Recently Harold Camping, president of Family Radio, declared that the world would end on May 21, 2011.(1)  Camping is in good company with this kind of prediction.  The Mayan prediction of the end of the world, popularized in the film 2012 this past year, has put searching for the signs of the end times back in vogue.  But for Camping, this is not the first time that he has made this kind of prediction.  On September 6, 1994, dozens of Camping's followers gathered in Alameda, California to await the return of Christ, an event Camping had been preaching about for two years.  Despite Camping's careful calculations and reading of the signs that pointed to his return, Jesus did not return.  Camping conceded that he miscalculated the date. 

Camping is not alone in his seeking after signs for Christ's return.  Be they mathematical formulae or codes contained in Scripture, as in Camping's case, or watching after political maneuvers, leaders, and geo-political reorganization, some Christians are keenly aware and watchful for signs that signal Christ's imminent return.  But there are other signs some seek as well.  Perhaps it is the sign of a surefire certainty or the answer to every doubt.  Others seek signs that are perhaps more like magic tricks than miracles.

Interestingly enough, the season of Epiphany, according to the Christian calendar, is also a season of signs.  But the signs of Epiphany are not for calculating the end of the world, nor are they the signs seemingly marked out in geo-political happenings.  Instead, Epiphany's signposts reveal the identity of Jesus as God's chosen Messiah.  Beginning with the visit of the foreign magi, the baptism of Jesus by his cousin John, as well as various miracles in the earthly ministry of Jesus, the season of Epiphany enjoins us in the work of seeking the signs of Jesus's unique identity and purpose.  

For this reason, the text of John's Gospel is often read during Epiphany.  For in John's Gospel, seven signs are recorded by the evangelist: the miracle at the wedding of Cana, the healing of the nobleman's son, the healing of the paralytic, the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus's walking on water, the healing of the man born blind, and the raising of Lazarus.  All reveal something unique about this man from Galilee.  

In John chapter 6, a poignant and theologically rich section of the evangelist's narrative, the multitudes come seeking a sign from Jesus.  Many of these seekers have just been fed by Jesus in the feeding of the five thousand (see John 6:1-14).  Still, they ask him, "What then do you do for a sign that we may see and believe you?" (John 6:20)  Jesus answers them by saying that he is the bread of heaven.  That is, in his very person life and sustenance reside!  He is the sign from God!  And yet the people do not believe him.  They continue to seek for other signs and wonders.  Even the religious leaders, themselves specialists in the interpretation of signs, grumble that Jesus claims to be the bread of heaven.  Jesus rightly proclaims, "But I said to you, you have seen me, and yet do not believe" (John 6:36).

What are the signs that you seek?  We rightly ask in the season of Epiphany and in light of John's sign-filled narrative: What is the point of a sign if it does not inspire belief?  That is to say, what is the point of a sign if it does not instill faith as opposed to fear, belief and hope rather than dread or simple wonder?  In this sense, the signs of Christ himself intend to bring us further into the unique life of Christ.  Thus we need not become fixated with the signs themselves, failing to see the forest through the trees.  Seeking after the signs of God's presence among us and God's purpose for our lives, we must not miss Jesus in the process.  He is both sign and sustenance, wonder and life itself. 

Margaret Manning is a member of the speaking and writing team at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Seattle, Washington.