I. Introduction
A. This year Easter comes during our series on Jonah. But Jonah’s a great place to go for Easter.
B. Jonah 1:1–2:10 Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” 3 But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD. 4 But the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. 5 Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. 6 So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.” 7 And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 Then they said to him, “Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?” 9 And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” 10 Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, “What is this that you have done!” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them. 11 Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?” For the sea grew more and more tempestuous. 12 He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.” 13 Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. 14 Therefore they called out to the LORD, “O LORD, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O LORD, have done as it pleased you.” 15 So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. 16 Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows. 17 And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. 1 Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the belly of the fish, 2 saying, “I called out to the LORD, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice. 3 For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me. 4 Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.’ 5 The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head 6 at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit, O LORD my God. 7 When my life was fainting away, I remembered the LORD, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple. 8 Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. 9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the LORD!” 10 And the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.
II. (OT prophecies re: the resurrection of Jesus)
A. 1Cor.15:4 says Jesus “was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.” (Cf. Jn.20:9)
B. So, where DO the Scriptures say that Jesus “was raised on the third day”?
C. There aren’t many OT prophecies about Christ’s resurrection.
1. There is a possible implied reference to Christ’s resurrection in Is.53:10. And twice in the book of Acts, Ps.16:10 is cited as pointing forward to the resurrection (Acts 2:25-28; 13:35).
2. But there’s not much, if you’re just looking for specific predictions. Nothing very clear.
3. For the cross it’s different. We have the entire 53rd chapter of Isaiah. It was clear that the messiah would suffer as a sacrifice. But very little prophecy about the resurrection.
4. I think this is strange. I don’t think this is enough to make Paul say that Jesus “was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.” I think we’re missing something.
D. But what if there’s another kind of prophecy? And there is!
1. All Christians recognize that the OT points ahead to the coming of Christ. There are many verbal prophecies which were directly fulfilled. But many don't realize the fact that the OT is also filled with historical prophecies of His coming and His work.
2. An event can be a prophecy. A person can be a prophecy.
3. How about the story of Abraham and Isaac? Wasn’t Abraham willingly offering up his son as a sacrifice a prophecy of God offering up His Son as a sacrifice? Wasn’t the ram in the thicket taking the place of Isaac as the sacrifice a prophecy of Jesus taking our place on the cross?
4. Wasn’t King David a living prophecy of the coming son of David? That’s clear in several psalms.
5. Wasn’t the Passover a prophecy of the redemption of Christ?
6. Certainly Melchizedek is portrayed as a prophecy of Jesus the high priest in Hebrews 7.
E. Are there not a number of stories in the OT which are prophecies of Christ’s resurrection?
1. Wasn’t Abraham receiving his son back a prophecy of God’s Son being raised from the dead? That’s what Hebrews 11:17–19 says, “Abraham considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.”
2. Or the story of Joseph, thrown into the dungeon for three years, and then raised to the right hand of the king/Pharaoh?
3. And how about the Israelites hopelessly trapped by Pharaoh’s army against the sea, but God rescued them from certain death?
4. And how about when Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den and then came out alive, was that not a prophecy of One greater than Daniel who would climb out of the grave after facing death?
5. Or Shadrach/Meshach/Abednego, thrown into the furnace of fire and delivered by God?
F. Or how about the story of Jonah, who was below the surface in the belly of a fish for three days before being spewed out to safety?
1. In fact, in Matt.12:39 Jesus tells us Jonah being delivered from the belly of the great fish was a “sign” of the fact that He Himself would be raised up from the dead on the third day. (cf. Mt.16:4)
2. And in Matthew 12:40 He says, “Just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
G. The concept of a person or an event being a prophecy is well-acknowledged in the NT, when an OT person/thing/event is a prophecy/sign pointing to a greater version of the person/thing/event in NT.
1. Jesus is the greater temple in Matt.12:6.
2. Jesus is the greater manna in John 6:32-33.
3. Jesus is the greater Passover in 1Cor.5:7.
4. Jesus is the greater Solomon in Matt.12:42 (and Luke 11:31).
H. And Jesus is the greater Jonah. Jesus says that in Matt.12:41 (and Luke 11:32).
1. Jonah was a prophet. Prophets prophesy. That’s what they do.
2. But in four chapters, we have barely one line of Jonah’s prophecy.
3. The rest is the story of what happened. Now I realize that other prophets include stories too.
4. But with Jonah that just about all there is.
5. One of the main aspects of a prophet was pointing forward to the coming of the great coming Prophet, Jesus Christ (1Pet.1:10-12).
6. How did Jonah do that? By saying, “Yet 40 days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”? (Jonah 3:4)
7. But we see from what Jesus says that the story itself is prophecy. I have 4 quotes here about this:
a. “There can be no doubt that we have before us in the Book of Jonah the description of a symbolic action, — that his mission to Nineveh has an object distinct from the mission itself,— that it is not the result attained by it in the first instance which is the essential point, but that it is its aim to being to light certain truths, and in the form of fact, to prophecy future things.” E.W.Hengstenberg
b. “The Book is, in a great measure, historical, but, in such a manner, that in the history itself, there is hidden the mystery of the greatest prophecy, and that Jonah proves himself to be a true prophet, by the events which happened to him, not less than by his utterances.” – Marckius
c. “That which these (the other prophets) exhibited in words merely, is here (in Jonah) made conspicuous by deeds.” – E.W. Hengstenberg
d. “If the symbolical and prophetical character of the Book be denied, the fact of its having its place among the prophetical, and not among the historical, books, admits of no explanation at all.” – E.W. Hengstenberg
III. So, I believe Jonah’s time in the fish was a prophecy of Christ’s time in the tomb, and his being expelled onto dry ground was a prophecy of Christ’s resurrection.
A. The belly of the fish symbolizes “the belly of Sheol” – as Jonah himself says calls it 3:2.
B. But what about the 3 days and 3 nights in the belly of the fish? Jesus didn’t spend three nights.
1. It’s "a Jewish idiom appropriate to a period covering three days and two nights." (RT France)
2. In fact, this very same expression is used in Esther to refer to the same thing (Esther 4:16; 5:1).
3. (It is interesting that Luke does not include this phrase in his description of the event, probably because he was writing to Gentile readers who would not have understood this idiom.)
C. Jonah being returned to the dry land symbolizes Jesus being returned to the land of the living.
1. 2:5-6 “The waters closed in over me to take my life... I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit, O LORD my God.”
2. Just as Jesus was placed in the belly of the tomb and the mouth was closed, and on the third day came forth from the mouth of the tomb, so Jonah with the fish.
D. After his "resurrection" from the belly of the fish, Jonah continued his mission for 40 days including the vine & worm incident. Jesus also continued His ministry for 40 days after His resurrection.
E. So we see that the story of Jonah and the fish foreshadow the resurrection of Jesus. But might we be able to extend this symbolism a little farther? How and why did Jonah get into the water?
IV. Jonah was thrown into the water in order that the lives of sailors might be saved, just as Jesus was killed in order that the lives of sinners might be saved.
A. Waters symbolize God’s wrath, as in the story of Noah & the Egyptians in the Red Sea.
1. “For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me. Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight.’” (2:3-4)
B. Cast into the wrath of God, they both saved the others.
C. And what is the impact of Jonah being cast into the raging sea? The sea is calmed.
D. What is the impact of Jesus being cast into the raging sea of God’s just wrath? It calms that wrath.
E. Remember when Jesus calmed the storm (Matt.8:23-27)? Well, every miracle has a meaning. Jesus calming the waters wasn’t merely symbolic of Jesus rescuing us from our problems. It is symbolic of Jesus rescuing us from our biggest problem, the problem of God’s just wrath.
1. That’s the same as the story of Jonah.
F. What has to be done for the raging sea of God's wrath to be appeased? The greater Jonah must be thrown into it.
G. In Jonah 3:6 the sailors exclaim, “Perhaps your God will be concerned about us so that we will not perish.” And that question is answered by John 3:16, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that those who believe in Him should not perish.”
H. My friends, do you see how the story of Jonah points ahead (not perfectly but truly) to a greater Jonah who willingly allowed Himself to be plunged into the storm of God's wrath in order that others might escape God's wrath, and three days later was raised up from the pit and given new life.
I. The sailors faced quite a dilemma. Somebody had to die. It was either Jonah or the rest of them. Either Jonah’s going under or they’re all going under.
1. And the same is true with sinners. Someone has to die. It’s either Jesus or it’s us. He was thrown into the waters of God’s wrath so that we wouldn’t have to be thrown in.
J. Those who threw Jonah overboard did not want to do so (Jonah 3:12-15). The same is true with Pilate re: Jesus (Luke 23:4, 13-16; John 18:38). But in the end in both cases they were sort of forced to do it.
K. Jonah submitted willingly (Jonah 3:12). As did Jesus, as He says in John 10:17–18 “I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.”
L. But Jonah didn’t dive in the water. He didn’t commit suicide. Neither did Jesus. Jesus went willingly, but He didn’t nail Himself to the cross.
M. Why is this so important?
1. Jesus didn’t just die. He was executed. He was given the punishment of death. Jesus couldn’t have died by suicide or by an accident or a disease. It had to be judicial vengeance.
N. So, Jonah foreshadowed not only the resurrection of Jesus but the crucifixion of Jesus.
V. Beloved, when we read the Bible, we keep finding Jesus there.
A. We’ve already seen this as we’ve been studying Jonah. We keep finding Jesus in the story.
1. Sent to the Gentiles to proclaim God’s message
2. Proclaiming the message that failure to repent sin will bring divine judgment.
3. Brought about a great Gentile revival
B. But this isn’t just Jonah. The whole OT pictures and points forward to Jesus, as Jesus Himself said in Luke 24:27 on the road to Emmaus. (And in Jn.5:39 He said that the Pharisees misunderstood the Scriptures because they didn't recognize that the OT was written about Him.)
VI. In conclusion, dear friends, crucifixion and resurrection are not just events in the life of Jesus. They are patterns of life.
A. Life is a crucifixion/resurrection soup. And each spoonful has a different combination of flavors. Some bites taste more like resurrection, and other bites taste more like crucifixion.
B. But it’s never pure crucifixion, and it’s never pure resurrection — until Christ returns.
C. When we’re experiencing resurrection, there’s always enough crucifixion to keep us humble.
D. And when we’re experiencing crucifixion, there’s always enough resurrection to keep us afloat.
E. “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.” 2Corinthians 4:8–11
F. God calls His people to give up their lives for Him and for others. He calls us to endure many little deaths: insults, weaknesses, persecutions, calamities, afflictions, perplexities, betrayals, set backs.
G. And God raises us from the deaths of their lives. He grants relief, or brings an encouraging word from a friend, or a reminder from His word, or a surprise blessing, or just a beautiful sunset which says, “I love you!”
1. Hasn’t He rescued you from many deaths? Hasn’t He pulled you out of all sorts of scary and dangerous situations? Hasn’t He intervened many times when everything looked bleak? I know He has for me!
H. Sometimes God allows our burdens to get piled up so high that it seems we are going to break under the pressure. But He reaches out His hand to help us.
1. "Just as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him. For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust." (Psalm 103:13-14)
I. And sometimes God showers us with so many joys that we feel like our hearts are going to burst. But we always know we’re not far from His rod of love (Heb.12:6), because what we need is not shallow happiness. We need to learn to not trust in ourselves, or in our world, but only in Him.
J. When soup has had a long time to simmer, the flavors influence each other.
1. When you have a spoonful of crucifixion, you can also taste the flavor of resurrection, and when you have a spoonful of resurrection, you can also taste the flavor of crucifixion.
K. Immature Christians just hope hard things won’t happen to them. Mature Christians know that life will be a mixture of both, and that God will be with them through it all, showing Himself to them.
L. Realizing and accepting the fact that your life is crucifixion/resurrection soup, and that God is the master potager chef, is such a helpful paradigm by which to view life.
1. We will face deaths on a regular basis, but these deaths need not cause us despair, because our God is the God who raises the dead.
2. And when we experience successes, we don’t have to feel like we’ve got it made, because we know that earthly success is just an illusion. True joy comes knowing Christ.
M. Think about how gloomy everything looked when the sun set on the first Good Friday.
1. Jesus was dead, His body was buried, a big stone covered the entrance to the tomb. The disciples were huddled in fear and panic. Everything looked so hopeless and so final!
2. And yet, in the secret corridors of heaven, there was being prepared the world’s greatest comeback. Mankind couldn’t see it, BUT THERE ARE MANY THINGS WE CANNOT SEE!
3. That is why we must trust, trust in the One who sees everything, and who governs all things.
N. On the last day we will be raised up once and for all. But till then, our God raises us up every day, in spite of the deaths we experience constantly.
O. And so — even when we feel like we’re dying — we trust – not in ourselves – but in God who raises the dead (2Cor.1:9).
P. And if we remember resurrection in the midst of crucifixion, we can say, “I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2Cor.12:10