Easter, Jonah & Jesus

Easter, Jonah & Jesus
Mt. 12:38-41


Intro: The religious leaders of Israel refused to believe in Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One whose coming had been prophesied by the Prophets of the Old Testament. They opposed him at every turn. They ridiculed him. They constantly harassed him with questions designed to confuse and humiliate him. They acted as though they would believe that He really was the Messiah if he would “prove” it with “signs.”
We know that they had seen many “signs” of his power: restoring sight to the blind, curing leprosy, causing the lame to walk and the dumb to talk, healing the deaf, raising the dead, calming the storm, multiplying the loaves and fishes......on and on and on.
Still they would not believe!.
Now they were again demanding a SIGN that he was the Christ, the Messiah, the Redeemer.
It was in this setting that Jesus made an unusual statement. He told them that they had already been given a SIGN; It had happened almost 800 years ago; it was a story they all knew by heart; it was one of the most unusual incidents in the Scriptures; it was the Account of Jonah and the Whale.
Not just Once, but Twice Jesus stated that the Sign God had given to Israel that they might believe in Jesus Christ was the Prophet Jonah and what had happened to him. (Text in Mt. 12, also Mt. 16:4) This calls for us to pay attention to this incident in the Old Testament and take a look at it in Comparison and Contrast.


1) Jonah had been sent from Israel to the Gentiles.
(Arise, go to Ninevah that great city and cry against it for their wickedness is come up before me)
- Jesus had been sent from Heaven to the Earth.
(In the fulness of time God sent his Son, made of a woman made under the law to redeem them that were under the law)


2) Jonah went “down” in disobedience.
(Down to Joppa, down into a ship, down into the sides of the ship, down into sleep, down into the sea, down into the belly of the whale, down to the bottom of the sea.)


- Jesus Came down in Obedience.
(In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God and the Word was God, the same was in the beginning with God...The Word became flesh and dwelt among men...Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.)


3) Jonah was cast overboard by the Sailors on the ship
They found him guilty of displeasing God and threw him overboard to get peace.


- Jesus was “cast overboard” or rejected by the religious leaders of Israel because they were convicted by Him, by his teachings, by his life, by his Spirit.


4) Jonah Prayed to Repentance.
(In the whale’s belly, Jonah remembered the Lord, prayed toward God’s holy temple, confessed his sin, and promised to pay the vows that he had made.


- Jesus Prayed to Redemption.
(Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son that thy son may glorify thee...I have declared unto thy name and will declare it...I pray also for them which shall believe on me... ; Father forgive them for they know not what they do.)


5) Jonah descended into the depths of the Sea.
(Thou hast cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas, the floods compassed me about, thy billows and waves passed over me...the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped around my head, I went down to the bottoms of the mountains and I cried, out of the belly of hell cried I)


- Jesus descended into the depths of the Earth.
Jesus was carefully removed from the cross, wrapped tenderly in linen with spices, and placed in Joseph’s new tomb, a sepulcher hewn out of rock. In Acts 2, Peter quoted Psalm 16- “thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption” Eph 4:9 says that “he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth”
Christ was placed in a tomb, dead and buried. In the heart of the earth. He was not just asleep; he was not just unconscious; he was not just in a coma brought on by the torture and crucifixion. He was dead and buried and his body remained there in the tomb until the third and glorious day of resurrection.


6) Jonah Came forth to a Second Chance in Earthly Life.
(Jonah prayed unto the Lord- “the Lord spake unto the fish and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.” Jonah said it like this, “I went down to the bottoms of the mountains, the earth with her bars was about me for ever, yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God.”)


- Jesus Came Forth to Eternal Life.
Mark 16:1 And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. 2 And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun. 3 And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre? 4 And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great. 5 And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted. 6 And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him.
Acts 2:22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: 23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: 24 Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.
1 Cor. 15:12 Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: 14 And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. 15 Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. 16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: 17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. 18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. 19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. 20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
So, Jesus said in effect: You believe that Jonah was swallowed by a great fish, remained in the depths of the sea for 3 days and then came out of the whale and the sea and preached the gospel of repentance, and Ninevah believed, repented, and was spared.
An even greater than Jonah is here.
Jesus was crucified, died on the cross at Calvary, was buried, and on the third day came out of the tomb and the depths of the earth, preaching the gospel of repentance.
Praise God! Jesus is Alive Today. He is Seated at the Right Hand of the Father in Heaven. He is Interceding on our behalf. He is waiting for the command to step out in the clouds and call his children home. And So shall we ever be with the Lord.