“The Sign of Jonah” (Matthew 12:38–42)

“The Sign of Jonah” (Matthew 12:38–42)
Pastor Cameron Jungels
Eastside Baptist Church
Sunday AM, April 7, 2019

Matthew 12:38–42 (NIV)

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

       39 He answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 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. 41 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. 42 The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now something greater than Solomon is here.

1. Like Jonah, Jesus was a prophet of God, proclaiming the message of God.

2. Like Jonah, Jesus was called as a prophet during a time of great Israelite unbelief.

a. The Israelite leadership in Jonah’s day was characterized by wickedness, idolatry, and unbelief.

23 In the fifteenth year of Amaziah son of Joash king of Judah, Jeroboam son of Jehoash king of Israel became king in Samaria, and he reigned forty-one years. 24 He did evil in the eyes of the LORD and did not turn away from any of the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit. (2 Kings 14:23-24 NIV)

b. The Israelite leadership in Jesus’ day was caught up in its own self-righteousness and was deluded into thinking it had no need of repentance. But Jesus called them wicked and spiritual adulterers. Spiritual adultery was typically associated with idolatry, the same spiritual adultery that Israel was guilty of in Jonah’s day.

c. The unbelief of the religious leadership in Jesus’ day is demonstrated by their selfish demand for a miraculous sign from Jesus.

3. Like Jonah, Jesus saw minimal response to his message among the Israelites, but an overwhelmingly positive response to his message among the Gentiles.

4. Like Jonah, Jesus was zealous for the salvation of the Israelites.

a. But Jonah had a misguided, short-sighted view of the best way to ensure the salvation of the Israelites. He thought the best way to secure the safety and salvation of the Israelites was the destruction of Israel’s Gentile enemies. Jonah was even willing to sacrifice himself, be thrown into the ocean and drown, rather than see the repentance of the Gentiles. So, he was willing to sacrifice himself for the well-being of his own people, but it was misguided, short-sighted, and contrary to the will of God.

b. Jesus, on the other hand, had a proper, far-sighted view of the best way to ensure the salvation of the Israelites. He would lay down his life for his people, but not in any effort to circumvent the will of God, but rather in harmony with the will of God. Jonah’s death desired the destruction of the Gentiles, but Jesus’ death desired the salvation of the Gentiles. In his far-sighted view of the plan of God, Jesus knew that salvation for the Jews did not come by hostility to the Gentiles; rather, salvation for the Jews would ironically come through the conversion of the Gentiles (Romans 11).

5. Like Jonah, Jesus was miraculously rescued from death after 3 days.

a. J. Jeremias: “both the old and the new sign of Jonah consist in the authorisation of the divine messenger by deliverance from death.”

b. The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the greatest authentication of his message and the greatest vindication of his mission and work. It also became the center of the Christian proclamation of the gospel.

6. Both Jonah and Jesus preached a message of repentance, which is also the proper obedient response to their God-sent proclamation.

7. In many ways, Jonah was a type of Jesus, and Jesus was like Jonah. But Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God, and so was so much more than Jonah was or could ever be.