Saturday, January 6, 2018

The SIGN...




Jonah’s descent into the belly of the whale is a sign of the Lord’s descent to Sheol. 

In Luke’s version the mention of the whale is omitted and only this sign is declared: When the crowds were increasing, he began to say,

“This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of Jonah. Luke 11:29.
 

For as Jonah became a sign to the men of Nin′eveh, so will the Son of man be to this generation.  The queen of the South will arise at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. Luke 11:30-32


The sign of Jonah? Jonah had gone to the Ninevites with the message “Yet forty days, and Nin′eveh shall be overthrown!” Jonah 3:4.
The Ninevites, led by their King repented, fasted and prayed and God turned back His intent to destroy them. Simply put the sign of Jonah is “Repent or Die.”  The Ninevites heard Jonah’s warning, put faith in it and lived, so the people should hear Jesus’ warning to repent and believe the Good News. They should put faith in His words and live. If they do not they will meet great punishment.

 
Here are the basic elements of what is meant by the sign of Jonah:

  • When Jonah was told to go to Ninevah he resisted. He thought they would reject his prophecy and likely kill him or they would heed his message and grow stronger. Ninevah was the mortal enemy of Israel and Jonah had no interest in seeing them strengthened. For if they grew in strength through repentance they would surely gain the capacity to over-run Israel.
  • Jonah makes his proclamation of destruction within forty days and Assyria does repent. And in their strength they would become a rod in God’s hand to punish Israel. God would use Assyria to humble and punish His people, Israel. … Isaiah 10:5-6

Deeper meaning of the Sign: That if Israel will not repent, God will take the power and strength from them and give it to a foreign land that knows Him not. They will shame and humiliate Israel inflicting God’s punishment. This is humiliating on two levels. First of all Israel, God’s own people would not repent but a pagan country would. Secondly they are humiliated by being conquered by a foreign people.

Understanding the Sign of Jonah to Jesus time and us. In Jesus’ time the Sign of Jonah means that if Israel will not repent and accept the Gospel, God will take it from them and given it to the Gentiles. Jesus says: Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. Matthew 21:43.  Further, just as Israel’s ancient refusal to repent led to destruction by the Assyrians, so now Israel’s refusal to repent  in Jesus’ time means destruction by the Romans which took place in 70 AD. 



The only sign they would have would be the sign of Jonah.

Matthew 12:38-42. Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, “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 shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nin′eveh will arise 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. The queen of the South will arise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.

When the Pharisees asked for a sign, they wanted a miraculous sign, some miracle that would prove that Jesus is the Savior sent of God. Jesus, knowing their hearts, refused to give them a sign.  A sign can be a miracle and sometimes it is used of things not supernatural at all. In Luke 2:12, an angel said to the shepherds, This will be a sign for you. The angel was not talking about a miracle. The sign will be that the baby is wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. When they see that, the shepherds will know that the baby is the Savior. 

And Jesus said to them, ‘To this evil and adulterous generation, no sign will be given except the sign of Jonah.’ This means that when Jesus speaks about ‘this generation’, He is not just referring to the Jews that He is talking to but to the people who are wicked. Therefore the sign of Jonah is not only for those standing in front of Jesus but it is for anyone in this present age in which we live.

Here it says that Jonah is the sign. Matthew 12:39-40. Jonah was the sign to the people of Nineveh in the same way that the Son of man is the sign to us in this present age.


Jesus was buried for three days and three nights, and then He rose from the dead. If the resurrection is a sign, Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, He raised the daughter of Jairus, on a third occasion, He raised from the dead the widow’s son at Nain. So they had already seen the power of the resurrection that Jesus had. As for Jesus’ own resurrection, the disciples saw Jesus after His resurrection. What this evil and adulterous generation do not see cannot be a sign to them.

Jonah was the prophet who ran away from God after he was called to preach at Nineveh. And even after his experience of being in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights, and then being saved, we find that when he did preach to the Ninevites and they repented, Jonah was angry. He was not happy with the results of his preaching because he knew that God would now spare Nineveh, a wicked nation. 



The comparisons-between Jonah and Jesus? Let us take Matthew 12:40 and Luke 11:30.

Matthew 12:40. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Luke 11:30. For as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of man will be to this generation.


Notice that Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites only after he was three days and three nights in the belly of the fish. In the same way, Jesus would become a sign to this generation, in virtue of His death and resurrection. And just as Jonah became a sign after the event, so Jesus becomes a sign to us after the resurrection. Jesus said to His disciples. ‘The world will not see Me anymore, but you will see Me John 14:19.’

Jesus said, ‘The Son of man will be a sign.’ Daniel saw one like ‘a son of man who came to the Ancient of Days and was given dominion, glory and kingdom Daniel 7:13-14.’

The church is the body of Christ. God dwells in the hearts of His people who, together, constitute the church, the Body of Christ. The Lord Jesus is the head. We are the body.

Jesus is saying, ‘I am going to give you a sign. And that sign will be the power of the resurrection.’ Philippians 3 says, ‘That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection.’ What Paul means is this I want to know everything there is to know about the power of the resurrection. 

Paul wanted to understand and experience the fellowship found in Jesus' sufferings. Paul wanted to know Jesus thoroughly both in the great things and the difficult things that Jesus faced. Paul wished to have a common experience of suffering so that he could experience a bond with his Lord. Our own sufferings give us a connection with our Savior. It helps us to understand Him, and forges a fellowship between us and Him.

As we walk in newness of life, the power of the resurrected Christ is now operating in our lives. We no longer live according to the things of the flesh. We live a life of holiness in Christ. People can see the sign of the resurrection in our lives.

The sign of Jonah is the sign of the resurrection. It is the sign of changed lives. This is what the power of the resurrection is about. When God transforms a person, He takes him out of the power of sin where death is, to the power of life, where righteousness is. He becomes a completely new person.

We cannot really compare Jesus, in His perfect self, to Jonah. Even after the transforming experience that Jonah had in the belly of the fish, he still had much of the old character in him. 

When we talk about the power of the resurrection it simply means we become dead to the world, to sin, and alive to God. Jonah died to the world when he was in the belly of the fish. But he became alive to God. There was a spiritual change in Jonah’s heart. In his beautiful prayer, he offered thanksgiving for his deliverance from drowning. He was ready to preach repentance to the city of Nineveh. And there, he became a sign to the Ninevites.

Jonah was swallowed up by the power of death. If he did not call out to God when he was in the belly of the fish, he would have probably perished. But God delivered him and Jonah became the sign to the people of the world, to the people of Nineveh. He became that sign precisely because he experienced in his own life the power of God’s resurrection.






ALSO (To become aware of the Lord in the Eucharist. A sign leading to a sign.
 
The “fish” symbol refers to the “loaves and fish” miracles of Jesus. The fish reminds people that Jesus miraculously “multiplied” a few small fish (and a few loaves of bread) to feed thousands of hungry people, on two separate occasions – one time to feed 5,000 people, and another time to feed 4,000 people. Mark 6:30-44 and Mark 8:1-10.
The loaves and fish miracles were symbolic in significance. The basis of faith is the resurrection of Jesus. 

Jesus Feeds 5000 with


  • 5 loaves
  • 12 baskets left over (there were twelve servers and also refers to the 12 tribes of Israel in the old testament)


Jesus Feeds 4000 with (3 days after the miracle of 5000)

  • 7 loaves
  • 7 baskets left over (the number of abundant completeness). 
  • The geographical location (Mark's Gospel) suggest that what Jesus did for the Jews He also did for the Gentiles; for the second miracle happens in Gentile territory and the number seven have associations with the Gentiles.


The multiplication of the loaves in which 5,000 people were fed appears in all four Gospels, the second is found in Matthew and Mark. The feeding of Israel in the desert with Manna from Heaven looks forward to the Eucharist by which Christians are fed with the Bread of Life which is Christ. The Gospel of St. John makes the past connection with Moses and Manna, in the words of our Lord Himself: 




6:28 Then they said to him, "What must we do, to be doing the works of God?" 29 Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent." 30 So they said to him, "Then what sign do you do, that we may see, and believe you? What work do you perform? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, —He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'" 32 Jesus then said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven, and gives life to the world." 34 They said to him, "Lord, give us this bread always." 35 Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst. 



6:48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh." 52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" 



The Gospel of St. John makes clear - looks forward to the Eucharist. As Jesus says:


6:51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh." 52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" 53 So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; 54 he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 56 He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever." 

This feeding with "Bread" continues, as it does in the Eucharist which is now Christ Himself, the Bread of Life.

As explained by Fr. Ashlyn during the Bible Class and on the First Saturday (December) connected to Metanoia.

Thank You, Abba Father.
Thank You, Jesus.
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