And again we'll be looking at
Jonah, a human type of our blessed Lord. And let's read from Jonah,
from the book of Jonah, chapter 1, just verse 17. Now the Lord
had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was
in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. And we know that it belched him
out. All right, now in Matthew chapter 12, and here we look
at verse 38 through verse 41. Matthew 12, 38-41. Then certain of the scribes and
the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from
thee. But he answered and said unto
them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign,
and there shall no sign be given to it but the sign of the prophet
Jonas. And as Jonas was three days,
three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of Man be three
days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men in
Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation and shall
condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah. And
behold, a greater than Jonas is here." Now Matthew chapter
16 And verse 4, a wicked and adulterous generation seeks after
a sign, and there shall no sign be given unto it but the sign
of the prophet Jonas, and he left them and departed. Luke 11, 29 and 30, and I read
this one for a specific reason. He makes mention of something
the others do not. Luke 11, 29 and 30. When the people were gathered
thick together, he began to say, This is an evil generation. They
seek a sign, and there shall no sign be given it but the sign
of Jonas the prophet. For as Jonas was a sign unto
the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of Man be to this generation. Now, most are familiar with the
experience of Jonah and the whale. how that he was running from
God. God created a great monster fish able to swallow him up,
and it did, three days and three nights, and then rather cast
him out upon the shore, and he went and preached unto Nineveh
as the Lord had commanded him. Now one of the main things that
we notice about this is that the Lord by this puts his stamp
of authenticity not only on the book of Jonah but also on the
account of Jonah in the whale's belly or the fish's belly or
the monster's belly whichever for three days and three nights,
that it is not a myth, that it is an actual happening and a
work of God in the Old Testament. And he does that in order that
he might then bring before them the fact that he would be three
days and three nights in the bowels of the earth, and then
he would rise and live again. So let's set the context to see
why the Lord makes this mention of Jonah and the comparison between
Jonah and himself literally as type and antitype. Now at first
it does not seem maybe to be a very good comparison because
of the two characters Jonah and the Lord Jesus Christ. For Jonah
was rebellious, he ran from the Lord, he didn't want to preach
to the Gentiles, and so he ran and therefore we wonder how he
could be a good type of the Lord Jesus Christ. But the point is
in the three days and in the three nights. Now the occasion
was, some Jews had come, as they often did, and demanded of the
Lord that He might show unto them a sign. We would see a sign
from you. Why and by what authority did
you do all of these things, and so taunting Him, trying to catch
Him, they asked that He might give them a sign. Now we may
well put this in the class with those who taunted our Lord while
yet upon the cross. If thou be the Christ, come down,
save thyself and us. But we would see a sign, they
said unto Him. Indication. We want to see something
that indicates that you are who you are. We want to see a miracle.
We want to see a token. We want to see a wonder done
at and by your hand. Something to indicate, something
to signify that you are who you claim to be. Now some of them
had just accused him of casting out devils by the Prince of Bezelbub,
as you might remember. And yet they had not believed
upon him, even though he had done many miracles, many did
not believe in the miracle. John chapter 12 and verse 37. So they manifested their ignorance
and their blindness at not being able to see what he had already
done, that he was a special one having come from God. We remember
that he was a man approved of God among them by signs, miracles,
and wonders, which he did by them in the midst of you, said
Peter, as ye yourselves also know." Acts chapter 2 and verse
22 and 23. Now, we note the words of the
Lord, His reply under their request. He says this, an evil and adulterous
generation seeketh after a sign. And in places more particularized
them by referring to that generation of people, that generation of
Jew, this generation, this generation, this generation. And he called
them serpent and vipers and hypocrite and all of that sort. Now both
John the Baptist and our Lord called these men of that time
a generation of vipers. For they were the generation
that put to death our Lord. Now every generation has its
particular sins and loses its particular culture. That was
the flood, Sodom, the heathen in the Old Testament. But no
generation is more to be blamed for their blindness and their
ignorance than the generation to which our Lord appeared in
the flesh, did mighty miracles, signs, and wonders among them. You may remember Years ago I
did a series of sermons on the generation that killed Jesus. And we went into that very thoroughly.
Now we come to the words of the Lord in verse 39. Not that our
Lord would shut off His miracles at that particular point, for
He afterward continued to do them and to display His glory
and to display His power over all things. But His answer as
Jonah, as it was with Jonah, so shall it be with Me, the Son
of Man. And then he goes on, as Jonah
was three days and three nights in the fish, so shall the Son
of Man be three days and three nights in the bowels of the earth. And here's the typology, here's
the connection. The three days and the three
nights. or type and anti-type. What happened to Jonah? Did he
decay in that old fish? Did it digest him and pass him
out? No. Three days and three nights,
and Jonah was not digested. He was not destroyed, but cast
out again in the presence of the people. It should be noted
that in this text, the Lord is declaring His resurrection. Three days he would be dead,
but he would rise again. For as Jonah was delivered from
the belly of the great fish, so the Lord would be delivered
from the grave, and that without being consumed or seeing corruption. Now there are two points here
for us to look at and to consider. Number one, that His resurrection
would be an act of judgment and condemnation against those that
crucified the Lord. In that, God revered what He
had done and reversed what they had done unto Him the Lord and
raised his son up again from the dead. Not to a common life,
but to an extraordinary life. Secondly, that his resurrection
would be a sign. Shall I call it the sign of all
signs. I think the Lord makes it the
preeminent sign that would be given unto that generation. The
wonder of all wonders the miracle of all miracles performed by
the Lord, that he would give himself into death, lay in the
grave, not be consumed, and would rise and live again. But first
let's take a closer look at the typology that is referred to
here by the Lord. Something there was analogous
between the experience of Jonah in the whale and the Lord in
the grave. He sums it up, three days and
three nights. However, this is not the only
way that Jonah is typical of Christ our Lord. For example,
Jonah is called a prophet, back over in that chapter, verse 39,
chapter 12 of Matthew. And also, some say that he was
of Galilee for 2 Kings 14 and 25. Spurgeon had something interesting
to say here. Quote, his life story is well
symbolized by that of Jonah. And then he names some resemblances,
Spurgeon did, between the two, the type and the anti-type, Jonah
and our Lord. Such as, the Jews cast our Lord
over unto death. even as the sailors cast Jonah
to his death in the sea. The death of Jonah, soon as he
hit, calmed the raging sea. Remember, they were in a great
storm, and Jonah said, it's on my account. And so they threw
him overboard, and immediately the sea stopped its raging. Even as the death of our Lord
calmed the wrath of God, against the elect and against them. Jonah was for a time in the belly
of the whale, our Lord for a time laying in the bowels of the earth. Each rose again, each came back
again and exercise a powerful and a successful ministry. The
reviving of each was a sign to their particular generation,
to that of Jonah and to that of the Lord. Jonah slept in the
ship in a storm, and our Lord slept in a ship in the storm. But let's notice a statement
from the pen of Luke that I wanted us to notice, chapter 11, and
verse 30, for as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall
also the Son of Man be to this generation. Now Luke emphasizes
something that Matthew does not, in that Jonah and what befell
him and his action and activity was a sign unto the Ninevite,
that is, unto that generation among whom he lived and whom
he served, to the people of his time. And of course Luke has
in mind that which correspond with the experience of the Lord
concerning the three day and the three night, his time in
the great fish, and his deliverance out again. Now, in what way was
Jonah assigned to the people in his generation? He was a type
of our Lord in his death, burial, and resurrection. But how was
Jonah assigned under the people of his time? Now, that he was
is very clear in that it is stated by the Lord. And I think the
tense is like this. Jonas became a sign to the Ninevites. Jonas became a sign unto the
Ninevites. There was something that occurred
to him that was a sign or a wonder, something that was greatly out
of the realm of the natural and the ordinary, something that
they could not ignore and they could not explain and perhaps
not understand. Something very distinctive about
this coming back of Jonah from the great fish. Now in considering
how Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, we might notice two
things here that might help us on our way. Number one, that
when he was cast into the stormy stormy sea or ocean, the sea
was tossing and angry and rough and tossing the ship about. What
is called in Jonah chapter 1 and verse 4, quote, a mighty tempest,
unquote. And again in Jonah 1 and verse
11, as we read along, we find the sea wrought and was tempestuous. It was a great and a soaring
and a swirling storm. It wrought. It grew more and
more. The storm worsened. It increased
in its raging. It intensified the longer that
they delayed to take action against Jonah. It was immediately calmed,
and I just want to emphasize that, when Jonah was cast into
the raging sea. So in Jonah 115, they that lay
hold on Jonah cast him into the raging sea, and the sea ceased
from raging. And it was immediate, so that
there could be no question between the connection of its stopping
and Jonah being cast into it. Even as Jonah had said, cast
me in, and the sea will stop her raging." So that the calming
of the sea cannot be ascribed to any other cause than the tossing
in of Jonah. It would not let the storm pass,
not let the system pass out of the way or died out. It cannot
be ascribed to anything for no period of time passed between
the tossing in and the calming of the sea. We cannot call it
fate, we can't refer to it as chance and not luck. They could
not say that the storm ran its course, or that it ceased our
path, or that they rode out of its path. For no sooner does
Jonah hit the water than the raging of the sea is calm. Now what they tried They tried
a lot of things before they listened to Jonah. A, they cast overboard
the cargo. They began to empty the ship,
Jonah 1 and verse 5, trying to save the ship and save their
life. Number two, even after Jonah
gave them the remedy, toss me in, and it was ceased. In 113, nevertheless, the men
rode harder to bring it to land, unquote. What a picture these
two things paint of natural men, even natural men in relation
unto our Lord, who believing that the storms of conviction
and the raging of a guilty and accusing conscience will often
imitate the action of the sailors when they come under great worry.
That is, they will give up certain habits, They will part with certain
practices and toss them overboard, as it were. If that does not
bring them the peace they desire, then they will roll harder, even
as the men in Jonah's day did. They'll vow to do good works,
to obey the law, to be more faithful rather than espouse the remedy
that is set forth in the gospel, Jesus Christ dead for the salvation
of sinners. But we move along, and there's
a second thing to bring in. The second way that Jonah was
assigned under the Ninevite was in his deliverance, in his return
in that time and in that place. This is a great typical feature. between Jonah and our Lord. For it would appear that in being
swallowed up by the raging sea, then swallowed up by the great
fish, that the ministry and the life of Jonah is over and finished
and done and will have no more to do with this man preaching
repentance. that he would never appear again
among the living, his voice would never again be lifted up among
them, preaching to them the things of God, that his career was over. One might expect that his remains
would never be found, never be recovered as well as in him being
consumed, digested, destroyed by the great fish in the sea
and that the fish would be his grave and his resting place and
that it would have been the case except that God had his eye and
his hand upon Jonah for a particular work and God made a great exception
with Jonah. others swallowed up would have
been destroyed and never seen again in this world. Do we need
to raise the question whether or not Jonah actually died? Is this necessary for the sign?
Did Jonah die or was there some way that he was preserved miraculously
alive in the belly of that fish? I remember once years ago hearing
an old black preacher explain that God made him a kitchen there
and a dining table and an oven and let him fix it up as a house
that he might live there again. But that's not really answering
the type for Our Lord actually died and was buried three days
and three nights in the grave. In an antitype, the Lord speaks
of his death. Three days, three nights in the
heart of the earth. Dead, buried, raised again unto
everlasting life, and that exactly after the three days appointed. what it's worth, I favor the
view that Jonah was dead. And consider, if you might, Jonah
2 and verse 6 and the last part. Thou hast brought up my life
from corruption. Now the margin has it the pit.
Thou hast brought up my life from the pit. The points still
stand. that whether dead or preserved
from death in the great whale, there was a miracle of God in
this process. The great fish, this indeed was
extraordinary that a man be swallowed alive and whole by a fish. and yet be seen three days later
coming and preaching again. And again that word in Luke 11
and verse 30, Jonah was assigned under the Ninevites, so shall
the son be unto this generation. J.C. Ryle wrote this, the mighty
fact of the resurrection is unquestionably the main point in the type Jonah
was in that great fish three days and three nights, and then
belched out upon dry land. Christ was three days and three
nights in the grave, and then he came forth from that grave
dead, buried, lived again, and ministered for a while among
that generation. Now the Jews, in league with
the Romans, cast the Lord, not into the sea, but upon the cross,
and try as it might, death, the grave, and Hades could not bring
the Holy One to corruption. It could not corrupt Him. It
could not swallow Him up and turn Him to dust as it does all
of the rest of us. It could not rot away His flesh
in the grave. And it could not hold Him beyond
the appointed time for God had declared in the Psalm that it
would be so. Now our text today or one of
two, whereby the Lord Himself speaks of His resurrection as
a confirming sign. This will be the sign. This will
be the great sign. Three days, three nights in the
grave and then live again. And it also became a confirmation
and a sign and a proof of His deity. In a John 2 13 through
21, the Jews cleansing the temple and they ask our Lord, show us
a sign by what authority you are doing that. His answer, a
sign of my authority, there shall be no sign given but the sign
of Jonah. But he said in John 2, 19, sign,
destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up again. The Jews thought he referred
to the physical temple and considered it a very absurd thing. But the Lord, I think, purposely
cast His answer in allegorical and in figurative language. He
does not say plainly because of their stubbornness and rebellion
and unbelief. There in John chapter 2, The
stubborn, rebellious, blind, unbelieving, he purposely spoke
to those that were unworthy of a direct reply, kill me, bury
me, I'll live again. And so he couched it in, destroy
this temple, three days, I will raise it up again. Though those
that heard did not understand, yet his word, destroy this temple,
and in three days, I will raise it up again. Matthew chapter
2661 before Caiaphas. They bring his charge before
the council to show him a blasphemer. They said, he said, destroy this
temple and I'll raise it again in three days. And they considered
that blasphemy, because they understood not, as John said,
the temple of His body. Matthew chapter 27 and verse
40, as they mocked Him on the cross, they said, Ha, ha, thou
that destroy the temple and build us it again in three days, save
thyself. As if to say unto him, if you're
able to do the first, you're able to do the other. Matthew
27, 63 through 64, in their request for Pilate to set a guard on
the tomb, they said, listen, we remember that that deceiver
said, while he was yet alive, after three days, I'll rise again. So they said, set a watch. and
a guard upon the tomb. Now the sign of Jonah, what is
it? The son of man shall be three
days, three nights in the bowels of the earth. Then what? After
the three days and night, he will live again. He'll raise
from the dead. He will take up his life again. He went into debt and he saw
no corruption. not possible for him to be holden
of it beyond the appointed time for it had been written in the
psalm. He would raise up the temple
of his body again and make it whole. What is this but a prediction
of his resurrection? And what is his resurrection
but the end indisputable proof of His Messiahship that He has
come from God. The sign of all signs. All His
claims of deity. All of His claims as being come
from God and being the Son of God. All the Scriptures ride
on our Lord coming out of the grave again. Romans 1 and 4 declared,
demonstrated, manifested, proved to be the Son of God by the resurrection
from the dead. While some false prophets have
worked wonders here and there, Pharaoh's magicians come to our
mind, yet the death of the firstborn and the parting of the Red Sea
left them in the dust. for signs and wonder. Not only
was the Lord raised as the confirming sign of his deity, but in Acts
1-3 he showed himself alive again by many infallible proof to his
followers and disciples after his passion and his death. Now, most would agree that Christ
raising the dead is the greatest of His earthly miracles performed
among men, toward the sons of men, that He could walk up and
bring one back to life who had died. Breath had left their body,
and they were lifeless and without a spirit. And yet, even after
three days or four, he could bring Lazarus out of the grave,
not corrupted, but in his body again. And such lived again at
his command. Most, I think, ought to agree
that his living again after three days is the greatest sign of
our Lord's life and ministry. And please no disclaim, for not
simply the Father will raise me up again, but I will take
it up again, a sign of His deity. I have laid down my life. I have
power or authority to do so, to lay it down and to take it
up again. Now, let's make some application,
both from the text and the subject, such as follow. Number one, It
is an act of unbelief that so many today are fascinated by
what they call signs, miracles, wonders, and such like. What
need of signs is there? The scripture has confirmed all
that we need to know, and signs have ceased as to their use and
benefit. So why Would anybody want to
sign a wonder and a miracle when we have the scripture that tell
us about our blessed Lord? You know, people will drive 80,
90 miles when it comes out on the news. an image of Jesus is
in a window or a tree or something and they'll drive and tromp down
the yard and it'll be on the news for three days and three
nights and you get there and it looks like one of the Smith
Brothers cough drop pictures. Who can tell what it is? But
people are just that idolaters in our day and in our time. So today we have this great passage
from our Lord. As Jonah was three days and three
nights in the bowels of the earth, so shall the Son of Man be three
days and three nights. Another thing. These texts, like
others, play havoc, I think, with the Good Friday tradition
that has been put into the world by the Roman Catholic Church.
And again, the preaching of the Apostle emphasized the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ. They preached that he is alive
again. You find the Apostle Peter on
Pentecost and thereafter in almost every sermon making mention of
the resurrection of our blessed Lord. That God had loosed the
pangs of death because it's not possible that He should be holding
with it. Acts 2.32, this Jesus has God
raised up. Acts 3.15, whom God has raised
from the dead. Acts 3.26, God having raised
up His Son, Jesus. Acts 4.10, 4.33 and 5.30, all
of them from the Apostle Peter that God
has raised up the Lord again from the dead. So, in closing,
as the sailors tossed Jonah in the sea. And the great fish swallowed
him up. Yet he came out again after three
days and three nights. Even so, the Jews and the Romans
crucified Jesus. He was buried in a tomb and a
seal was put upon the door. But three days and three nights
later, our Lord lived again. He took up his life again and
lived again. And death was defeated by our
Lord. And that brings us to next Sunday.
The first fruits of them that slept was our blessed Lord with
others to follow. Well thank God we have another
great type here of a human type of our blessed Lord and Savior
and it concerned and confirmed the resurrection. Three days,
three nights, and then live again. Thank you very much.