Jonah 1:17-2:10; Luke 11:29-36

At first Jesus said His resurrection would be a sign to the Jews of His divine authority (John 2:20-22).  Here He says it is the only sign they will receive.  Why did Jesus call it the sign of Jonah?  Why would it be the only sign for them?

The story of Jonah is about God’s love for the Gentiles.  Israel was to be God’s witness to all the families of the earth (Gen. 12:1-3; Isa. 44:8).  Yet the reason Jonah tried to run to Tarshish was because he knew God was gracious and merciful and would not punish Nineveh if they repented (Jonah 4:2).

Jesus, in Luke 11:30, makes a critical observation  Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites in that he had been three days and nights in the belly of the fish.  He was a living miracle, a living picture of “death, burial and resurrection.”  When he stood before the evil Gentile nation they responded to God’s message, having been attested by that miracle.  Likewise, Jesus would be the reality of “death, burial and resurrection.”  In Acts the Apostles preached the resurrection of Christ as the singular proof of His saving work (e.g. Acts 2:22-32).

The connection of Jonah to Christ is evident in Jonah’s prayer (2:1-9).  Like Psalm 22 where David speaks beyond himself to the Messiah, so Jonah’s words sound Messianic, coming not simply from the belly of the fish but from the belly of Sheol (the grave, v2).  Jesus would be cast out of God’s sight (v4), locked up forever in death (v6).  As Jonah was a sign in his day, so Christ was in His day.

Now we ask, why was this sign of Jonah the only sign Jesus’ generation would receive?  In Luke 11:15-16 Jesus was being rejected.  Some accused Him of being tied to Satan.  Others rejected Him by asking for a sign from heaven.  Jesus had performed no end of miraculous signs among them, showing His power over sickness and demons.  Yet they were now asking for another sign.  

It is amazing that after all Jesus did those who saw His glory still rejected Him.  Luke 11:33-36 explain why this happened.  It was not that Jesus “hid” the light of His glory (v33).  It was rather that the “light” within that evil generation was in fact “darkness”.  Intellectually they knew the facts.  They had observed and heard all Christ did and said.  But unbelief is not an intellectual problem.  It is a moral problem.  Having experienced all that Christ offered, they would still put Him to death.  Thus the only sign for them would be “the sign of Jonah”.

There is a critical warning for today’s generation.  Many have a similar dependence on “signs and wonders”.  People will not follow Christ unless they experience some miraculous event in their lives.  Is this evidence that the light within is in fact darkness?  What greater miracle is there than the resurrection of our Lord?  Let us remember that the power of God to salvation is not that of signs and wonders.  It is the gospel (Rom. 1:16-17).  The gospel is the declaration of Jesus’ death for sin, His burial, and His powerful resurrection (1 Cor. 15:3-4).  May that be the truth we believe and the message we preach.