Jon Paulien Ph.D. HE'S GREATER THAN         JONAH  In my book Meet God Again for the First Time I describe how Jesus provides the meaning of Old Testament Israel’s whole life and history. He is the second Adam, the new Moses, and the son of David, among many others. Whenever you read a story or a letter in the New Testament, you want to be constantly aware of references to the characters, stories and experiences of the apostles’ past. This was the way New Testament writers related to their Bible, what we often call the Old Testament. God meets people where they are. And he embedded His message for us in the language and style of real people in the first century.  What did Jesus have in common with the world’s first recorded submarine ride? For starters, both Jesus and Jonah were in a boat, both boats were overtaken by a storm and the description of the storm was quite similar in both cases. But the similarities do not end there.  When the storm begins, both Jesus and Jonah are asleep (Jonah 1:5; Mark 4:38). In both stories sailors wake up the sleeping passenger and assert, "We are going to die!" Jonah 1:6; 4:38. And in both cases there is a miraculous divine intervention which stills the storm. But instead of calming the sailors down, the stilling of the storm makes them even more terrified (Jonah 1:15-16; Mark 4:40-41)! The two stories are almost identical except for one thing. In the Jonah story, he tells the sailors to throw him into the sea and it will become calm (Jonah 1:11-12). That doesn’t happen in the Jesus story. Or does it? People have noticed that there is very little overt "theology" in the Gospel of Mark. Whatever messages one gets from that gospel are embedded in the stories and the way they are ordered and tied together. The same is true of this story. In another place Jesus said, "One greater than Jonah is here" (Matt 12:43). And he explains that just as Jonah spent three days and nights in the belly of a fish, He would spend a similar amount of time in the tomb (Matt 12:40). He is the new Jonah. And just as Jonah stilled a storm by the sacrifice of himself, so Jesus would still the ultimate storm of sin and death by the sacrifice of Himself on the cross. When we go through the storms of our lives, it is easy to wonder, as the disciples of Jesus did in Mark 4: 38-41, whether God even cares about what we have to experience. But when you come to know the meaning of the cross, when you come to understand that He threw Himself into the ultimate storm, the one the threatens everything we are (sin and death), it puts our smaller storms into a bit of perspective. If He did not abandon us in the ultimate storm, why would He do so in the relatively minor trials of our lives? From the cross we get a sense of the kind of God who rules our lives as well as the universe. A God who is caring, gracious and merciful. In His wisdom he does not calm every one of our storms, but as we walk with Him we learn to trust Him even in the midst of the storm. And we learn to trust that one day He will still all storms for eternity. And that is what we call hope.      A GREATER THAN THE TEMPLE By Rick Porritt (Matthew Chapter 12) In the twelfth chapter of Matthew we have Jesus referring to Himself as “a greater than.” On three occasions, each time in answer to the Pharisees’ and scribes’ behaviour and questioning. We shall consider these three statements of the Lord Jesus. V.6 greater than the temple. V.41 greater than Jonah. V.42 greater than Solomon. 1. Greater than the temple At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day. But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him; How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests? Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless? But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple. (Matthew 12:1-6 AV) In this passage we see that: 1.     The Pharisees criticise the disciples for breaking the Sabbath law. 2.     Jesus reminded them that David their great king ate the shewbread unlawfully. 3.     The priests are constantly profaning (making common) the Sabbath yet are blameless. 4.     That there was one greater than the temple here. That is Himself. In considering the temple we see that: The temple was the centre of Israel’s life. The temple was where God met with His people. The temple was where all the sacrifices took place. In saying that He was greater than temple Jesus was pointing them to the great truth That He was the fulfilment of which all that these things spoke. We see: Jesus spoke of His body as being a temple. Jn.2: 13-22 Jesus spoke of a change in worship, no longer focussed on an earthly place, but in spirit and truth.Jn.4: 19-24 Jesus is God manifested in human flesh- the glory of the Father dwells in Him, now, not an earthly building. Jn.1: 14 Jesus is the only way by which we can come to the Father. Jn.14: 6 Jesus is now the centre of the Church.Col.1: 18;Rev.21: 21-23 Jesus is the complete fulfilment of the OT sacrificial system. Matt.5: 17; Heb.9: 1-4 2. Greater than Jonah Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here. (Matthew 12:38-41 AV) In this passage we note: 1.     The Pharisees were asking for a sign: that is, some token to distinguish Jesus from the rest! 2.     Jesus said that it is an evil and adulterous generation that seeks after signs. 3.     Jesus said that the only sign would be that of the prophet Jonah. 4.     Nineveh would rise in Judgement for they repented. In considering this we must understand the following context of the twelfth chapter: Jesus had already healed many people in this chapter one of them was possessed. Mtt.12:9-23. The Pharisees were accusing Jesus of casting out devils by Beelzebub Mtt.12:24 To ask for a sign distinguish Jesus from the rest was, to say the least, a bit of a cheek! What can we then learn from this answer of Jesus? A sign seeking generation is called adulterous because its heart is lusting after things it shouldn’t. The true heart’s desire should be God Himself. The only sign that Jesus will give is that of resurrection. It is that alone which proves and distinguishes Jesus from the rest! No resurrection no salvation. Jn.2: 13-22. Rom.;1:3-4; I Cor.15:3-4;16-18 Nineveh repented, and so avoided judgement, at the preaching of Jonah. At the preaching of Jesus repentance is not just from judgement but unto LIFE. Acts 11:18. Nineveh, a Gentile nation, repented; the Pharisees part of the Jewish heritage did not. No wonder Nineveh would rise up against them. In short Jesus is greater than Jonah for He is actually raised from the dead, not just so in a figure; His repentance is unto life and not just from judgement. C. Greater than Solomon The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here. (Matthew 12:42 AV) We have here: 1.     The queen of the South, Sheba, came from afar. 2.     She came to hear of the famed Wisdom of Solomon. In order to follow the train of thought here we must remember: God gave Solomon the wisdom in the first place. II Chr.1:7-12. Solomon was arrayed with great glory Mtt.5: 29 Relating this to The Lord Jesus we see: The Pharisees condemnation is once more that a Gentile from afar believed, yet they who were near did not. Jesus is greater than Solomon because HE IS WISDOM itself, not merely the greatest exponent of it. I Cor.1: 18-30; 3:15-17   In summing the whole then we see that the Pharisees, by concentrating on the law added to it and became so obsessed with it that they lost sight of the truth. Mtt12: 7-8; 15:6; 23:1-24. In so doing they were laying heavy burdens upon the people (see Mtt.23). In answer to all this Jesus said: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30 AV) Christ’s yoke is easy, the Pharisees were placing millstones on people’s neck! Thus we have Jesus showing us that He is the fulfilment of all the OT. 1.     Priesthood: shown by the reference to the Temple. 2.     Prophets: shown by the reference to Jonah. 3.     Kingly hopes: shown by reference to Solomon. In short Jesus is the Foundation and we should be centred on Him alone. Let us all keep our hearts and minds fixed on Him and let nothing at all deflect us from that.

New Testament Pattern is the personal website of Rick Porritt.

HISTORY OR FABLE?

By Wil Pounds

What comes to your mind when you think of the Hebrew prophet Jonah?

Fish, a big fish, a whale, a run away prophet are some of the typical answers I get. 

What came to Jesus' mind when He thought of Jonah? 

The prophet Jonah tells us that he is the son of Amittai (1:1). His name means “Dove” and he belonged to the Ten Tribes of Israel, and grew up near Nazareth at Gath Hepher. He was a prophet who was given a second chance. His religion was controlled by his emotions rather than his will. 

Jonah was confronted with the reality that the God of the Hebrews loves the Gentiles. He would rather forgive the repentant sinner than punish.

Either this is true or the greatest fish story ever told! Did God have the creative power to “prepare a great fish to swallow up Jonah”? Could God speak to a fish and cause it to vomit out Jonah upon the dry land? Jesus accepted the account of Jonah as historical (Matt. 12:39-41; 16:4; Lk. 11:29-30). How big is your God? The sovereign God of creation can handle the miraculous in the book of Jonah. God can take care of the great monster fish; let's make sure our hearts are right with Him. 

Until recently Bible scholars never interpreted the book of Jonah as a parable or fiction. Jonah is a simple historical narrative. It is not an involved allegory as some modern writes suggest. No allegory in the Old Testament has as its hero a historical person. If the book is an allegory it does grave injustice to the real Hebrew prophet Jonah. 

If you are willing to accept the fact that Yahweh is the great God of creation and salvation you will not have any problems with Jonah. For Yahweh to "appoint a great fish to swallow Jonah" and Jonah to be in the stomach of the great fish is no greater event than Jesus, the Son of the living God being raised form the dead. I suspect that is the real problem people have with Jonah and other miracles in the Bible. If we can get rid of miracles we can get rid of all moral responsibility to God, or so we think. 

JONAH'S PERSONAL EXPERIENCE Jonah was a Hebrew prophet who lived about 800 B.C. or a little after during the reign of Jeroboam II. His message is to "present with compelling persuasiveness the responsibility of the saved to save others." It presents the missionary imperative of Israel. Yahweh is a God of grace who also loves non-Jewish people.  The LORD commissioned Jonah to go to the great pagan gentile city of Nineveh the enemy of Israel and preach a message of warning of coming judgment.  "But Jonah . . ." arrests our attention. He is the fleeing prophet running from God and from his vocational demands. Yahweh is anxious to share evidences of His grace, forgiveness, mercy and compassion for a lost world even though it maybe the enemy of His chosen people (4:11). "And should I not have compassion on Nineveh . . . ?"  Jonah resisted breaking out of his nationalistic religion. He was regional in his thinking. He was foolish enough to think that he could flee from the presence of Yahweh. You are not going to flee from Yahweh by going to Tarshish or any other pagan city. Jonah "paid the fare" went down into the ship to go "from the presence of the LORD" (v. 3).  Somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea "the LORD hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was about to break up" (v. 4). Did God get Jonah's attention? No, but He sure got the pagan supposititious sailor's attention (v. 5).  Jonah was sound asleep and when the sailors cast lots the "lot fell on Jonah" (vv. 5-9). He confessed up and when the sailors heard which God Jonah was trying to flee from they became "extremely frightened" (vv. 10-14). After prayer and sacrifice they took matters in their own hands. "So they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging. Then the men feared the Lord greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows. And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights" (vv. 15-17).  In the Hebrew way of reckoning time Jonah was in there one whole day and the parts of the other two days, the day before and the day after, and, therefore three days. The Jewish people, even in Jesus’ day, did not reckon time as we do. They counted the day on which any period began as the first day, and then they did the same thing on the day the period ended. Thus, Jonah was in the belly of the giant fish three days.

Jonah prayed (2:1-9), "Then the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah up onto the dry ground" (v. 11). God called Jonah a second time, "arise, go to Nineveh . . . . So Jonah arose and went . . . and they turned from their wicked way . . ." (vv. 2, 3, 10). 

SOMETHING GREATER THAN JONAH IS HERE

Like the Jewish rabbis of His day, Jesus accepted the book of Jonah as historical (Matt. 12:38-41). Jesus called Jonah's experience in the "great fish" a "sign" of His own coming resurrection from the dead. 

Jesus had been performing miracles as He ministered to people's needs. A group of Pharisees and scribes were pressuring Him for a sign form heaven, a miraculous sign. They wanted to have their sensations tantalized. It appears that they pressed him on various occasions for these attesting miracles and He steadfastly refused. He told them in their begging for signs that God had already given them a sign and it was before their eyes. They refused to believe the sign.

These people were not sincere and Jesus knew it. They were asking Him to accredit Himself by doing some striking miracle. They demanded proof that He was the Messiah and they wanted it now. They wanted something unmistakably from God right now. They wanted something produced on demand for instant gratification. Where is the evidence that God is at work in Your life? They wanted to impose their own rules on God. 

Jesus responded saying, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here " (Matthew 12:39-41). 

Jonah and his strange experience is a type of Christ and His resurrection. When Jesus said, “a greater than Jonah is here” He was not referring to a legendary character, but a real man and a real experience. Otherwise the comparison would not have made sense because Christ rose from the dead. It is clear that Jesus accepted this Old Testament account as the record of a historical fact. Just as the very big fish swallowed up Jonah, so the earth will swallow up Jesus; and as Jonah was delivered from his imprisonment, so will Jesus who is Jonah's great Antitype rise from the grave. 

"Something great than Jonah is here." What is that something? 

Jesus takes us back to Jonah 1:17. "Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster." It is no fairy tale He has in mind. It is the miracle God gave to Jonah. Jesus reminded the Pharisees and Sadducees again of the sign of Jonah in Matt. 16:4. There is a greater event than Jonah here. Then He openly told His disciples the meaning of the sign after Peter's great confession of Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of the living God (v. 16). After telling His disciples to tell no one that He was the messiah He opened His heart to them. 

Don't miss these words in v. 21. "From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day."

What was the reaction of the disciples? It was astonishment, rejection and horror. Peter took Him aside as if to hold Him back from suicide and began to rebuke Him saying, "God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You" (v. 22).

Jesus turned to Peter and said, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's" (v. 22). 

This is the "something greater than Jonah." It is the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God! That Jonah could live through his experience is nothing short of a miracle. It was a sign given by God. The pagans of Nineveh believed the message of Jonah and repented. 

When Peter preached his greatest sermon he reminded his audience of something greater than Jonah. He said,Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know—this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power . . . This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear (Acts 2:22-24, 32-33). 

Dr. Luke gives an account of Jesus' conversation with the crowds of people who were looking for a miraculous sign from heaven (11:29-32). "As the crowds were increasing, He began to say, ‘This generation is a wicked generation; it seeks for a sign, and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah. For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. The Queen of the South will rise up with the men of this generation at the judgment and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here’" (Luke 11:29-32, NASB95). 

I am always intrigued by the words of Jesus. He does not say “someone greater,” but “something greater.” Jesus does not compare Himself with Jonah but something. Jonah experienced a kind of death, burial and resurrection. However, Jesus experienced true death, true burial and true resurrection. Jesus’ experience of the death, burial and resurrection was greater. The experience of Jonah foreshadowed the real experience of Jesus. 

One of the amazing things about Jonah is that it was in the very city of Joppa where Jonah went to find the ship that centuries later the apostle Peter received from God the revelation that Gentiles were included in His chosen people on the same basis as Jewish people (Acts 10). Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Both Jewish people, non-Jewish and pagans can have a right standing with God by simple faith in Jesus Christ alone. 

Is our response to Jesus any different? We can respond with arrogance that we know more in our modern age of understanding than Jesus knew, or with hostility like the Jewish leaders of Jesus' day, or we can simply bow in humble repentance and submission like the Ninevehites. 

How important is the resurrection of Jesus Christ? The apostle Paul responded, "if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation" (Rom. 10:9-10). 

The all-sufficient work Jesus Christ includes God's free gift of eternal life. Have you received His free gift of eternal life by grace through faith in Christ alone?