1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:05,360 And now would you remain standing for the reading of 2 00:00:05,360 --> 00:00:10,680 God's word In some ways this verse probably doesn't need much 3 00:00:10,680 --> 00:00:13,560 introduction to us. But if you're just joining us 4 00:00:13,560 --> 00:00:16,280 for the first time, we've been studying the book of Jonah, I 5 00:00:16,360 --> 00:00:19,120 believe come to probably the most well known verse of the 6 00:00:19,120 --> 00:00:23,440 story and what he is known for. And so we had that from Jonah 7 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:28,360 117, but also a reading from the New Testament that helps us make 8 00:00:28,360 --> 00:00:31,360 sense of what it is that we're reading from Jesus's eyes. 9 00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:34,960 From Matthew 12, verses 38 through 41. 10 00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:41,840 Jonah 117 And the ward appointed a great fish to swallow up 11 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:47,360 Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish 3 days and 12 00:00:47,360 --> 00:00:50,800 three nights. Then Matthew 12, starting at 13 00:00:50,800 --> 00:00:53,200 verse 38. Then some of the scribes and 14 00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:58,120 Pharisees answered him, saying, Teacher, we wish to see a sign 15 00:00:58,120 --> 00:01:01,960 from you, But he answered them. An evil and adulterous 16 00:01:01,960 --> 00:01:06,160 generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it 17 00:01:06,160 --> 00:01:08,680 except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 18 00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:12,280 For just as Jonah was 3 days and three nights in the belly of the 19 00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:17,080 great fish, so will the Son of Man be 3 days and three nights 20 00:01:17,320 --> 00:01:22,120 in the hearts of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up 21 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:26,880 at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for 22 00:01:26,880 --> 00:01:30,960 they repented at the preaching of Jonah and behold, something 23 00:01:30,960 --> 00:01:36,640 greater than Jonah is here. This is the word of the Lord be 24 00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:38,400 to God. You may be seated. 25 00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:46,240 The title of the sermon that Paul gave. 26 00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:50,160 It was something greater than Jonah is here. 27 00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:56,600 There's obviously greatness talked about in terms of Jesus's 28 00:01:56,600 --> 00:02:02,960 words to the scribes and the Pharisees, but what we say makes 29 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:09,120 a prophet great or not. What would we even say is a 30 00:02:09,120 --> 00:02:11,720 prophet? We call Jonah a prophet and we 31 00:02:11,720 --> 00:02:14,760 read of his story. We have the the famous vision of 32 00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:16,800 this great fish that swallowed him up. 33 00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:21,160 But what does it mean when we would call Jonah or Jesus a 34 00:02:21,160 --> 00:02:24,640 prophet? I looked up the definition in in 35 00:02:24,640 --> 00:02:28,520 common language in Merriam Webster's and there was about 5 36 00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:30,160 different definitions for a profit. 37 00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:33,680 As you can imagine. Somewhat we would actually agree 38 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:35,800 with. One who utters divinely inspired 39 00:02:35,800 --> 00:02:42,240 revelations 1 gifted with more than ordinary spiritual or moral 40 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:45,920 insights. Now this is one that we might, 41 00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:48,760 may, or may not agree with in terms of how it's used in common 42 00:02:48,760 --> 00:02:51,120 language. One who foretells future events. 43 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:55,200 An effective or leading spokesman for a cause, doctrine, 44 00:02:55,200 --> 00:03:00,400 or group. Lastly, A diviner, A forecaster. 45 00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:04,200 These are some of the common definitions of the word for 46 00:03:04,200 --> 00:03:07,080 profit. But I would say if we think 47 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:11,000 about the prophet's greatness, we might even say it comes from 48 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:14,520 maybe the accuracy of their divine revelation. 49 00:03:14,520 --> 00:03:16,520 So if they're supposed to prophesize something in the 50 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:20,760 future, how accurate is their prophetic words? 51 00:03:21,920 --> 00:03:26,240 Maybe even on a more modern, secular level, we would say a 52 00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:30,040 prophet is most successful. He can actually discern the 53 00:03:30,040 --> 00:03:34,400 heart of his followers. How much does he know about them 54 00:03:34,600 --> 00:03:37,480 that you would provide the insight that they need to move 55 00:03:37,480 --> 00:03:39,920 forward the way that they would feel? 56 00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:44,560 Most known prophets today, I think, are celebrated for their 57 00:03:44,560 --> 00:03:49,000 ability to connect to the heart, how they speak truth and how 58 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:54,360 winsomely they speak. Sort of worldly profits would 59 00:03:54,360 --> 00:03:57,800 probably be what we would say for many people come from their 60 00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:02,160 favorite songs. It might be their favorite 61 00:04:02,200 --> 00:04:06,360 politicians, it might even be from the lifestyles of the 62 00:04:06,360 --> 00:04:08,560 famous people that they deemed have had it all. 63 00:04:08,560 --> 00:04:12,200 So then therefore, they can sort of speak to whatever other area 64 00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:18,920 of life in a prophetic way. Now, as the Church, we would not 65 00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:23,640 say all of these things are prophecy, but we have to also 66 00:04:23,640 --> 00:04:27,840 recognize that on a personal level, sometimes we allow things 67 00:04:28,120 --> 00:04:33,160 to speak to our hearts to give us hope that we're never meant 68 00:04:33,520 --> 00:04:37,680 to do so. And what all of these things 69 00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:42,920 have in common is a belief that whatever the prophet of the day 70 00:04:42,920 --> 00:04:47,680 is speaking to, whatever is speaking to the heart, will 71 00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:51,480 actually save the people that they are speaking to, right? 72 00:04:51,480 --> 00:04:54,040 That's the kind of the common humanity around it. 73 00:04:54,160 --> 00:04:57,920 We're seeking for something to save us, whether it's the 74 00:04:57,920 --> 00:05:02,440 comfort, the acceptance, the approval. 75 00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:05,760 The prophet is trying to tell the people that these things 76 00:05:05,760 --> 00:05:10,800 that bring them pain, these other things will bring them 77 00:05:11,320 --> 00:05:17,520 life. Let's go back to Jonah and his 78 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:20,360 greatness. He was called to be a prophet of 79 00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:21,720 the Lord. He was raised up. 80 00:05:22,960 --> 00:05:26,240 We're to get to assume in his earlier days as a prophet, as a 81 00:05:26,240 --> 00:05:29,800 student of the word, he was successful, he was faithful. 82 00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:32,640 But what is he most known for today? 83 00:05:33,840 --> 00:05:37,080 Verse 17, He was the word appointed a great fish to 84 00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:42,400 swallow him up. And then later on we hear Jesus 85 00:05:42,400 --> 00:05:48,240 referring to Jonah and Jesus and Jonah, both of them have a 86 00:05:48,280 --> 00:05:55,440 message of salvation for US. One in his failure and that he 87 00:05:55,440 --> 00:05:59,160 was trying to save himself from helping the people that needed 88 00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:03,400 the help the most. He was actually angry that they 89 00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:08,080 would be saved. So in a lot of ways, Jonah, in 90 00:06:08,080 --> 00:06:12,520 all terms of the definition, is not a great prophet. 91 00:06:12,840 --> 00:06:16,880 He doesn't want the people that God is sending him to to be 92 00:06:17,040 --> 00:06:20,240 saved. He's worried that if he goes and 93 00:06:20,240 --> 00:06:23,920 speaks the message that he sent to speak, it's going to go well, 94 00:06:25,440 --> 00:06:31,280 that they will actually repent. So he runs the other direction. 95 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:39,280 Our Shorter Catechism for the Westminster Profession of Faith 96 00:06:40,680 --> 00:06:43,160 actually ask the questions. Question 24. 97 00:06:43,440 --> 00:06:48,760 How does Christ execute the office of prophet? 98 00:06:49,680 --> 00:06:54,560 Jesus is a prophet. Christ executes the office of a 99 00:06:54,720 --> 00:06:56,760 prophet. This is the answer in revealing 100 00:06:56,760 --> 00:07:03,560 to us by his word and Spirit the will of God for our salvation. 101 00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:11,720 And Jesus is actually telling us today that what Jonah did points 102 00:07:11,920 --> 00:07:16,840 to this will of God for our salvation, and he's saying it to 103 00:07:16,840 --> 00:07:20,920 describes and Pharisees, the Jewish religious leaders of the 104 00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:25,680 day. So as we examine this thought of 105 00:07:25,680 --> 00:07:30,120 greatness and what does it mean for Jesus to be greater, I want 106 00:07:30,120 --> 00:07:32,440 us to examine it in three sections. 107 00:07:32,960 --> 00:07:38,280 First, great. Great is the mercy of the Lord 108 00:07:39,960 --> 00:07:47,000 for next greater Jesus, being greater than Jonah and 3rd 109 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:51,680 greatest, the greatest salvation for us all. 110 00:07:53,240 --> 00:07:57,760 Great Jonah has received something great from God. 111 00:07:57,760 --> 00:08:00,840 While you might never call Jonah a great prophet in the sense of 112 00:08:00,840 --> 00:08:05,520 how he lived his life, what is great about him is how he shows 113 00:08:05,520 --> 00:08:09,960 us the mercy of God. Interesting that I say the word 114 00:08:09,960 --> 00:08:14,480 mercy of God because this is coming at the moment of judgment 115 00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:19,240 for Jonah. He had rebelled against God. 116 00:08:20,520 --> 00:08:23,200 He refused to pass on mercy unto others. 117 00:08:24,880 --> 00:08:27,920 And so God brings us to this moment of the swallowing of the 118 00:08:27,920 --> 00:08:31,080 great fish. But I would say this is God's 119 00:08:31,080 --> 00:08:34,080 great judgment for Jonah, but at the same time it's his great 120 00:08:34,320 --> 00:08:41,039 mercy united together. And so then you kind of come to 121 00:08:41,039 --> 00:08:43,640 this question of the, the great fish. 122 00:08:44,400 --> 00:08:47,600 Many people, I think even in many children's lessons is 123 00:08:47,600 --> 00:08:51,360 called a whale. The actual language itself is 124 00:08:51,360 --> 00:08:57,080 just a simple sea creature. God, God, this term God GAD in 125 00:08:57,080 --> 00:09:01,560 the, the, the English literate alliteration of the Hebrew word. 126 00:09:01,560 --> 00:09:03,680 It's probably just a great sea feature. 127 00:09:03,680 --> 00:09:07,120 So we're not really thinking of the fish section at the pet 128 00:09:07,120 --> 00:09:11,600 store, not something like that, but just some sort of sea 129 00:09:11,600 --> 00:09:14,720 creature, which is why, and many times people have kind of said 130 00:09:14,720 --> 00:09:19,520 it must have been a whale, some mysterious creature like that. 131 00:09:19,520 --> 00:09:25,600 A lot of people say it's perhaps a sperm whale or a baleen whale. 132 00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:29,080 I spent some time this week Googling these types of sea 133 00:09:29,080 --> 00:09:30,440 creatures to see what they're like. 134 00:09:31,760 --> 00:09:35,560 They're about 60 to 100 feet in in length. 135 00:09:35,680 --> 00:09:40,080 Perhaps these whales and many of you will remember the the famous 136 00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:45,000 story Moby Dick that was actually inspired by the Bible. 137 00:09:45,760 --> 00:09:49,080 Herman Melville was inspired by by the Bible to write this story 138 00:09:49,080 --> 00:09:53,800 of a a whale who initially bit off Captain Ahab's leg. 139 00:09:53,800 --> 00:09:57,720 And this is great sea journey of how the these this captain and 140 00:09:57,720 --> 00:10:00,080 this whale battled against one another. 141 00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:03,640 So there he was taking to mind and taking at God's word that it 142 00:10:03,640 --> 00:10:08,400 was actually possible for a whale to swallow up a man. 143 00:10:09,440 --> 00:10:14,480 But perhaps the most important thing about this sea creature is 144 00:10:14,480 --> 00:10:17,840 that God chose it. We'll get to that in a second. 145 00:10:17,920 --> 00:10:22,920 But God chose the creature and perhaps even a miraculous 146 00:10:22,920 --> 00:10:27,440 indefinitely, a miraculous way to show us what he was doing in 147 00:10:27,440 --> 00:10:32,200 this great judgment and great mercy for the prophet Jonah. 148 00:10:33,600 --> 00:10:38,160 The word appointed is used here. God appointed a great fish. 149 00:10:38,680 --> 00:10:43,080 This is the first of four times that that word appointed will be 150 00:10:43,080 --> 00:10:47,640 used in the book of Jonah. All four times that indicates 151 00:10:47,640 --> 00:10:52,080 either a judgment or a mercy that God has appointed towards 152 00:10:52,080 --> 00:10:56,960 Jonah. 3 judgments, one mercy, the fish here right now. 153 00:10:57,160 --> 00:11:00,560 The rest come in chapter 4. There's the plant that got 154 00:11:00,560 --> 00:11:02,760 appoints to provide shade for Jonah. 155 00:11:03,120 --> 00:11:06,360 There's a worm that he then appoints to provide judgment on 156 00:11:06,360 --> 00:11:08,240 the plant that he appointed for Jonah. 157 00:11:09,200 --> 00:11:12,600 And then eventually there's a wind that God appoints to cause 158 00:11:12,600 --> 00:11:17,520 discomfort and to rouse up Jonah's soul Again. 159 00:11:17,520 --> 00:11:21,520 I think this word appointed helps us to address what many 160 00:11:21,520 --> 00:11:25,920 have said is a scientific difficulty of accepting this 161 00:11:25,920 --> 00:11:30,240 story. Some people have, obviously 162 00:11:30,240 --> 00:11:32,640 you've probably heard some sort of exception to this fact that 163 00:11:32,640 --> 00:11:33,880 this could have actually happened. 164 00:11:33,880 --> 00:11:36,640 How could it be that a fish would swallow up a man? 165 00:11:36,640 --> 00:11:40,200 He would stay alive, stay in the belly for three days, three 166 00:11:40,200 --> 00:11:44,760 nights, and then be words from the English Bible vomited up 167 00:11:45,080 --> 00:11:49,480 later. It's the Lord's appointment that 168 00:11:49,480 --> 00:11:54,000 makes it possible. It can involve the suspension of 169 00:11:54,000 --> 00:11:57,920 the natural laws of the universe that the God himself has 170 00:11:57,920 --> 00:12:00,440 created. God created the universe, he 171 00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:08,200 sustains it, but by his divine grace, his divine Providence, he 172 00:12:08,200 --> 00:12:11,960 has caused this creature to be able to eat a man, keep him 173 00:12:11,960 --> 00:12:18,680 whole. So we might be asking ourselves, 174 00:12:18,680 --> 00:12:22,960 yes, could the could this common Sunday school story, could this 175 00:12:22,960 --> 00:12:27,600 really have happened? I would probably say without the 176 00:12:27,600 --> 00:12:31,400 appointment of the Lord, no, it couldn't happen. 177 00:12:31,840 --> 00:12:37,240 But God, because his Word tells us it did, and because we know 178 00:12:37,240 --> 00:12:39,840 throughout the story of God's people that He has brought about 179 00:12:39,840 --> 00:12:45,040 supernatural power to mark particular events in salvation 180 00:12:45,200 --> 00:12:49,320 history that I can say with confidence that this really did 181 00:12:49,640 --> 00:12:53,480 happen because the Lord's appointment. 182 00:12:56,200 --> 00:12:58,840 Do we know exactly how all the details? 183 00:12:59,800 --> 00:13:04,560 No Could have been a special sea creature of some kind that God 184 00:13:04,560 --> 00:13:08,520 created for this special moment with a special kind of toothless 185 00:13:08,640 --> 00:13:15,360 mouth and a giant stomach perhaps could have been just in 186 00:13:15,360 --> 00:13:18,600 God's Providence a normal part of creation that he allowed for 187 00:13:18,600 --> 00:13:22,080 a miraculous event to happen between the the whale and Jonah. 188 00:13:22,080 --> 00:13:26,440 I probably more lean in that direction yes, but God's word 189 00:13:26,440 --> 00:13:31,280 doesn't tell us it simply tells us the Lord appointed by his 190 00:13:31,280 --> 00:13:32,960 Providence. There's something that he's 191 00:13:32,960 --> 00:13:35,880 trying to tell us through this miracle. 192 00:13:35,880 --> 00:13:39,120 He God wanted the the readers, He wanted those who would hear 193 00:13:39,120 --> 00:13:44,120 this story to notice something about the life of Jonah and also 194 00:13:44,480 --> 00:13:50,480 the bigger picture for God's people in general in the life of 195 00:13:50,480 --> 00:13:52,360 Jonah. This event was meant to mark 196 00:13:52,360 --> 00:13:55,840 God's mercy for a wayward prophet. 197 00:13:57,520 --> 00:13:59,800 Jonah could have been hurled into the sea. 198 00:14:00,640 --> 00:14:03,200 His punishment served, his death recorded. 199 00:14:04,360 --> 00:14:09,880 But in the belly of the fish, Jonah both received a just 200 00:14:09,880 --> 00:14:15,760 punishment for his disobedience and the mercy of God to hold him 201 00:14:15,760 --> 00:14:18,200 for three days in the fish before he would come hurling 202 00:14:18,360 --> 00:14:24,160 out. I think what God is trying to 203 00:14:24,160 --> 00:14:27,760 tell us of His great mercy, His great judgement, has to do with 204 00:14:27,760 --> 00:14:34,440 what we could learn from the life of Jonah, and perhaps is 205 00:14:34,440 --> 00:14:39,120 what he's teaching us regarding prejudice, thinking that some 206 00:14:39,120 --> 00:14:43,880 group of people based on being outside of a preferred group are 207 00:14:43,880 --> 00:14:46,560 not worthy of God's grace and forgiveness. 208 00:14:47,720 --> 00:14:53,240 See, behind that lie is a belief that we've actually done 209 00:14:53,240 --> 00:14:57,480 something in ourselves by being a part of a certain group where 210 00:14:57,480 --> 00:14:59,640 we have earned God's forgiveness. 211 00:15:01,840 --> 00:15:05,120 That's we are somehow better than another group of people 212 00:15:06,560 --> 00:15:10,280 rather than our quality as men and women around the world who 213 00:15:10,280 --> 00:15:14,600 need the grace and mercy of God in all moments. 214 00:15:16,440 --> 00:15:21,200 So at that heart, I would love to read for you a parable from 215 00:15:21,200 --> 00:15:24,680 further on, the Gospel, Gospel of Matthew from chapter 20, 216 00:15:24,680 --> 00:15:27,440 verses one through 16. You can turn to your Bibles 217 00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:30,040 there if you'd like. I'll read all 16 verses over us 218 00:15:31,040 --> 00:15:34,920 and tell you another parable of the Kingdom from verse 1, 219 00:15:35,160 --> 00:15:37,360 chapter 20. For the Kingdom of heaven is 220 00:15:37,360 --> 00:15:40,520 like a master of his house. He went out early in the morning 221 00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:42,640 to hire laborers for his vineyard. 222 00:15:43,440 --> 00:15:46,760 After agreeing with the laborers for denarius today, he sent them 223 00:15:46,760 --> 00:15:51,040 into his vineyard and going out about the third hour, he saw 224 00:15:51,080 --> 00:15:55,200 others standing idle in the marketplace about the third 225 00:15:55,200 --> 00:15:58,960 hour. And and to them he said, you go 226 00:15:58,960 --> 00:16:01,840 into the vineyard too. And whatever is right, I will 227 00:16:01,840 --> 00:16:04,720 give you. So later on the day they went 228 00:16:04,720 --> 00:16:06,920 going out again. About the 6th hour and 9th hour 229 00:16:06,920 --> 00:16:10,240 he did the same. And about the 11th hour he went 230 00:16:10,240 --> 00:16:13,960 out and found others standing. And he said to them, Why do you 231 00:16:13,960 --> 00:16:18,120 stand here idle all day? They said to him, because no one 232 00:16:18,120 --> 00:16:22,040 has hired us. He said to them, you go into the 233 00:16:22,040 --> 00:16:25,080 vineyard too. And when evening came, the owner 234 00:16:25,080 --> 00:16:28,040 of the vineyard, owner of the vineyard, said to his foreman, 235 00:16:28,640 --> 00:16:32,000 call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the 236 00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:36,160 last up to the 1st. And when those hired about the 237 00:16:36,160 --> 00:16:39,560 11th hour came, each of them received a denarius. 238 00:16:40,160 --> 00:16:43,360 Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive 239 00:16:43,360 --> 00:16:47,040 more, but each of them also received a denarius. 240 00:16:47,920 --> 00:16:50,160 And on receiving it, they grumbled at the master of the 241 00:16:50,160 --> 00:16:54,960 house, saying, These last worked only one hour, and you have made 242 00:16:54,960 --> 00:16:58,440 them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the 243 00:16:58,440 --> 00:17:01,920 scorching heat. But he replied to one of them. 244 00:17:02,640 --> 00:17:07,680 Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me? 245 00:17:07,680 --> 00:17:11,880 For a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. 246 00:17:12,480 --> 00:17:15,560 I chose to give to this last worker as I give to you. 247 00:17:16,599 --> 00:17:20,040 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? 248 00:17:20,640 --> 00:17:22,640 Or do you begrudge my generosity? 249 00:17:23,560 --> 00:17:28,600 So the last will be 1st and the 1st last. 250 00:17:28,600 --> 00:17:37,480 This is the word of the Lord, you see, for many in cultural 251 00:17:37,480 --> 00:17:39,320 Christianity. And I was speaking with Pastor 252 00:17:39,320 --> 00:17:41,880 Paul about this earlier in the week as we were both preparing 253 00:17:42,120 --> 00:17:47,240 these messages for you all. And he said for many Paul 254 00:17:47,240 --> 00:17:49,800 growing up here in Texas, it was really helpful for me to to talk 255 00:17:49,800 --> 00:17:52,360 with him. And he actually said for many, 256 00:17:52,800 --> 00:17:56,480 it's far easier to believe in the miracle of the resurrection 257 00:17:57,200 --> 00:17:59,680 than it is to believe in the miracle of Jonah. 258 00:18:01,040 --> 00:18:04,240 The scientific facts of that this fish and how it could eat a 259 00:18:04,240 --> 00:18:08,240 man, how it could swallow it up, how it could encase a man and 260 00:18:08,240 --> 00:18:11,480 feel him swallowed up. As Pastor Rucker's prayer showed 261 00:18:11,480 --> 00:18:15,400 us, this idea of being encroached in all the way that 262 00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:19,520 the world is crumbling around you all shown to the miracle of 263 00:18:19,520 --> 00:18:21,720 the fish. This would be far more difficult 264 00:18:21,720 --> 00:18:23,800 to believe than in something like the resurrection. 265 00:18:26,320 --> 00:18:29,960 And I would say that the if that is the case, the resurrection 266 00:18:29,960 --> 00:18:32,720 has become far too normalized for you. 267 00:18:34,200 --> 00:18:39,480 The resurrection should cause us to marvel, and as Jesus's words 268 00:18:39,480 --> 00:18:45,360 told us from the Gospel of Matthew, it is greater than the 269 00:18:45,360 --> 00:18:49,960 sign of Jonah. The resurrection should cause us 270 00:18:49,960 --> 00:18:55,360 a greater sense of wonder and a greater sense of what we've been 271 00:18:55,360 --> 00:19:00,040 saved from. In this amazing yet more simple 272 00:19:00,040 --> 00:19:08,720 story of Jonah being eaten by a whale, Tim Teller puts it pretty 273 00:19:08,720 --> 00:19:11,160 simply in his book Prodigal Prophet. 274 00:19:12,440 --> 00:19:17,440 Jonah mistrusted the goodness of God, but he didn't know about 275 00:19:17,440 --> 00:19:21,800 the cross. What is our excuse? 276 00:19:23,920 --> 00:19:25,920 Greater. We have received something 277 00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:31,040 greater from Jesus. What makes Jesus greater than 278 00:19:31,040 --> 00:19:35,040 Jonah is His divinity married with His humanity. 279 00:19:35,840 --> 00:19:39,120 I started to list the ways in which Jonah was our Jesus was 280 00:19:39,120 --> 00:19:42,560 greater than Jonah. Jonah hated the Ninevites. 281 00:19:42,560 --> 00:19:45,560 He hated them so much he could not handle them repenting. 282 00:19:46,560 --> 00:19:51,040 Jesus loved those who hated Him. He desired for all of them to 283 00:19:51,040 --> 00:19:55,840 repent and believe in Him. Jonah ran away from the presence 284 00:19:55,840 --> 00:19:57,840 of God. He was both foolish to believe 285 00:19:57,840 --> 00:20:01,560 that this was even possible and then ran away from where God 286 00:20:01,560 --> 00:20:07,000 wanted him to go. Jesus was appointed himself by 287 00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:11,080 God to leave the fellowship of of the Trinity by becoming a 288 00:20:11,080 --> 00:20:15,280 servant being born in the likeness of man, but also lives 289 00:20:15,480 --> 00:20:19,720 as the Son of God on earth in full dependence on God. 290 00:20:20,600 --> 00:20:26,960 Living his life in the flesh by the Spirit, Jonah resisted 291 00:20:26,960 --> 00:20:30,360 talking to the Pagan sailors even when they showed their own 292 00:20:30,360 --> 00:20:34,200 fear of the Lord. Jesus spoke with those who hated 293 00:20:34,200 --> 00:20:38,120 him to reveal the will of the Lord for the salvation of the 294 00:20:38,120 --> 00:20:42,440 repentance. Jonah sort of even hurled 295 00:20:42,440 --> 00:20:44,600 himself into the sea. I know it was a sailors that 296 00:20:44,600 --> 00:20:46,200 threw him there, but it was a resound. 297 00:20:46,280 --> 00:20:51,480 He was resigned to do so. It was the last ditch efforts, 298 00:20:51,920 --> 00:20:56,200 probably because of shame, desire to give up rather than at 299 00:20:56,200 --> 00:20:58,760 a heart of sacrifice, a heart of repentance. 300 00:20:58,760 --> 00:21:03,280 But Jesus gives himself up willingly out of love and 301 00:21:03,280 --> 00:21:05,080 compassion for those who would follow him. 302 00:21:07,080 --> 00:21:10,280 Jonah was appointed a fish to swallow him because of his own 303 00:21:10,280 --> 00:21:14,320 sins. He was cast down as a 304 00:21:14,440 --> 00:21:18,160 punishment. Jesus was tempted in every way 305 00:21:18,160 --> 00:21:21,640 that we are. He was tempted as every way that 306 00:21:21,640 --> 00:21:26,400 we are, like Jonah, yet was without sin. 307 00:21:27,680 --> 00:21:32,800 He was cast down by his own will and for the punishment of our 308 00:21:32,800 --> 00:21:37,640 own sins. Jonah only came near to death in 309 00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:40,120 the water, at least as the text reads it. 310 00:21:40,200 --> 00:21:42,200 That's we don't really get any details of like whether he 311 00:21:42,200 --> 00:21:44,680 actually died in the belly or not, but I'm going to say it was 312 00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:50,680 near death in the water. Jesus actually died a death that 313 00:21:50,680 --> 00:21:54,320 was infamously known for its pain and torture, came under the 314 00:21:54,320 --> 00:21:58,400 full weight of sin and punishment as his descent was 315 00:21:58,400 --> 00:22:02,640 down to hell, taking on the eternal separation from God that 316 00:22:02,640 --> 00:22:06,720 our sins deserved. Maintaining God's justice. 317 00:22:10,280 --> 00:22:13,120 Jonah maintained God's justice by saying that Ninevites were 318 00:22:13,120 --> 00:22:15,600 not deserving of his mercy. That was his form of justice, 319 00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:17,440 right? He said. 320 00:22:17,440 --> 00:22:18,560 They weren't. They weren't deserved together. 321 00:22:18,560 --> 00:22:23,160 That was Jonah's justice right there on display. 322 00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:31,360 Jesus maintains God's justice, offering himself as a merciful 323 00:22:31,600 --> 00:22:37,480 sacrifice. Jesus is far greater than the 324 00:22:37,480 --> 00:22:42,840 sign of Jonah. Now the greatest. 325 00:22:46,280 --> 00:22:50,000 When we think about what Jesus's words tell to us in Matthew 12, 326 00:22:51,080 --> 00:22:54,760 he talks kind of about about the the sons of Nineveh being risen 327 00:22:54,760 --> 00:22:59,680 up in judgment. Because what he's actually 328 00:22:59,680 --> 00:23:04,040 saying the greatest while he's there and he's great is actually 329 00:23:04,040 --> 00:23:08,360 yet to come. The greatest is the fact that 330 00:23:08,400 --> 00:23:13,080 all peoples will be united together in Christ. 331 00:23:13,960 --> 00:23:20,080 All those who claim that they need Jesus, that his death and 332 00:23:20,080 --> 00:23:23,240 resurrection brings about the glory of the nation's coming 333 00:23:23,240 --> 00:23:27,720 together, that is the sign of the greatest prophet of all 334 00:23:27,720 --> 00:23:34,000 time, whose glory will be unmatched, whose glory we can 335 00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:38,160 only begin to fathom now because he's actually rescued us in this 336 00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:40,080 moment. So whatever moment that you feel 337 00:23:40,240 --> 00:23:43,880 God's glory rising up in you and worship, that is just a small 338 00:23:44,160 --> 00:23:49,080 picture of what's to come as all tribes, tongues and nations will 339 00:23:49,080 --> 00:23:52,120 be gathered before the throne in glory. 340 00:23:55,520 --> 00:24:00,640 And so as I close and begin to look to the table, we think 341 00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:04,480 about our eternity, our eternal, our eternal security bought to 342 00:24:04,480 --> 00:24:10,400 us by the Son of God. It brings us back to the 343 00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:17,400 beginning, the mystery of Providence, that our new states 344 00:24:17,800 --> 00:24:21,280 as those who are reminded of the greater Jonah. 345 00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:27,280 It's meant to remind us that we have been sent just as Jesus was 346 00:24:27,280 --> 00:24:30,480 sent to preach the good news to the lost. 347 00:24:30,480 --> 00:24:35,560 Our Sabbath rests today being a foretaste of our eternity, 348 00:24:35,560 --> 00:24:39,960 sealed to us by God. It's meant to equip us for 349 00:24:39,960 --> 00:24:45,000 mission throughout the week, remembering that we are living 350 00:24:45,640 --> 00:24:48,200 and praying for the Kingdom that is now. 351 00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:52,760 But it's fullness is not yet. The fullness of the nations is 352 00:24:52,760 --> 00:25:00,640 not yet. And I was reminded of a quote 353 00:25:00,640 --> 00:25:03,920 from Randy Alcorn that I'll I'll close us with before I pray. 354 00:25:06,280 --> 00:25:09,160 And yes, the pressures of us as Christians are many. 355 00:25:10,240 --> 00:25:12,720 Our sufferings are legitimate. If you're feeling that right 356 00:25:12,720 --> 00:25:14,720 now, want you to know it is legitimate. 357 00:25:17,280 --> 00:25:20,400 But as we think about the difference between Jonah and 358 00:25:20,400 --> 00:25:27,040 Jesus, for Christians, those who have been bought by Christ, this 359 00:25:27,040 --> 00:25:31,720 present life and all of its sufferings, this is the closest 360 00:25:31,720 --> 00:25:35,080 to hell that we will ever get. It's the closest that we'll ever 361 00:25:35,080 --> 00:25:41,480 get to the belly of the fish. For unbelievers, this is the 362 00:25:41,480 --> 00:25:45,080 closest they will ever get to those tastes of glory on this 363 00:25:45,080 --> 00:25:57,580 earth. Let us pray God, as we think 364 00:25:57,580 --> 00:26:01,540 about the prophet Jonah and how you have given us this 365 00:26:01,540 --> 00:26:06,140 miraculous sign of the great fish appointed to swallow him up 366 00:26:07,140 --> 00:26:10,580 as a foretaste, as a pointing to what Jesus was about was going 367 00:26:10,580 --> 00:26:16,000 to do on the cross. We ask you to show us what you 368 00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:17,760 would have from us, from your word today. 369 00:26:19,600 --> 00:26:22,960 I pray as my brothers and sisters contemplate your word 370 00:26:22,960 --> 00:26:25,200 for them. You Holy Spirit, would speak to 371 00:26:25,200 --> 00:26:28,840 them with the words that need to linger. 372 00:26:28,920 --> 00:26:33,160 Linger by the power of the Holy Spirit and those that need to be 373 00:26:33,160 --> 00:26:34,800 forgotten. Would they be forgotten by the 374 00:26:34,800 --> 00:26:37,640 power of the Holy Spirit leading them to what you would have for 375 00:26:37,640 --> 00:26:42,160 them this day? Would you prepare us as we as we 376 00:26:42,280 --> 00:26:45,480 remember again your great promises for us around your 377 00:26:45,480 --> 00:26:47,800 table? In Jesus name we pray. 378 00:26:48,160 --> 00:26:48,480 Amen.