Jesus stated, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and a sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah.” (Matt 16:4)

Jonah was a prophet, called by God to go to another land, to another city, to tell the people there to repent because in 40 days it would be destroyed.

A sign was a mark or a token by which a person is known; the signs of miracles and wonders by which God demonstrates the men sent by Him.

Jonah was a type of Jesus to come. Jonah was swallowed by a sea monster and survived, so too was Jesus swallowed by death and survived. Jonah was spit out on to dry land after three days in the monster’s belly. Jesus rose from the belly of the earth after three days—alive.

Jesus spoke twice about this sign:

“Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, ‘Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.’ 39 But He answered and said to them, ‘An evil and adulterous generation craves for a [al]sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; 40 for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.’” (Matt 12:38-41)

The death and resurrection of Jesus was His greatest sign.

Jonah means “dove.” He was the man who carried the name of “dove.” Jesus too carried the “dove.”

“After He [Jesus] was baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and settling on Him.” (Matt 3:16)

“And the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came from heaven: ‘You are My beloved Son, in You I am well pleased.” (Luke 3:22)

“And John [the Baptist] testified, saying, ‘I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him.’” (John 1:32)

The Holy Spirit rested and remained on Lord Jesus. He worked in the complete power of the Holy Spirit.

The name, the dove is a type of the Holy Spirit.

“The word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 ‘Arise, go to Nineveh, the great city, and cry out against it, because their wickedness has come up before Me.’ 3 But Jonah got up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship that was going to Tarshish, paid the fare, and boarded it to go with them to Tarshish away from the presence of the Lord.” (Jonah 1:1-3)

Jonah was told to get up and walk to Nineveh, a foreign city. This was as Jesus being asked by God the Father to arise from His throne, His place in heaven, and walk—go to a foreign city.

Jonah was told to go to Nineveh and “call out, cry out, proclaim” against it because of the wickedness or evil of its inhabitants.

In His mercy, God sent Jonah, to warn the people of their sin. Why? Because the wages of sin is death. God did not want the people of Nineveh to die. He wanted them to stop sinning.

In the same way, God the Father sent His Son, Jesus to earth to warn people of their sins and wickedness. He told them to turn away from their sin. He told them to listen to Jesus, His Son. And then, Jesus, became sin for those people so that their sins could be removed from them. God did this out of His mercy. He wants people to have eternal life just as those men in Nineveh who repented now have eternal life.

But Jonah didn’t want to go. Instead, he fled.

“But Jonah got up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship that was going to Tarshish, paid the fare, and boarded (went down into) the ship to go with them to Tarshish away from the presence of the Lord.” (Jonah 1:3)

Just as Jonah fled the presence of the Lord, so too did Jesus leave His Father’s presence to descend to earth.

As Jonah found a ship, Jesus secured His own passage, as a baby, born of a virgin.

"’Behold, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel,’ which means, ‘God with us’.” (Matt 1:23)

“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel.” (Isa 7:14)

The ship was going far away to Tarshish, another Mediterranean port. So would Jesus be leaving heaven and traveling far away to earth.

Jonah paid his own fare. Jesus’ way was provided for by Himself and God the Father.

The boat set sail.

“However, the Lord hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea, so that the ship was about to break up.” (Jonah 1:4)

A great storm stopped the ship’s progress. The storm came from the Lord Himself.

This is as the work of Jesus; His ministry, was halted by the storm of His arrest, flogging and crucifixion. God planned this event. So, the storm was indeed from God.

“For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not die but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

The Lord “hurled” the great wind, meaning that He “cast it down.” This is as the wrath of God coming against Jesus because He who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might be free of sin.

Jonah had provoked God’s anger by sinning, which caused the great storm.

God’s rage against the sins of the world that Jesus took upon Himself produced His flogging and crucifixion. The storm is a type of the persecution and crucifixion of Jesus.

The great city, the great wind, the great storm: God speaks three times about the greatness of this major event. There is no other circumstance or event like it in the history of the world. It is great because God Himself died as the Savior of humanity, His own creation.

Jesus in His submission to become the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world became important, not just to the followers He had during His three years of earthly ministry, but to all people who have lived since and to the faithful who came before.

Jonah’s ship was about to break up.

Jesus was beaten beyond recognition, His back flogged, hands and feet pierced, His side speared, but not one bone was broken.

“For these things took place so that the Scripture would be fulfilled: ‘NOT A BONE OF HIM SHALL BE BROKEN.’” (John 19:36)

“He protects all his bones; not one of them will be broken.” (Psa 34:20)

But the boat carrying Jonah held together.

“Then the sailors became afraid and every man cried out to his god, and they hurled the cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone below into the stern (hold) of the ship, had lain down, and fallen sound asleep.” (Jonah 1:5)

The sailors on the ship with Jonah became fearful of the storm. They are as the apostles who traveled with the Lord; they fled after Jesus allowed Himself to be arrested. Jesus had asked that they be let go. (John 18:8) Why? It was necessary to do so. Jesus had to finish His work alone. Only the Son of God could take away the sin of the world. No mere man could accomplish this work.

The apostles also needed to remain alive to carry the Gospel into the world. God’s mercy was given to them.

Where was Jonah in all of this? He was down in the hold, sleeping!

The term “asleep” is a Biblical metaphor for a person being dead. Jonah was actually sleeping, but Jesus was dead.

As Jonah went down into the ship to sleep, Jesus was taken down from the cross and placed in the borrowed tomb, newly hewn, for Joseph of Arimathea.

The ship’s captain came down into the hold himself to speak to Jonah:

“So the captain approached him and said, ‘How is it that you are sleeping? Get up, call on your god! Perhaps your god will be concerned about us so that we will not perish.’” (Jonah 1:6)

The captain is the person waking up Jonah. “Get up!” he says!

This is as the voice of God calling Jesus up from the dead, from the grave.

Who raised Jesus from the grave?

The word “captain” in the Greek means “chief leader” or “prince.” It could also mean “author.” However, it always refers to Jesus.

“For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the captain of their salvation through sufferings.” (Heb 2:10)

He is also called the “Prince (Captain) of life, whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses.” (Acts 3:15)

Jesus is the Captain. He raised Himself from the dead. Jesus is the Word that speaks. He must say, “Get up!” even to His own dead body in Joseph’s borrowed tomb.

“But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.” (Acts 2:24)

Jesus is God the Son. He was involved in raising Himself.

God the Father gave the order that Jesus be raised from the dead.

“Paul, an apostle (not sent from men nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead).” (Gal 1:1)

But God, the Trinity is three Persons in One. The Holy Spirit also raised Jesus from the dead.

“But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” (Roms 8:11)

The three work together. Jesus obeyed God the Father’s direction. When it was time to resurrect Himself, Jesus, heard from His Father. Then, Jesus, the Word, spoke to His own body. The Holy Spirit, through whom Jesus worked, raised up the body of Jesus. Each had an important role.

“So the captain approached him and said, ‘How is it that you are sleeping? Get up, call on your god! Perhaps your god will be concerned about us so that we will not perish.’” (Jonah 1:6)

The captain of the ship said “Kum!” or “Get up!” in the Hebrew.

This is as Jesus approaching His own body and saying, “Get up!”

How do we know what Jesus said?

Jesus actually used these same words when He raised a child:

“And taking the child by the hand, He said to her, ‘Talitha, kum!’ (which translated means, ‘Little girl, I say to you, get up!’).

Immediately the girl got up and began to walk around.” (Mark 5:41-42)

This is the same word that Jesus said to His own body: “Kum!” which is in Aramaic, the everyday language that Jesus spoke.

“Kum” in the Hebrew of the Old Testament and the Aramaic used by Lord Jesus are the same word. The captain spoke the same word that Jesus spoke to the little 12-year-old girl.

“Kum” is the word Jesus used to raise His own body.

The church is the body. Christ is the Head of the body. The church has been promised eternal life in imperishable bodies, just as Jesus had after He was raised from the dead.

When it is time for physically dead believers to reenter their bodies, God the Father will tell His Son. Jesus the Son will command the bodies to rise up out of their graves. He will say, “Get up!” This will happen when the Lord returns from heaven.

It is the breath that brings dry bones to life! (Ezek 37:5) The breath of the Holy Spirit will cause tendons to attach and flesh to grow; skin will cover them. (Ezek 37:6)

When the Word of God is spoken, even by the Son of God, as will happen at His return, His words, “Get up!” will produce supernatural power that will cause the Holy Spirit to take action.

The Holy Spirit will breathe the breath of life into each believer just as He began Adam’s life in Eden. (Genesis 2:7) Jesus said, “It is the Spirit that gives life.” (John 6:63)

“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.” (1Thess 4:16)

“Your dead will live; Their corpses will rise.
You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy,
For your dew is as the dew of the dawn,
And the earth will give birth to the departed spirits.” (Isa 26:19)

“But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming.” (1Cor 15:23)

When will this be? There are signs. But no one knows the exact time.

Jesus said so. He said that He doesn’t even know.

As the Word of the Lord came to Jonah twice to go to Nineveh (Jonah 1:2, 3:2), so too will God the Father ask Jesus to descend to the earth twice—the first time as the Savior, 2000 years ago, the second time as the King of kings. (Rev 19:11-16)

“And as He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, ‘Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?’ (Matt 24:3) And Jesus answered and said to them, ‘See to it that no one misleads you. (Matt 24:4) At that time, if anyone says to you, “Look, here is the Christ!” or “There He is!” do not believe it.… (Matt 24:22) But about that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.’” (Matt 24:36)

Jesus is the Captain. Those who have followed Jesus are now multitudes. They wait in heaven for the redemption of their own bodies.

The captain seemed to think that Jonah’s god may be concerned about the sailors’ lives.

Indeed, God is concerned. He gave His Son so that people would not perish.

As Jonah was picked up and thrown into the sea—a death sentence, so was Jesus taken by a mob of 500 men—Roman soldiers and officers of the temple and given a sentence of death.

As Jonah was swallowed by a great fish, and remained unseen in the world three days, so was Jesus swallowed by death and remained unseen in the grave three days.

Jonah prayed while in the great fish. Jesus prayed in the Spirit while His body lay dead.

Jonah was spat out upon dry land by the great fish. Jesus was raised from the grave to walk the earth.

Jonah went to Nineveh and was seen by many who believed, repented, and lived. Hundred saw Jesus alive in the flesh. Some were invited to place fingers in His nail holes, a hand in His side as Thomas was. They are witnesses to the truth—Jesus is the only man to die, return, never to die again. He lives. He lives forever.

Why did Jesus agree to this suffering?

Jesus died and rose again so that men would not be destroyed by sin and so that a way could be made for them to heaven and eternal life. Even, a man’s body will be raised from the grave. This is God’s mercy—Jesus. This is God’s greatest gift of love—Jesus.

This way is the only way to eternal life. Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

This way is available for all who believe that Jesus is the Son of God. Even you. He is the way out of eternal destruction. Belief in Jesus brings eternal life. (John 20:31)

As there were signs of the cross and the crucifixion of Jesus to come in the Old Testament, as there was the sign of the cross in the New Testament at Jesus’ first coming, so will Jesus the Son of God return with the sign of the cross—there will be blood upon His robe—there will be evidence of Him prior resurrection-- holes in His hands, feet and side, there will be fire in His eyes, and He will be upon a white horse.

LOOK UP!