A Greater than Jonah is Here

Text: Matthew 12:38–41

Intro:

• Jonah, who was swallowed by a whale or great fish, is a type, a picture, a prophecy of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Jesus knew what happened to Jonah was real and there was a great lesson there, and Jesus said it is the chief sign given to prove He is the Messiah.

I. A Sacrifice Was Made:

a. (Jonah 1:11-12) This is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ taking our place. That vessel going down in the storm is lost humanity experiencing the wrath of God—headed for shipwreck. Jonah is a picture, in this moment, of Jesus; and it was necessary that Jonah be sacrificed in order that the others might live.

b. Jonah couldn’t just jump out. He said, “You’re going to have to take me and throw me overboard.” It was foreshadowing that the Lord Jesus Christ has been crucified by our hands. Jonah had to be physically thrown overboard. He had to be sacrificed by them. (Jonah1:5;13) false religion and self-effort could not deliver them. Salvation, Jonah knew, is of the Lord. (Jonah 2:9)

II. Is Anything Too Hard for God:

a. (Jonah 1:17; Matthew 12:40) The bottom line is Jonah actually died when he was in that fish and God raised him from the dead. Jonah 2:1-2 says, “Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish’s belly,”—now, watch what he said— “and said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.” Is anything too hard for God?

III. Jesus is Greater than Jonah:

a. (Matthew 12:39-41) These educated religious men were saying to Jesus, “Prove yourself. Give us a sign.” But Jesus said, “You’ve already had a sign. It was the sign of the prophet Jonah. And Jonah spoke to Nineveh, and they repented in sackcloth and ashes, and they were delivered.” Now Jesus said that “the men of Nineveh shall rise in the judgment and condemn this generation, because a greater than Jonah is here.” Jesus is greater than Jonah.

b. Jesus is saying that when He comes to judge us, He’s not going to judge us primarily by the sin we’ve committed, but by the light we’ve rejected. Nineveh was exceedingly wicked, they were ripe for judgment, and God said He was going to destroy it. And Jesus said that “the men of Nineveh will rise in the judgment to condemn this generation.”

c. Jesus was talking to a religious people who were lost, but people who had great light. As a matter of fact, the Son of God was in their midst. A greater than Jonah was there. They were face to face with Truth. Do you realize it would be better for you to go to hell from Nineveh or Sodom than it would be from Panama City? We who live in this generation don’t only have the sign of Jonah, but we have the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If Nineveh had not listened to Jonah and repented, they would have been judged and condemned by God. Yet a greater than Jonah is here today. His Name is Jesus and He died to save you from your sin. His sacrifice guarantees eternal life for those who are saved. It guarantees eternal death for those who reject Him.