Signs of Jonah in our lives

In Matthew 12:38-41, Jesus spoke of the sign of the prophet Jonah in order to point to His saving death and life-giving resurrection for the salvation of sinners.

But, before we get to that sign of Jonah, let’s look for signs of Jonah in our own lives.

Jonah tried to run away from the Lord’s presence, a foolish move that landed him in the belly of a big fish. Then, Jonah prayed from inside the fish, a prayer that really reads like one of the psalms of the Bible. He asks the Lord to deliver him and confesses faith that the Lord will do so. Then we’re told that “the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land,” Jonah 2:10. Next, he went to the city of Ninevah and warned that the city would be overthrown if the people did not repent. The people actually listened, and everyone, including the king, donned sackcloth and ashes and begged God’s mercy. The Lord relented from disaster, but this greatly displeased Jonah because he thought the sinners of Ninevah should have gotten what was coming to them due to their sins.

Do you see any signs of Jonah in your own life? I sure see plenty in mine.

First, the Lord gave Jonah a specific command: to go to Ninevah and preach repentance. Jonah tries to flee from the presence of the Lord. There are signs of this attempt of Jonah all over my life. The Lord has given me very specific commands in the Bible and has provided me with lots of people to love and serve according to those commandments. So, what am I tempted I do? To shirk my duty. I want to do my own thing, to flee the presence of the Lord and neglect my vocations. For this, we must repent.

The second sign of Jonah I see in my life is self-righteousness and the desire to limit God’s mercy. Jonah fled in the first place because he was afraid that the mission God sent him on actually would succeed! Jonah explained that he fled for Tarshish because, “I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.” Jonah didn’t think that the violent, bloodthirsty Ninevites should have a chance at repentance, and Jonah knew that the Word of our gracious God is powerful and can convert even hardened sinners. Jonah knew that God’s call to repentance would save the Assyrians, and he didn’t want them to have that chance.

I see this sign of Jonah in my life, too. I think people who have wronged me should get what’s coming to them. I look at abortionists and murderers, rapists and child molesters, and think, “Surely God’s mercy isn’t for them.” I think that somehow, in spite my many sins, I am more righteous than they. Yes, this sign of Jonah is all over my sinful heart and mind. But if I follow Jonah’s lead, I will begrudge God’s mercy and be a self-righteous Pharisee, so we also must repent of all pride, self-righteousness, and attempts to limit God’s mercy toward sinners.

We find signs of Jonah in our lives because we are sinners who have stubborn wills that resist God’s will. We have a self-righteous sense of justice and bristle at the generosity of God’s mercy. And here is what God’s Law says to us: for our sins, we deserve not just to be thrown into the belly of a fish; we deserve to be sunk into the darkest, hottest depths of hell.

But do not despair, because Jesus has given us a sign of grace, mercy, and peace in the sign of the prophet Jonah. St. Matthew recounts in Matthew 12:38–41: “Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered Jesus, saying, ‘Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.’ But he answered them, ‘An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For 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. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.’”

Both Jonah and Jesus were preachers of God’s love for the world, proclaimers of God’s grace. But while Jonah was reluctant to speak God’s Word and was angered as the Lord’s graciousness, Jesus to this very day delights in speaking of God’s mercy, saying, “The time is fulfilled. The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Repent, and believe the Gospel!” Amen.