Lenten Reader | Day 15

March 21st, 2025

Sign of Jonah

Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.”

He answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here.

Matthew 12:38-41

Throughout his three-year ministry on this earth, Jesus healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, and raised people from the dead. In Matthew 12:38-41, Jesus is talking to the Pharisees and teachers of the law who are demanding a miraculous sign. They are questioning his divine authority. Instead of performing a miracle, Jesus fires back that he does not do signs on demand, especially to spiritually adulterous, nonbelieving scribes and Pharisees. The only sign that they will get is “the sign of the prophet Jonah.” I love the way “Scripture interprets Scripture.” Jesus is connecting and clarifying Scripture centuries ago to the near future. The scribes and Pharisees do not understand this.

Jonah ran from God's command, was swallowed by a great fish, and remained in its belly for three days and three nights. This foreshadowed Jesus' own death, burial, and resurrection. Just as Jonah emerged from the fish, Jesus Christ rose from the grave bringing the promise of eternal life to all who believe. Jonah's experience represents confinement, darkness, and uncertainty, something we all face in our own spiritual journeys. Like the Pharisees, we are tempted to seek signs or miracles to reassure us of God’s provision and presence.

This sign of Jonah should challenge us to trust in God’s promises even when we cannot see beyond our immediate struggles. Just as Jonah emerged from the fish to bring a message of repentance to Nineveh, we too are called to emerge from our trials with renewed purpose and faith.

The sign of Jonah should encourage us and give us patience and perseverance. It teaches us that God works through the confinement, darkness, and uncertainty. The sign of Jonah reminds us that the greatest assurance we have as believers is the triumph of life over death. Our faith rests in the central truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Larry Schmitt