The Sign of Jonah

            Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.”

He answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” Matthew 12:38-39. (also Mat.16:4)

You remember Jonah, the prophet from northern Israel. In fact, he was from Gath-Hepher, 5 km north of Nazareth and 1 km from Cana, in Galilee. God assigned him, around 760 BC, to preach to Nineveh, 1100 km to the north in Assyria. He tried to run, headed south 160 km to Joppa, and took ship for Tarshish, another 3000 km west. A great storm blew up, and he had to sacrifice himself to save his fellow passengers and sailors. He was thrown into the sea and swallowed by a huge fish that took him back north and, after three days, threw him up on the beach. He then walked to Nineveh, preached repentance, and the city was saved.

Now look at the Lord’s reference to this event in Matthew 12. Some Pharisees and teachers of the law are asking for a sign about who He is and His authority. He says no sign will be given, but “the sign of the prophet Jonah”.

For a long time, I had trouble with this. How would the story of Jonah prove anything about Jesus at that time? Then I realized that a sign is something you look forward to, but when you see it, it confirms everything. For instance, in Bethlehem, the shepherds were told that they would find the Messiah as a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. They found Him and knew they had the Right Baby. Luke 2:12, 16.

John the Baptist had a promise, so he watched the dozens or hundreds he baptized, and when the Spirit came on Jesus and remained as a dove, he knew he had the Right Man. John 1:33.

So, signs can range from quite obvious, to quite obscure. What is the parallel between Jonah and Jesus? At the time Jesus gave the sign there was no visible parallel. The sign of Jonah is extensive: he sacrifices himself to save his fellows, he’s gone for three days, then he’s back in action again, and his mission results in repentance, conversion and the salvation of an entire city.

We hardly need to spell out the parallel with Jesus. In the week after the crucifixion, the sign of Jonah was obvious to anyone who looked. Jesus was talking specifically about His resurrection when He said, “the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” In a word then, “the sign of Jonah”, when applied to Jesus, is “resurrection”. Put as simply as possible, the sign says, “He’s alive!”

But we should go further. When I look at my contemporaries in church, I realize that I and they are coming up very quickly to our own “three days in the heart of the earth.” Thank God, the sign of Jonah applies to us as well, though— “By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also.”                  1 Corinthians 6:14