Monday, May 12, 2008
Matthew 16:1-4 Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven. He answered and said to themÂ… A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah . . .
JONAH FORESHADOWS PENTECOST?
It was arrogant for the Pharisees to ask Jesus to perform a miracle. He had already done many miracles verifying that He was the Christ. But, the mere seeing of miracles doesn't create faith, and Jesus says here that their asking for such proof actually revealed their unbelief.
Still, out of love, God would give them one great sign that would forever verify the identity of His Son. Just as Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days, so also Jesus would lie dead and buried, in the belly of the earth, for three days. Then, like Jonah, Jesus would be seen alive again.
Christians know the connection between Jonah and Jesus (the three days), but God also wove a foreshadowing of Pentecost into the life of Jonah.
After the great fish vomited Jonah onto the beach, Jonah went and preached God's message to the huge city of Nineveh. The people of Nineveh repented of their sins and turned to trust in God's mercy.
After Jesus was raised to life, and raised visibly into the sky, Jesus' followers received a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. In the power of the Spirit, like Jonah, they preached God's message to the huge city of Jerusalem (Acts 2).
God's word had been effective in Nineveh, and God's word was effective in Jerusalem. About three thousand people in Jerusalem were baptized after hearing the Good News of Jesus.
It truly is remarkable to see God's hand at work on the very canvas of history, completing and coloring in what was previously traced out -- bringing life to the Dead, and life to the dead.
The sign of Jonah -- we see it in the three-day tomb and in the preaching of Pentecost.
