“Three Days and Three Nights Later”
"For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." Matthew 12:40 (KJV)
Intro: I am and have always been more of a morning person than a night owl. There is beauty in both watching the Sun set. And beauty in watching the Sun rise.
I’m not saying anything against those of you who like to sleep in late.
I don't always like getting up in the morning…, but I like mornings themselves.
Mornings are a time that are so full of promise.
Mornings are crisp and clean and new.
The old day has ended and new day is beginning.
It doesn't matter what happened yesterday.
We might have made a dozen mistakes.
But this new day can be a time of starting afresh.
It is also the time when darkness becomes light.
The dark is turned into dawn and the light of the new day comes in.
The brightness of that light hits us…, in a way…, like no other time.
Today we are going to talk about Three Days and Three Nights.
We are going to start with the old testament book of Jonah. But this Ain’t No Fish Story!
Most of us can probably remember “Jonah and the Whale” from Sunday School and VBS days, and even now that we are all grown up, we may still put it into the same category as Fairy Tale or just a children’s story.
But Jonah was a real person…, and his story is real and true.
Jesus Christ himself talks about Jonah’s experience with the fish…,
not as a parable but as a real person and a real event.
When you take a closer look at the book of Jonah in the Old Testament
We find only 4 chapters and with only 48 verses total in the whole book of Jonah.
You can sit down and read the entire book in about 5 minutes.
But we could talk for days about God’s purpose for Jonah and God’s compassion for the People of Nineveh.
And the Gospel of Matthew compares the Three days and Three nights that Jonah was in the belly of the whale, to the three days and three nights that Jesus was in the grave.
"For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." Matthew 12:40 (KJV)
Let’s look at one of the lessons we can learn from the book of Jonah.
I. The Message is Less about Jonah running from God and More about God’s persistence with Jonah.
“ But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD” Jonah 1:3
Somehow that is the verse that always seems to stand out when people remember the story of Jonah.
Jonah was running from God… Jonah was fleeing to Tarshish. Jonah was trying to get away from the Lord.
O.K. We all can identify with running away from God.
Everyone at sometime falls into one of these three categories…
You are either about to run away from God…,
Or You are running away from God in the present…,
Or you just came…, from running away from God…, but now you are with the Lord.
It is easy to identify with running from God
Fearing for their lives…, the desperate sailors…, started throwing the cargo overboard…, to lighten the ship. Jonah was sound asleep…, below deck…, in the hull of the ship.
So the captain went down after Jonah. How can you sleep at a time like this? he shouted.
They start questioning Jonah "Who are you? What is your line of work?
What country are you from? What is your nationality?"
Finally Jonah told them…, I’m running away from the LORD.
The sailors were terrified when they heard this..., "why are you doing that?"
These sailors didn’t even worship the same god Jonah worshipped
but they knew it was wrong to run away from God.
It is easy to see the human nature…, is to think that somehow…,
If I can just put enough distance between me and Nineveh…, God will leave me alone…,
God will choose someone else to do his work and I can go set in the shade at Tarshish and drink my lemon aide.
But I am thankful for the people who teach Sunday School
I am thankful for the people who work with the children
I am thankful for the people who lead the youth groups
I am thankful for the people who spend their week nights serving on a committee
I am thankful for the people who sing in the choir
I am thankful for the people who call and invite others to church
I am thankful for the people who talk to those lost and sinful Ninevehvites
I am thankful for the people who put aside the other things and other places, but come instead and serve God
I am thankful for those who don’t wait for somebody else do it…
The story of Jonah is the real life story of God Calling You…, to tell the lost and unsaved… that this world is not going to last forever, God has chosen you…, God calls you…, it is your duty to serve…, and to work in your church and witness in your community to invite the lost to Christ to make disciples with the Good News and to grow the kingdom of God.
BUT This Message is Less about Jonah running from God and More about God’s persistence with Jonah.
Eight times God pursues Jonah.
1. "Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying," Jonah 1:1 (KJV)
2. "And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying," Jonah 3:1 (KJV)
3. “the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.
4. Verse 7 when the men cast their lots the lot fell on Jonah…
5. Verse 15 Then the sailors picked Jonah up and threw him into the raging sea, and the storm stopped at once!
6. Verse 17 "the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights." Jonah 1:17 (KJV)
7. Jonah 2:5 "I sank beneath the waves, and death was very near. The waters closed in around me, and seaweed wrapped itself around my head.
8. Jonah 2:10 And the LORD spoke unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.
All of these things were the means and power of Jonah’s salvation.
If God had allowed Jonah to flee to Tarshish,
If God had let Jonah run away and not have pursued him…
Jonah would no doubt have been lost because of his sin against God…
And it would have also been the destruction of Nineveh.
And the hundreds of thousands of people who would have been lost
because Jonah had not talked to them…,
about their souls…, and they would not have heard the need for repentance and salvation in their life…
I’m thankful that God didn’t give up on Jonah
I’m thankful that God is persistent in His calling…,
Who do you need to give thanks to God for right now?
Who is the Jonah in your life?
Who is the Christian man or woman…,
Who even though they might have…, at times felt like running away from God…
At some point in time…, spoke to you…, and taught you…, and helped lead you…,
come to Saving knowledge of Jesus Christ?
God pursues a love relationship with each one of us.
He knows us…, and he wants us to know Him.
The Story of Jonah is …
II. Less about a Whale and more about Deliverance from Hell
"And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me;
out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice." Jonah 2:2 (KJV)
"For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so I, the Son of Man, will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights." Matthew 12:40 (NLT)
Those three days and three nights in the belly of hell,
Those three days and three nights in the heart of the earth
Jonah says, he cried out unto the Lord…, “out of the belly of hell”
So…, Jesus is predicting that he will be in the “heart of the earth”
Study 1 Peter chapter 3:18-20 “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. 19 After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits 20 to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water,”
1. Traditional use of the Apostles Creed includes the words: “He descended into hell.”
2. The Changing of salvation of those who died under the Law as in the days of Noah
To those who now find salvation by Grace in Jesus Christ
3. There is also a much deeper lesson on Baptism… than can be learned here…
But today I simply want us to think about the “belly of hell, and the time Jesus was in the heart of the earth.”
The Jewish leaders confronted Jesus…, demanding “a sign.”
They wanted to see something like what Moses parting the Red Sea
They wanted to see something like what Joshua had done at Jericho.
They had already seen Jesus heal a man’s withered hand a
They had already seen Jesus give sight to the blind
They had already seen Jesus cause the crippled to walk
But now they wanted the Messiah to take down Caesar. They wanted Jesus to free them from Roman Empire.
The Jews wanted Jesus to restore their power like it was in the days of King Solomon, like it was before the Split between Israel and Judeah like it was before the Kingdom of Israel fell to the Assyrians to deliver them from the Romans and restore their power and to give them an earthly king on the throne of the nation of Israel.
Jesus says, I didn’t come to conquer the land like Joshua…
But I have came to call the people to repentance like Jonah.
The only sign…, the only miracle…, that you can expect… is a death…, and burial…, followed by a resurrection.
This story is a lot less about being saved from a Whale,
And lot more about being Saved from Hell.
Here is what Jonah said,
“In the midst of my great pain and distress,
at the point in which I was furthest from God,
from the place where I was miserable,
from the place where I was hopeless and hurting
from the place where I was feeling most overwhelmed and weak. . . I called out to God.”
Jonah was in the midst of his worst nightmare.
Jonah felt like he was in the “depths of hell”
Some people think of God as a grumpy old man…,
with a big stick…, that is ready to whack you…, when you do something wrong.
But that is not the God of the Bible!
You will never hear God say, “Go ahead, and waste your life, and see if I care.”
Actually God says just the opposite:
When you have wander far away from God…,
God…, wants us…, to return to Him!
“From inside the fish…, Jonah prayed to the Lord his God.
He said: ‘In my distress I called to the Lord and he answered me.
From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry.”
Verse 7 says: “When my life was ebbing away,
I remembered you, LORD…, and my prayer rose to you…, to your holy temple.”
Here is the most powerful phrase in this passage:
Jonah 2:2 “God answered me”; “You listened to my cry”; “my prayer rose to You.”
Here is an amazing truth:
Even when we wander from God, Even when we stray from God.
God is ready and waiting to answer with open arms!
Sometimes God has to slow us down.
Slow me down, Lord!
Quiet my mind Lord!
Calm this pounding of my heart Lord!
Steady my footsteps Lord!
Give me, clarity in the midst of confusion
Give me reason to solve my problems.
Let me hear music and singing in the hills and mountains.
Let me sing praises to your name when I am in the valley.
Give me rest and sleep to restore my body and soul.
This reminds me of the Rabbit and the Tortoise that the race is not always to the swift.
“nor the battle to the strong, the wise are sometimes poor but time and chance happens to all." Ecclesiastes 9:11 (KJV)
This story is Less about a Whale and more about Deliverance from Hell
Let’s continue on.
III. The Empty Belly of the Whale is a Prediction of the Empty Tomb
"For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so I, the Son of Man, will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights." Matthew 12:40 (NLT)
the whale and the heart of the earth are both were a deliverance
the whale and the heart of the earth are both about salvation
the whale and the heart of the earth are both were an act of God
The empty tomb is God’s YES.
Think about the women who came early Easter morning to visit the tomb.
In the dark.
It was empty.
The women came to mourn.
But they left in joy.
It is Three days and Three Nights later!
The belly of the whale and the being in the heart of the earth
Are those in between times…, in our life…
How do you deal with long days?,
How do you deal with dark nights?
Things are not always as they seem…
Jesus the Son of Man was crucified….
Jesus the Son of Man was dead…
Jesus the Son of Man was buried and a stone was rolled in front of the tomb…
Scientifically and medically… it was impossible for Jesus to come back to life…
The devil thought he had won.
Jonah was running away from God…
Jonah’s ship is in a terrible storm.
Jonah is thrown overboard
Jonah is swallowed by a whale
Jonah is sealed inside the belly of a whale.
Jonah is presumed dead…, lost at sea…,
The Ninevehites will hear the message of God from the preaching prophet…,
Jesus crucified on the cross.
There is a terrible darkness at midday.
The world will no longer be able to the Word of God
His lifeless body is laid in a tomb…,
Jesus is swallowed up by the grave…,
The tomb is sealed…, and guarded by Roman Soldiers.
Yet, "Surprise"!
Both the Whale and the Tomb are part of God’s plan…
Death, can’t hold Jonah.
and the grave cannot hold the Son of God.
Three days and three nights later…
The S U N rises on Jonah
Three days and three night later
The S O N rises and it is the Risen Lord!!!
Morning has broken, like the first morning.
Closing: If you have been running away from God, then you came to the right place this morning. Maybe God not only followed you here, maybe God even chased you here…, God is persistent…, God hasn’t given up on you. You are being offered Salvation right here and right now. That is why he brought you here. You are not here by accident. If you have never been saved…, if you have never received the saving gift of salvation, what are you waiting on? Right now you can ask God to come into your heart and he will become your personal Lord and Saviour. You don’t have to understand everything in the bible to believe that Jesus died on the cross to forgive sin. Taking those first steps to come and pray at the alter.., are just that…, they are the first steps in the new beginning of your relationship with God. God has already come this far…, will you meet him the rest of the way?
