Is there a specific “sign” of the return of Jesus?. The religious Jews of His day demanded a sign to prove He was the Messiah, and Jesus responded as follows…
“Jesus replied, “A wicked and adulterous generation demands a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” (Matthew 12:39-40)
That sign was fulfilled when Jesus lay dead “three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” before He was raised to life just as Jonah was in the belly of the sea creature three days and three nights before he was spit out.
We are now asked to “watch” in faith
for the sign of His return because we do not know the day He will come.
“And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear
in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn. And they will see
the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. And
He will send His angels with a great trumpet call, and they will gather
together His elect from the four winds, from one end of sky to the other…Therefore
keep watch, for you do not know on what day your Lord comes. And know this, that if the master of the house had known in what time of
night the thief comes, he would have watched and not have allowed his house to
be broken into. Because of this, you also be ready, for the Son of Man comes in
that hour you do not expect.” (Matthew
24:30-31; 40-42)
For now we should return to the Lord when we stray from time to time waiting for the sign of His appearance.
“Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us to pieces, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bind up our wounds...let us press on to know the LORD. As surely as the sun rises, He will appear; He will come to us like the rain, like the spring showers that water the earth.…” (Hosea 6:1-3)