Prelude – the Sign of Jonah: 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.
The story of Jonah thrilled us when we were boys. It was so frightening we would hold on to each other as our father told us what happened to the prophet Jonah. The sea was the source of our livelihood, and we sailed with father almost daily on his fishing trips. We understood that world and could see the storms approaching but we never underestimated the danger of the deep.
To be thrown from a boat, to sink down into the deepest darkest depths of the sea – nothing could be more frightening. Jonah should have died then, and he should have of died of the next terror too, when he was swallowed up by the great fish. James and I would cry out when father recited that part of the story to us and laughed when he reached the part where the fish vomited the prophet onto dry land. We understood the message of that tale. The Lord would have his way and would show his mercy, even to the Ninevites. They repented and he would have his way, even over disobedient prophets, and stormy seas. Only the Lord God could command the sea and only he could act with such mercy towards men.
Teacher, We Wish to See a Sign from You
On the day when Jesus spoke about the story of Jonah, we had endured a sabbath which was far from peaceful. Hungry, we had been picked up for gathering a few heads of grain. Later Jesus was condemned for healing a man’s hand on the Lord’s day. Worst of all he was accused of working with Beelzebul. And then, from a group of religious leaders, came another attempt to trap Our Lord with a request for a ‘sign.’ Once again, I could feel my anger blaze up. Had they not seen and heard enough to understand? The Lord God was reaching out to give them His mercy. The people of Ninevah had fasted and wept in repentance and here His own people were rejecting and baiting him.
The Men of Nineveh
That was when Jesus rounded on the group. He reminded them about the Ninevites, who behaved better than our own people when challenged buy the prophet about their wickedness. And then I felt a deeper fear than I had felt when my father told the old story as I saw him facing bitter hostility.
Three Days and Three Nights in the in the Heart of the Earth
Jesus said, ‘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.’ I gazed into the coming days to see Our Lord taken into the deepest darkness in the heart of the earth, into a fate worse than Jonah’s. I saw such utter darkness and death, and I saw Jesus’ calling out as one abandoned by his own Father.
Something greater than Jonah … something greater than Solomon is here.
Then I heard the words ‘something greater than Jonah is here.’ Yes Lord. I know who you are, and I know you are greater than Jonah, and greater than Solomon. You are Lord of earth and sea and all of us who live on the face of the earth. Should you choose to be, you are also greater than everything sent against you. I know you would never turn away from your father. And your people. Like Jonah, you will offer up your life and win a greater victory than his.
