, that those that need love may receive His love without fear, whereas to turn away the Divine Bridegroom will meet with the spurned Lover at the end of days: “But when the king had heard of it, he was angry: and sending his armies, he destroyed those murderers, and burnt their city” (Matthew 22:7). Now, when Jesus mentions that an “evil and adulterous” generation seeks a sign, this means that those without eyes of the spirit, eyes that see the invisible, want some kind of physical sign indicating God’s action, whereas they cannot perceive the love, goodness, wisdom, and beauty of character that stands before them: “His cheeks are as beds of aromatical spices set by the perfumers. His lips are as lilies dropping choice myrrh” (Canticle 5:13). The philosopher Plotinus discusses three ways that the mind ascends to God, through beauty, which Jesus had in His way of life and the way He treated others: “His hands are turned and as of gold, full of hyacinths” (Canticle 5:14), through wisdom, which Jesus had in an immanent way, being Wisdom Itself: “In the beginning was the Word (Logos, or right reason)” (John 1:1); “The queen of the south shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold a greater than Solomon here" (Matthew 12:42); and through love, which radiated from Jesus’ every action, as He is love: “Who is the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:14); “God is love” (1 John 4:16). Not content with this perfect expression of what the human heart and mind desire, the Sadducees and Pharisees, not seeing through the literal interpretation of Scripture to reach its spiritual depth, desire great lights and ceremony: “And all mount Sinai was on a smoke: because the Lord was come down upon it in fire, and the smoke arose from it as out of a furnace: and all the mount was terrible” (Exodus 19:18). The religious leaders, hearing these things, did not seek, but wanted to test, for the Lord rewards those who seek Him in love and truth: “The ancient to the lady Elect, and her children, whom I love in truth, and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth, for the sake of the truth which dwelleth in us, and shall be with us for ever” (2 John 1:1-2), but walks away from those who are presumptuous and rest on their laurels. It is with this in mind that St. Paul says: “Not as though I had already attained, or were already perfect, but I follow after, if I may by any means apprehend, wherein I am also apprehended by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12), for your temple can always be adorned with more elegance, your love can always be more radiant, and the more you seek to please Him, the more He will give you the grace to be pleasing to Him: “Thou art beautiful, O my love, sweet and comely as Jerusalem” (Canticle 6:3), because “God resisteth the proud,” who think they do not need a greater spiritual beauty, “and giveth grace to the humble” (James 4:6), which are those that go to the source of all beauty to receive His imprint and gifts: “Thou openest thy hand, and fillest with blessing every living creature” (Psalm 144:16).