Jonah and the Mystery of God’s Mercy
Part 6: Sign of Jonah
This is a summary of my notes for a 6-part Sunday School lesson I recently led. It is an adaptation of my previous posts on Jonah along with some points based on the book, The Prodigal Prophet by Time Keller.
When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, “This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation…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. Luke 11:29-30, 32 (ESV)
In our final lesson this Sunday, I want to take some time to reflect on this Son of Man. I want us to think about how Jesus is greater than Jonah by looking at three passages from the New Testament and letting them speak into how we not only read and understand Jonah but how we better understand Jesus himself through the Book of Jonah. There are a lot of passages I could have chosen to look at, but I wanted to focus on three that fit with our theme of why we studied the Book of Jonah. Namely, how our heart sees others, how our heart sees God, and how our heart is drawn to Jesus. To do this, we will have one person for each point come up and share a little bit about what they have learned this quarter in relation to the theme assigned to them before I speak on the passage. I am really looking forward to this time of sharing and pray that the Lord will use it to speak to each of us individually.
Jesus Embracing Others
The life and ministry of Jesus was about “others”. He was consistently pushing up against social, cultural, political, and religious norms to engage, touch, and show compassion to those who were classified as outsiders. Think about his time with the woman at the well, the woman caught in adultery, Mary wiping his feet with her tears and hair, associating with tax collectors, touching and healing people with all sorts of diseases. Jesus went out of his way to not just be with “others” but to engage with them on a personal level.
In Matthew 5:44-47, Jesus gives us his manifesto for how our way of life should be lived in sharp contrast to the world as we relate to “others”.
But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?
Matthew 5:44-47 (ESV)
What Jesus is calling us to in this passage is a ministry of shalom. To wish someone shalom is to want their good. Shalom brings to our mind the picture of a full flourishing life of health and happiness. It’s a word that’s meant to call our hearts into action as we engage with people. Jesus is charging us to open our hearts to those who are different and to make space for them with our attention, emotions, and lives. It’s a call to vulnerability.
How can we do this? In our own strength, this is impossible. It’s only through the power of the Spirit working in and through us that we can hope for shalom to come into the lives of others. It is founded on our identity in Christ alone.
The world wants us to base our identity on anything and everything that makes us feel superior and therefore makes others inferior. We see this sin of pride and self-righteousness at work across all areas of our lives: our culture, our nation, our family, our heritage, our personal experiences, our intelligence, our work, our sports teams, and our faith. We want to make our experience the norm and baseline for everyone else. An example of this in action is when I drive on the interstate. If the speed limit is 70 MPH and I am driving 75, I will typically think to myself that anyone going faster than me is reckless and anyone going slower than me is an idiot, even though that slower driver is actually obeying the speed limit!
No, our identity as Christians is not based on ourselves or our achievements. It’s not even based on my love for God, which is imperfect. It is based and grounded in God’s love for me. I am his and he is mine. It is in this truth that I find the freedom to embrace “others” and wish them shalom. It’s my understanding of being a child of God, lavishly loved by my heavenly Father, that transforms my heart and impacts the way I relate to others. It’s the love of Christ overflowing from my heart that teaches me to “love my enemies and pray for those who persecute me.”
Jesus in the Storm
And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (ESV)
Mark 4:37–41 (ESV)
There are some fascinating parallels between Jonah’s experience in the storm and Jesus’ experience in the storm on Lake Galilee. Each of them is out on the water in a boat with a group of people. Each boat is overtaken by a storm. Each storm is described as being great and particularly violent as it threatens to break up each boat. Both Jesus and Jonah are found asleep in the midst of the terrible storm. The others on the boat come to the sleeper and awaken him as they cry out for him to help them in this dire situation.
The disciples seem to capture and express our personal feelings toward God in suffering. They wake Jesus from his sleep and say, “Teacher, don’t you care that we are perishing?” We, like the disciples, become terrified by the storms of trials and suffering that come into our lives. When this happens…
We are tempted to be like the sailors in Jonah’s story and keep working harder to correct the situation. We throw out the cargo of our ship and desperately try anything and everything we can think of to ease our suffering.
We are also tempted to disengage and isolate like Jonah. When the storm was building, Jonah went down into the inner part of the ship to sleep. He didn’t want to think about the storm of suffering. He didn’t want to be bothered with it in any way. He just wanted to be left alone in the darkness and isolate himself. He just wanted to forget about his troubles and not be bothered.
But the disciples had it right to a degree. Granted, they went to Jesus out of fear and accused him of not caring about them, which was wrong. But they went to Jesus for help… This is the message of hope. They went to Jesus because they realized they were incapable and were in desperate need of their teacher. And what did Jesus do? He calmed the storm and brought peace to the situation. The disciples didn’t have it spiritually right at the moment, but that didn’t stop Jesus from easing their suffering and bringing peace into their lives.
The lesson for us is that Jesus is right there among us in the middle of the storms of life. We are not to mistake the inaction of Christ in our moment of turmoil as a lack of care, concern, or love. We are to cry out to the Lord in faith, trusting that he is in control. Trusting that he has our best interest in mind and will never let the storms of this world drive us away from his love. Whether we are experiencing a storm that has suddenly come upon us or a storm brought upon us through our sin and rebellion, the answer is always the same. Cry out to Jesus for salvation. Cry out to your God who loves you. Cry out to the only One who is your refuge and peace.
Jesus Greater Than Jonah
Jonah saw the lavish mercy of God about to be poured out upon an enemy that didn’t deserve it and he ran from his duty. He girded up his pride and began a journey away from the heart of God. Indeed, he put himself in the place of God and began making judgments and pronouncements upon a people and a nation. In his self-made image of god, there was no mercy. There was only judgment, wrath, and destruction. And when he was proven wrong by God’s divine compassion and humbled, he fell into despair and misery. Hating life and hating God. Which leads to the question, how is Jesus different? Let’s read Paul’s great hymn of this greater Jonah in Philippians 2.
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:5–11 (ESV)
Jesus saw the lavish mercy of God to be poured out upon an enemy that didn’t deserve it and he embraced his mission. He emptied himself by not counting himself equal to God and holding onto this right at all costs. He freely gave up the privileges and took on the form of a servant, man. Instead of asserting his superiority, he humbled himself to be like them. He walked among his enemies. He loved his enemies. He suffered and died for his enemies. He took upon himself the very sins of these enemies and endured their necessary punishment. He brought mercy to his enemies.
This is our Greater Jonah who did something more than spend three nights of isolation in the belly of a fish. Where Jonah could only be a picture of the grave pointing to something greater, Jesus spent three nights in Sheol, in the grave. Isolated and alone. The Father turned his back on him for the first and only time. Jesus endured the full wrath of God poured out upon him in that moment. The judgment that was due to God’s enemies was executed upon the holy and righteous One of God. Jesus became sin. He became God’s enemy in our place.
This is our takeaway from the Book of Jonah. The grace of God is not cheap and ordinary. Never let the grace of Christ become commonplace and ordinary in your life. Memorize Philippians 2:5-11. Repeat it to yourself often. Wake up in the morning and remind yourself of all that Jesus has done for you. When you lie down at night, meditate on the amazing love of God for you. “Have this mind among yourselves.” Remember the One who left heaven and humbled himself. Give thanks to the One who embraced death on the cross. Praise the One who is now risen and seated at the right hand of God. Let your heart sing the Hymn that Paul gives to us as a gift.
Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.