The Sign of Jonah
Matthew 12:38-42, 16:1-4
July 16, 2006
Introduction
There’s a really good chance that you’re going to beat the Baptists to Steak-N-Buffet today, because this message is going to be a bit shorter than normal.
I know you’re just heart-broken over that, but I’m sure you’ll get over it eventually.
We all like proof, don’t we? If we hear someone make a claim that we find hard to believe, we like proof.
And if the desire is to truly know if someone’s claim is valid, then that’s okay. But when we come to it with a cynical attitude, then really all the proof in the world won’t make a difference.
The religious leaders of Jesus’ day were to the point where they didn’t really care to know if Jesus was the Messiah.
Most of them were convinced that not only was He not the Messiah, but that He was, in actuality, an agent of the devil.
And so they come up to Jesus and say, “Prove it.” But they don’t really mean it.
They’re simply looking for an excuse to discredit Him.
Last week we talked about the dangers of demanding signs from God. We could have left it there, but I don’t want to just walk away from this passage without addressing the specifics of the “sign of Jonah” referenced by Jesus here.
He discusses this later in Matthew as well, and we’re going to look at both passages as we try to sort through this deal of the “sign of Jonah.”
Matthew 12:38-42 (p. 690) –
Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, "Teacher, we want to see a miraculous sign from you."
39 He answered, "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous 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 one 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 one greater than Solomon is here.”
Just a quick historical note here: the Queen of the South is the Queen of Sheba, who visited Solomon and was blown away at his wisdom.
Matthew 16:1-4 (p. 693)–
The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven.
2 He replied, "When evening comes, you say, ’It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ 3 and in the morning, ’Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. 4 A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah." Jesus then left them and went away.
These area two separate incidents, apparently with different religious leaders coming to Jesus at different times, but making the same demand of Jesus: “Prove it. Prove you’re the Messiah, and prove it right now.”
But again, they weren’t looking for proof from Jesus, they were looking for proof against Him so they could take action to get rid of Him.
So let’s take a look at how Jesus responds to these people, and I think that by answering the following three questions, we can gain some insight not only into the words of Jesus, but how we can make them a part of our lives.
Just what is the “sign of Jonah”?
Two main opinions:
1. The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.
This, of course, comes from Jesus’ words in verse 40 of Matthew 12 –
“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 implication here is that the proof of Jesus being the Messiah will come when He conquers sin and death at the cross and the grave.
And of course, this would be the most obvious to us, since we have the advantage of having the Bible, which records not just all these words, but the actual history of Jesus’ death and resurrection.
And there is no mistaking His reference to Jonah’s experience in the fish as pointing to Jesus.
But this wasn’t the kind of sign the religious leaders wanted, since this wouldn’t happen for quite some time, and they wanted something right now.
But in typical fashion, Jesus tells them that He won’t be pushed around, and that He will do exactly what He is supposed to do, at exactly the time He’s supposed to do it.
The second main opinion about the sign of Jonah is that it’s…
2. The preaching of Jonah that resulted in repentance.
If you’re familiar with the story of Jonah, after he gets swallowed by the fish, he gets back in line with God’s program.
“Yo God. Okay, I kinda blew it. Okay, REALLY blew it. But I’m ready to get back in the game now, if You’ll let me. I’ll even go to them Ninevites and tell them the message You gave me. Just get me out of this fish!”
So the fish takes Jonah to the shore near Nineveh and vomits him onto the dry land where he does what God tells him to.
Now here’s just how big and cool God is. He sends someone to tell them to repent. The guy He sends says, “No way.” God sends a big fish to help this guy get some real “alone time” with God, you know what I mean?
What else are you going to do in the belly of a big fish? Watch TV? Read a book? Groucho Marx once said that, “Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.”
I’m guessing that’s how it is inside a fish, too.
But then Jonah gets to Nineveh and what happens? City-wide revival. Started by the preaching of a guy covered in fish vomit.
(The Bible doesn’t say that Jonah went to the nearest Super 8 and got showered up before he hit the town with the message, but I suppose it’s possible…)
Now how cool is that? If that doesn’t give you some sense of how big and mighty God is, then I’m not sure what will.
Now I’m not going to tell you that you need to pick one of these options about the sign of Jonah to be the “right” one.
Because in my personal opinion, they’re related too closely to be separated.
Jonah and Jesus were both “buried,” and both were delivered from death. So I think that the sign of Jonah is actually both parts of this.
Now I want to take a quick detour that is based on the passage from chapter 16, and look at the question…
What about the “signs of the times?”
In the passage from chapter 16, Jesus says that there are lots of signs all around – the very times they lived in should have tipped them off that Jesus was the Messiah and that judgment of sin was coming.
They could predict the day’s weather by looking at the sky, but they couldn’t understand the spiritual forecast that was practically shouting to them, “Here is the Messiah!”
I don’t want to spend a lot of time here, but I think it’s worth mentioning.
Our world is in a tremendous amount of turmoil, especially in the Middle East.
And it’s very easy for people to take a look at what’s happening and begin to search for signs that Jesus is about to return.
And while I think we should always look with anticipation for Jesus to return, I want to caution people against becoming obsessed with “reading the signs” they see in world events.
Jesus could return at any time. It could be today, it could be hundreds of years from now. It’s His decision, not ours.
“But Brian – look what’s happening in Israel!” Or, “But Brian – look what’s happening in Russia!”
I remember back in the 80’s especially, a ton of books came out about how the signs of the times pointed to a very soon return of Jesus.
One of these books was centered on the opinion that Mikhail Gorbachev was the anti-Christ. Of course, that was before he was removed from power.
Another book showed that Jesus was coming soon because Saddam Hussein was rebuilding Babylon. Of course, that’s a little hard to do from a courtroom where you’re being tried for war crimes.
Others point to peace accords between Middle Eastern countries, and all sorts of other stuff.
I’m waiting for something to come out and tell me that the Veggie Tales videos are the latest sign that we’re in the end-times.
“Have you seen the latest Larry Boy video? A cucumber in yellow and purple tights with plungers on the side of his head. Gotta be a sign. Gotta be.”
Hey – anybody remember Y2K?
Folks, we shouldn’t be ignorant of world events and the significance they can have in relation to Jesus coming back.
But when we spend all our time trying to analyze everything we read in terms of end-times prophecy, it can take us from the task of being faithful to living for Christ and expanding His kingdom.
Be ready. Be anticipating. But also be living for Christ as He commanded.
Well, let’s look now at the last question I want us to address today, and that is…
How will you respond?
Jesus makes reference to the responses of the Ninevites and also to that of the Queen of Sheba, and throughout the gospels, we can see the responses of the religious leaders.
And each of these responses are there for us as well.
So what are they?
Three possible responses:
> Respect – like the Queen of Sheba.
She had come from a long way away because she heard of Solomon’s reputation, and when she saw everything first-hand, she said this:
"The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true. 7 But I did not believe these things until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half was told me; in wisdom and wealth you have far exceeded the report I heard. 8 How happy your men must be! How happy your officials, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! 9 Praise be to the LORD your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on the throne of Israel. Because of the LORD’s eternal love for Israel, he has made you king, to maintain justice and righteousness."
She had respect for Solomon, his words, and more importantly, his God.
A second possible response is…
> Reception – like the Ninevites.
These guys heard the words of God from Jonah and turned to God.
They knew that Jonah spoke the truth and they acted on it.
The third response is the one that I really hope you won’t take:
> Rejection – like the Pharisees.
These guys didn’t believe Jesus. They didn’t want to believe Him. And so they rejected Him.
The Ninevites and the Queen of Sheba are going to say to that bunch at the judgment, “Hey we listened and we believed Jonah and Solomon. But you had JESUS, for crying out loud, and you didn’t listen and believe.”
And today, if we reject the words of Jesus they could say, “Hey we listened and we believed Jonah and Solomon. But you have the entire BIBLE, for crying out loud.”
I hope that no one will ever be able to say that about you.
My hope is that you will see the wisdom of allowing the words of Jesus throughout the Scriptures to be the foundation of your life.
If you want Jesus to “prove it,” then at least take the first step of getting into the Word of God.
Allow Him to prove Himself to you through how He transforms your life by renewing your mind and spirit.
Don’t come to Him demanding Him to prove Himself.
Come to Him humbly, yet with joyful anticipation of what He’s got in store for you.
He’s proved Himself over and over, even though He was certainly under no obligation to do it.
And others here can say the same thing.
May it be true in your life as well.
Let’s pray.
