First the Luke-Matthew Connection: Today’s Gospel verses are paralleled in Matthew 13: 38-42. Both record Jesus’ address to a crowd who ask for a sign, perhaps expecting something so spectacular as to overcome their doubt that Jesus is the Messiah. Our Lord proclaims that this unfaithful generation would only see the sign of Jonah. Somehow this is related to Our Lord’s Messianic mission and Saint Peter’s mission as His vizier, as we will see – but how?
The Sign of Jonah includes St Peter
The Gospel of John, identifies Simon Peter as son of John. (Jn 1:42). In Matthew 16: 1-4, now the Pharisees and Sadducees also seek a sign and Jesus repeats the essence of His previous reply to the crowd found in today’s Gospel. Yet, in Mt 16: 17, just a few verses later, Jesus calls Peter “Simon Bar-Jonah” – son of Jonah, knowing Peter’s father was named John not Jonah. No typo here. Simon Peter, son of Jonah is going to be part of the sign that Jesus will give His audience. Jesus felt it important for the crowd, the Pharisees, and the Sadducees to understand it, and therefore so must we.
The Timing of a Sign that fulfills Daniel’s Prophecy
Daniel Chapter 7 documents the present and future existence of Four Beasts, four empires, who would affect and dominate the people of God. First, the Babylonians who exiled the Jews and destroyed the Temple of Solomon. Second, the Medo-Persians who would permit the Jews to return to Israel and rebuild the Temple, but not reestablish a Davidic King rule. Third, the Greek Empire which ultimately desecrated of the second Temple and whose dominion was thwarted by the Maccabean revolt. Fourth, the final beast -the Roman Empire that conquered most of the Ancient World -including Israel, and was the occupying power in the Holy Land at the time of Christ.
A careful read of Daniel 7: 25-28 describes a final Kingship that will overcome the Roman Empire by a Holy People of the Most High, whose kingdom shall be everlasting. Clearly a prophetic reference to the Church as the final Kingdom of God on earth. The Annunciation narrative identifies Jesus as the Son of the Most High, and that His Kingdom will have no end! (Lk 1: 31-33).
Jesus and Peter, as the complete sign of Jonah.
Jonah, seven centuries before Christ, was chosen to sail to Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian empire to seek its repentance. As a patriot from the 10 Northern Tribes of Israel, Jonah was afraid that if he was successful and Nineveh repented, that ultimately within a generation or so later Assyria would return to their evil ways and attack his beloved Northern Israel and decimate his homeland of the Northern Tribes. To avoid this, Jonah convinced sailors that he was the reason for a storm that risked capsizing their transportation ship. Jonah was thrown overboard by the sailors, but was swallowed by a whale (some translations Sea Monster) where he spent three days in its belly before being spit out alive near the shore closer to Nineveh. Sure enough Jonah preached and the Assyrians repented but 40 years later as Jonah had feared, the Assyrians attacked the 10 Northern Tribes and dispersed them throughout their kingdom -separating them so they could not return and reconquer their land.
The Sign as Proclaimed by Jesus
Jesus, like Jonah spent three days in the belly of the earth, as part of His crucifixion and resurrection. The three days are counted as the day of Passover on Friday, the following day as the feast of Unleavened Bread, and the third day, a Sunday, the Feast of First Fruits and day of His resurrection.
Simon Peter for his part as the spiritual son of Jonah (the vizier of Jesus a Davidic King) completes the second part of the sign by going as first Pope to Rome -the center of the Roman Empire, so that over time the Fourth Beast can repent and be overcome by the Church, fulfilling Daniel’s prophecy.
The sign of Jonah was completed with Jesus’ three days in the Earth and by the prophecy of the Kingdom of the Most High defeating Rome, the Fourth Beast, and continues “everlasting,” 2000 years later.
And there is more …
Jesus changed Simon’s spiritual lineage for his participation in the sign of Jonah so that future generations would see the fulness of the completed. Those of the first century would also recognize that as the 10 Northern Tribes were decimated 40 years after Jonah, that the Romans 40 years after Jesus’ resurrection, likewise decimated Jerusalem along with the Jerusalem Temple.
In short, that evil and unfaithful generation did not pass away until they had seen the “sign of Jonah” as Jesus had prophesied. The complete sign would await 300 further years until the Roman Empire Beast faded away as prophesied by Daniel, after it became Catholic.
