When Christ Comes Down - Matthew 27:42

 “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him.” - Matthew 27:42

    In 1958, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, a Beat Generation poet, published his classic book of poetry, A Coney Island of the Mind.  In it, the poem, “Christ Came Down,” was an irreverent interpretation of how Christmas had become even too secular for Jesus. Such irreverence has always accompanied the idea of Jesus actually coming down from His cross in a final attempt to show one last ‘sign’ of His divinity to unbelievers.
    There were incessant demands for Christ to perform a miracle, otherwise, they would not believe in Him. Jesus resolutely refused to show them any further signs except for His resurrection. “But he answered them, ‘An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.’” - Matthew 12:39. These impious people respected nothing divine. What would make them think a heavenly sign would remove all the cataracts of their disbelief. It would have been like a blind man asking to ‘see’ a rare jewel. How would he know the difference?
     “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” - 2 Corinthians 4:3-4.  These people were referred to as “those who are perishing.” For all intents and purposes, these people were to remain unsaved. Twenty more signs would have done nothing to dispel their unbelief. If they couldn’t even discern the good news of the Gospel, how would they be able to tell a miracle from a magic trick?
    Christ’s reputation as a ‘miracle worker’ was preceding Him wherever He went. “Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him.” - John 12:37. But the signs He had shown them were never enough. Jesus would show them no further signs. And sinners were by nature as they are now, hard necked and never compelled to believe.
    So the question begs, what if Christ showed ‘a sign’ to unbelievers today? What if He came down? Can we even imagine what demands would be made of Him today? What tests would fill out the 21st Century ‘wish list’ presented to Christ before we would believe? Would those who refused to believe in Him before, believe in Him now? Would it make a difference if they saw Him in the proverbial ‘flesh’? Would they believe if they could put their fingers in His side and in the wounds in His hands?
    We must remember two specifics about insisting upon and relying on signs and evidence before we believe. First, we are cautioned that we should never make demands of God. We should never challenge God or put Him to the test. “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah.” - Deuteronomy 6:16. The voices demanding proof from God today are every bit as profane and sacrilegious as those of the crowd at Golgotha on that dark Friday afternoon. Common providence should assure all of us that there is indeed a gracious and loving God who sees to our every need. Jesus calls those who do not need evidence of his divinity, ‘blessed’. “Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’” - John 20:29.
    So what kind of faith is Jesus seeking? He seeks a faith that doesn’t require the sternness of our cynical tests of His divinity. He seeks a faith that doesn’t require compliance with our demands. He seeks a faith that rests in our complete surrender to Him. And he seeks a faith that rests in our absolute confidence in His atonement for our sins.
    Those of us who believe in Christ today have done so by faith and faith alone. “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” - 1 Peter 1:8-9. This is our Christian blessing.
    The day is coming when we will all see Christ come down and on that day, we will all believe, some to salvation and others to condemnation. But mark these words: we will all believe on that day, in the future, when Christ comes down.