Sign of Jonah, Part 2

Jesus often said things that confused people. “I am the bread of life (John 6:35, 48)... “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you” (53). Or John 2:19, which takes place after Jesus cleared the temple and the religious leaders said, “What gives you the right to do that?” Jesus’ response: “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” Their response shows us they didn’t have a clue what that meant. They said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” There are other verses, but you get the picture. Jesus said things that either wouldn't have been understandable at that time, or things that would’ve required a spiritual revelation.

1 Peter 1:10-12, “Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.” 

Without the Holy Spirit, as 1 Corinthians 2:9-10 describes, we wouldn’t understand. “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived; the things God has prepared for those who love Him, these are the things God has revealed to us by His Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God…” 

All this helps us realize some of what Jesus said in His “sign” He gave to the Pharisees in Matthew 12:39-41, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for 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 a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here.” 

It’s helpful to try to determine if the story of Jonah was really about the miraculous acts God orchestrated in order to bring a message of mercy to the Ninevites? Or was it about the hard-heartedness of Jonah for refusing to see what God saw in the Ninevites? How does that matter? Why? Whatever the answers, Jesus saw this as a great sign of God’s authority for his Pharisee antagonists. How do you apply the story of Jonah?