And now would you remain standing for the reading of
God's word In some ways this verse probably doesn't need much
introduction to us. But if you're just joining us
for the first time, we've been studying the book of Jonah, I
believe come to probably the most well known verse of the
story and what he is known for. And so we had that from Jonah
117, but also a reading from the New Testament that helps us make
sense of what it is that we're reading from Jesus's eyes.
From Matthew 12, verses 38 through 41.
Jonah 117 And the ward appointed a great fish to swallow up
Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish 3 days and
three nights. Then Matthew 12, starting at
verse 38. Then some of the scribes and
Pharisees answered him, saying, Teacher, we wish to see a sign
from you, 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.
For just as Jonah was 3 days and three nights in the belly of the
great fish, so will the Son of Man be 3 days and three nights
in the hearts of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up
at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for
they repented at the preaching of Jonah and behold, something
greater than Jonah is here. This is the word of the Lord be
to God. You may be seated.
The title of the sermon that Paul gave.
It was something greater than Jonah is here.
There's obviously greatness talked about in terms of Jesus's
words to the scribes and the Pharisees, but what we say makes
a prophet great or not. What would we even say is a
prophet? We call Jonah a prophet and we
read of his story. We have the the famous vision of
this great fish that swallowed him up.
But what does it mean when we would call Jonah or Jesus a
prophet? I looked up the definition in in
common language in Merriam Webster's and there was about 5
different definitions for a profit.
As you can imagine. Somewhat we would actually agree
with. One who utters divinely inspired
revelations 1 gifted with more than ordinary spiritual or moral
insights. Now this is one that we might,
may, or may not agree with in terms of how it's used in common
language. One who foretells future events.
An effective or leading spokesman for a cause, doctrine,
or group. Lastly, A diviner, A forecaster.
These are some of the common definitions of the word for
profit. But I would say if we think
about the prophet's greatness, we might even say it comes from
maybe the accuracy of their divine revelation.
So if they're supposed to prophesize something in the
future, how accurate is their prophetic words?
Maybe even on a more modern, secular level, we would say a
prophet is most successful. He can actually discern the
heart of his followers. How much does he know about them
that you would provide the insight that they need to move
forward the way that they would feel?
Most known prophets today, I think, are celebrated for their
ability to connect to the heart, how they speak truth and how
winsomely they speak. Sort of worldly profits would
probably be what we would say for many people come from their
favorite songs. It might be their favorite
politicians, it might even be from the lifestyles of the
famous people that they deemed have had it all.
So then therefore, they can sort of speak to whatever other area
of life in a prophetic way. Now, as the Church, we would not
say all of these things are prophecy, but we have to also
recognize that on a personal level, sometimes we allow things
to speak to our hearts to give us hope that we're never meant
to do so. And what all of these things
have in common is a belief that whatever the prophet of the day
is speaking to, whatever is speaking to the heart, will
actually save the people that they are speaking to, right?
That's the kind of the common humanity around it.
We're seeking for something to save us, whether it's the
comfort, the acceptance, the approval.
The prophet is trying to tell the people that these things
that bring them pain, these other things will bring them
life. Let's go back to Jonah and his
greatness. He was called to be a prophet of
the Lord. He was raised up.
We're to get to assume in his earlier days as a prophet, as a
student of the word, he was successful, he was faithful.
But what is he most known for today?
Verse 17, He was the word appointed a great fish to
swallow him up. And then later on we hear Jesus
referring to Jonah and Jesus and Jonah, both of them have a
message of salvation for US. One in his failure and that he
was trying to save himself from helping the people that needed
the help the most. He was actually angry that they
would be saved. So in a lot of ways, Jonah, in
all terms of the definition, is not a great prophet.
He doesn't want the people that God is sending him to to be
saved. He's worried that if he goes and
speaks the message that he sent to speak, it's going to go well,
that they will actually repent. So he runs the other direction.
Our Shorter Catechism for the Westminster Profession of Faith
actually ask the questions. Question 24.
How does Christ execute the office of prophet?
Jesus is a prophet. Christ executes the office of a
prophet. This is the answer in revealing
to us by his word and Spirit the will of God for our salvation.
And Jesus is actually telling us today that what Jonah did points
to this will of God for our salvation, and he's saying it to
describes and Pharisees, the Jewish religious leaders of the
day. So as we examine this thought of
greatness and what does it mean for Jesus to be greater, I want
us to examine it in three sections.
First, great. Great is the mercy of the Lord
for next greater Jesus, being greater than Jonah and 3rd
greatest, the greatest salvation for us all.
Great Jonah has received something great from God.
While you might never call Jonah a great prophet in the sense of
how he lived his life, what is great about him is how he shows
us the mercy of God. Interesting that I say the word
mercy of God because this is coming at the moment of judgment
for Jonah. He had rebelled against God.
He refused to pass on mercy unto others.
And so God brings us to this moment of the swallowing of the
great fish. But I would say this is God's
great judgment for Jonah, but at the same time it's his great
mercy united together. And so then you kind of come to
this question of the, the great fish.
Many people, I think even in many children's lessons is
called a whale. The actual language itself is
just a simple sea creature. God, God, this term God GAD in
the, the, the English literate alliteration of the Hebrew word.
It's probably just a great sea feature.
So we're not really thinking of the fish section at the pet
store, not something like that, but just some sort of sea
creature, which is why, and many times people have kind of said
it must have been a whale, some mysterious creature like that.
A lot of people say it's perhaps a sperm whale or a baleen whale.
I spent some time this week Googling these types of sea
creatures to see what they're like.
They're about 60 to 100 feet in in length.
Perhaps these whales and many of you will remember the the famous
story Moby Dick that was actually inspired by the Bible.
Herman Melville was inspired by by the Bible to write this story
of a a whale who initially bit off Captain Ahab's leg.
And this is great sea journey of how the these this captain and
this whale battled against one another.
So there he was taking to mind and taking at God's word that it
was actually possible for a whale to swallow up a man.
But perhaps the most important thing about this sea creature is
that God chose it. We'll get to that in a second.
But God chose the creature and perhaps even a miraculous
indefinitely, a miraculous way to show us what he was doing in
this great judgment and great mercy for the prophet Jonah.
The word appointed is used here. God appointed a great fish.
This is the first of four times that that word appointed will be
used in the book of Jonah. All four times that indicates
either a judgment or a mercy that God has appointed towards
Jonah. 3 judgments, one mercy, the fish here right now.
The rest come in chapter 4. There's the plant that got
appoints to provide shade for Jonah.
There's a worm that he then appoints to provide judgment on
the plant that he appointed for Jonah.
And then eventually there's a wind that God appoints to cause
discomfort and to rouse up Jonah's soul Again.
I think this word appointed helps us to address what many
have said is a scientific difficulty of accepting this
story. Some people have, obviously
you've probably heard some sort of exception to this fact that
this could have actually happened.
How could it be that a fish would swallow up a man?
He would stay alive, stay in the belly for three days, three
nights, and then be words from the English Bible vomited up
later. It's the Lord's appointment that
makes it possible. It can involve the suspension of
the natural laws of the universe that the God himself has
created. God created the universe, he
sustains it, but by his divine grace, his divine Providence, he
has caused this creature to be able to eat a man, keep him
whole. So we might be asking ourselves,
yes, could the could this common Sunday school story, could this
really have happened? I would probably say without the
appointment of the Lord, no, it couldn't happen.
But God, because his Word tells us it did, and because we know
throughout the story of God's people that He has brought about
supernatural power to mark particular events in salvation
history that I can say with confidence that this really did
happen because the Lord's appointment.
Do we know exactly how all the details?
No Could have been a special sea creature of some kind that God
created for this special moment with a special kind of toothless
mouth and a giant stomach perhaps could have been just in
God's Providence a normal part of creation that he allowed for
a miraculous event to happen between the the whale and Jonah.
I probably more lean in that direction yes, but God's word
doesn't tell us it simply tells us the Lord appointed by his
Providence. There's something that he's
trying to tell us through this miracle.
He God wanted the the readers, He wanted those who would hear
this story to notice something about the life of Jonah and also
the bigger picture for God's people in general in the life of
Jonah. This event was meant to mark
God's mercy for a wayward prophet.
Jonah could have been hurled into the sea.
His punishment served, his death recorded.
But in the belly of the fish, Jonah both received a just
punishment for his disobedience and the mercy of God to hold him
for three days in the fish before he would come hurling
out. I think what God is trying to
tell us of His great mercy, His great judgement, has to do with
what we could learn from the life of Jonah, and perhaps is
what he's teaching us regarding prejudice, thinking that some
group of people based on being outside of a preferred group are
not worthy of God's grace and forgiveness.
See, behind that lie is a belief that we've actually done
something in ourselves by being a part of a certain group where
we have earned God's forgiveness.
That's we are somehow better than another group of people
rather than our quality as men and women around the world who
need the grace and mercy of God in all moments.
So at that heart, I would love to read for you a parable from
further on, the Gospel, Gospel of Matthew from chapter 20,
verses one through 16. You can turn to your Bibles
there if you'd like. I'll read all 16 verses over us
and tell you another parable of the Kingdom from verse 1,
chapter 20. For the Kingdom of heaven is
like a master of his house. He went out early in the morning
to hire laborers for his vineyard.
After agreeing with the laborers for denarius today, he sent them
into his vineyard and going out about the third hour, he saw
others standing idle in the marketplace about the third
hour. And and to them he said, you go
into the vineyard too. And whatever is right, I will
give you. So later on the day they went
going out again. About the 6th hour and 9th hour
he did the same. And about the 11th hour he went
out and found others standing. And he said to them, Why do you
stand here idle all day? They said to him, because no one
has hired us. He said to them, you go into the
vineyard too. And when evening came, the owner
of the vineyard, owner of the vineyard, said to his foreman,
call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the
last up to the 1st. And when those hired about the
11th hour came, each of them received a denarius.
Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive
more, but each of them also received a denarius.
And on receiving it, they grumbled at the master of the
house, saying, These last worked only one hour, and you have made
them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the
scorching heat. But he replied to one of them.
Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me?
For a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go.
I chose to give to this last worker as I give to you.
Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?
Or do you begrudge my generosity?
So the last will be 1st and the 1st last.
This is the word of the Lord, you see, for many in cultural
Christianity. And I was speaking with Pastor
Paul about this earlier in the week as we were both preparing
these messages for you all. And he said for many Paul
growing up here in Texas, it was really helpful for me to to talk
with him. And he actually said for many,
it's far easier to believe in the miracle of the resurrection
than it is to believe in the miracle of Jonah.
The scientific facts of that this fish and how it could eat a
man, how it could swallow it up, how it could encase a man and
feel him swallowed up. As Pastor Rucker's prayer showed
us, this idea of being encroached in all the way that
the world is crumbling around you all shown to the miracle of
the fish. This would be far more difficult
to believe than in something like the resurrection.
And I would say that the if that is the case, the resurrection
has become far too normalized for you.
The resurrection should cause us to marvel, and as Jesus's words
told us from the Gospel of Matthew, it is greater than the
sign of Jonah. The resurrection should cause us
a greater sense of wonder and a greater sense of what we've been
saved from. In this amazing yet more simple
story of Jonah being eaten by a whale, Tim Teller puts it pretty
simply in his book Prodigal Prophet.
Jonah mistrusted the goodness of God, but he didn't know about
the cross. What is our excuse?
Greater. We have received something
greater from Jesus. What makes Jesus greater than
Jonah is His divinity married with His humanity.
I started to list the ways in which Jonah was our Jesus was
greater than Jonah. Jonah hated the Ninevites.
He hated them so much he could not handle them repenting.
Jesus loved those who hated Him. He desired for all of them to
repent and believe in Him. Jonah ran away from the presence
of God. He was both foolish to believe
that this was even possible and then ran away from where God
wanted him to go. Jesus was appointed himself by
God to leave the fellowship of of the Trinity by becoming a
servant being born in the likeness of man, but also lives
as the Son of God on earth in full dependence on God.
Living his life in the flesh by the Spirit, Jonah resisted
talking to the Pagan sailors even when they showed their own
fear of the Lord. Jesus spoke with those who hated
him to reveal the will of the Lord for the salvation of the
repentance. Jonah sort of even hurled
himself into the sea. I know it was a sailors that
threw him there, but it was a resound.
He was resigned to do so. It was the last ditch efforts,
probably because of shame, desire to give up rather than at
a heart of sacrifice, a heart of repentance.
But Jesus gives himself up willingly out of love and
compassion for those who would follow him.
Jonah was appointed a fish to swallow him because of his own
sins. He was cast down as a
punishment. Jesus was tempted in every way
that we are. He was tempted as every way that
we are, like Jonah, yet was without sin.
He was cast down by his own will and for the punishment of our
own sins. Jonah only came near to death in
the water, at least as the text reads it.
That's we don't really get any details of like whether he
actually died in the belly or not, but I'm going to say it was
near death in the water. Jesus actually died a death that
was infamously known for its pain and torture, came under the
full weight of sin and punishment as his descent was
down to hell, taking on the eternal separation from God that
our sins deserved. Maintaining God's justice.
Jonah maintained God's justice by saying that Ninevites were
not deserving of his mercy. That was his form of justice,
right? He said.
They weren't. They weren't deserved together.
That was Jonah's justice right there on display.
Jesus maintains God's justice, offering himself as a merciful
sacrifice. Jesus is far greater than the
sign of Jonah. Now the greatest.
When we think about what Jesus's words tell to us in Matthew 12,
he talks kind of about about the the sons of Nineveh being risen
up in judgment. Because what he's actually
saying the greatest while he's there and he's great is actually
yet to come. The greatest is the fact that
all peoples will be united together in Christ.
All those who claim that they need Jesus, that his death and
resurrection brings about the glory of the nation's coming
together, that is the sign of the greatest prophet of all
time, whose glory will be unmatched, whose glory we can
only begin to fathom now because he's actually rescued us in this
moment. So whatever moment that you feel
God's glory rising up in you and worship, that is just a small
picture of what's to come as all tribes, tongues and nations will
be gathered before the throne in glory.
And so as I close and begin to look to the table, we think
about our eternity, our eternal, our eternal security bought to
us by the Son of God. It brings us back to the
beginning, the mystery of Providence, that our new states
as those who are reminded of the greater Jonah.
It's meant to remind us that we have been sent just as Jesus was
sent to preach the good news to the lost.
Our Sabbath rests today being a foretaste of our eternity,
sealed to us by God. It's meant to equip us for
mission throughout the week, remembering that we are living
and praying for the Kingdom that is now.
But it's fullness is not yet. The fullness of the nations is
not yet. And I was reminded of a quote
from Randy Alcorn that I'll I'll close us with before I pray.
And yes, the pressures of us as Christians are many.
Our sufferings are legitimate. If you're feeling that right
now, want you to know it is legitimate.
But as we think about the difference between Jonah and
Jesus, for Christians, those who have been bought by Christ, this
present life and all of its sufferings, this is the closest
to hell that we will ever get. It's the closest that we'll ever
get to the belly of the fish. For unbelievers, this is the
closest they will ever get to those tastes of glory on this
earth. Let us pray God, as we think
about the prophet Jonah and how you have given us this
miraculous sign of the great fish appointed to swallow him up
as a foretaste, as a pointing to what Jesus was about was going
to do on the cross. We ask you to show us what you
would have from us, from your word today.
I pray as my brothers and sisters contemplate your word
for them. You Holy Spirit, would speak to
them with the words that need to linger.
Linger by the power of the Holy Spirit and those that need to be
forgotten. Would they be forgotten by the
power of the Holy Spirit leading them to what you would have for
them this day? Would you prepare us as we as we
remember again your great promises for us around your
table? In Jesus name we pray.
Amen.