Does Jesus really reject signs and wonders?
In Matthew 16:4 Jesus said, "An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah." Many Christians have taken this to be a rejection of the role of signs and wonders in the Church. Such interpretation is deeply erroneous and incongruent with the full context of the passage. A reading of the full passage shows that before Jesus made this statement, He had just performed incredible signs and wonders. "Great crowds came to him, having with them the lame, the blind, the deformed, the mute, and many others. They placed them at his feet, and he cured them. The crowds were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the deformed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind able to see, and they glorified the God of Israel" (Mt 15:30-31). Right after these signs and wonders, Jesus multiplied bread to feed 4,000 (Mt 15:32-39). After all these miracles, "The Pharisees and Sadducees came and, to test him, asked him to show them a sign from heaven" (Mt 16:1). Jesus' response to them is to call the Pharisees and Sadducees an evil and unfaithful generation. Although they had witnessed him perform the preceding signs and wonders, their request for a sign was from the intention to test Jesus. Jesus was not rejecting signs and wonders, rather, he was rejecting the Pharisees and Sadducees testing of him.