Doug Van Pelt

Jonah & Jesus

Jesus referred to His resurrection as like "Jonah being in the belly of a giant fish for three days," so we know there are similarities in the two stories. In Jonah 1 we see Jonah disobeying and running away from God, buying a ticket to Tarshish and sailing away. While a storm rose up that freaked all the occupants on board out, Jonah was below deck in a deep sleep. Sound familiar? Except for the disobedient and running away part, of course... Jesus was in a boat sound asleep when a violent storm arose. His disciples woke Him up, "Don't you care if we perish?"

"The captain went to him and said, 'How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us, and we will not perish.'"

Then the sailors cast lots to find out who was responsible for making all this trouble.

When Jesus was on the cross, soldiers cast lots to see who could take His seamless garment.

It's always interesting how people refer to the giant fish as a whale, when the Bible doesn't refer to it as such.

Jonah prayed a very Psalm-like prayer while inside the fish:

"'In my distress I called to the Lord,
and He answered me.
From the depths of the grave I called for help,
and You listened to my cry...
...But You brought my life up from the pit,
O Lord my God.
When my life was ebbing away,
I remembered You, Lord,
and my prayer rose to you,
to your holy temple.
Those who cling to worthless idols
forfeit the grace that could be theirs.
But I, with a song of thanksgiving,
will sacrifice to you.
What I have vowed I will make good.
Salvation comes from the Lord.'"

And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

In John 21:12 we see Jesus telling His disciples, "Come, let us eat breakfast." (that's my favorite humorous verse) He's preparing and eating fish. There's another story of a fish swallowing something funny in the Gospels. Jesus is pressed about taxes, and He commands a disciple to grab a fish, open its mouth, and a coin was there with which to pay the tax with.

Jesus, Who was in the "heart of the earth" for three days, said that the men of Nineveh would rise up at the judgment "with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now One greater than Jonah is here."

It's interesting how the men of Nineveh quickly turned to the Lord. "They believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth." When the news reached the king of Nineveh, "he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust." He gave a decree that asked, "'Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from His fierce anger so that we will not perish.'"

It's neat that they turned from sin and towards God. Even the ones who were busy with a magazine deadline or whatever partook in the fast. I'm sure there was some inconvenience involved. The stomach always protests when it misses a meal. Yet the people corporately (like a church) did something to honor the Lord. They got His attention and He "did not bring upon them the destruction He had threatened."

And the prayer of Jonah? How amazing was that? "'Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.'" What an understanding of (New Testament) grace! Wow. And to think we could forfeit (or give up, or refuse to accept) that grace!? Unreal. There is so much richness and depth to this book of Jonah.

Posted by Doug Van Pelt at September 8, 2005 08:39 AM