NOTES for Mat 12:22-50
No miracle can prove anything by itself. Those who witnessed the healings Jesus performed could always explain them however they wished, even making absurd claims that these events were satanic in nature. The dispute over whether something is “from God or not from God,” directed here not so much at the miracle as at Jesus Himself, has no evidentiary basis. This is also clear from the history of Christian apologetics: every claim and argument in favor of Christ has met a counterargument, all of them ultimately amounting to the same thing: this does not follow from anything; it has not been proved. Is this not what the Lord Himself says when, in response to a request for irrefutable proof, for a sign, He gives the “sign of Jonah” as an example and links it with His resurrection from the dead? The paradox is that this “sign” was not proof of the prophet's preaching. The Pharisees who demanded a sign never saw the risen Christ: He appeared only to those who remained faithful to Him. This means that the sign of the Resurrection works only in the realm of the Spirit; it can be proof only for those who themselves want to share in the mystery of Christ.