Three Days And Nights

While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them, “This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah. Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation…At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because at the preaching of Jonah they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah here.” (Luke 11:29-32)

Luke’s Gospel reading can be better understood with reference to Matthew (12:38-40).  He  said: Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.”  He said to them in reply, “An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. (Matthew 12:38-40)

Jonah and the whale is a terrific biblical story often told to children, but does it make sense to them?  Does it make sense to adults?  Perhaps not without Matthew’s words: “…so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.”   This is a way to describe Jesus’ death and resurrection.

If Jonah repented after being in the belly of the whale, how do we respond to Jesus after his stay in the ground.  Jonah feared going to the Assyrians in Nineveh, so he ran away then to be whale food after being flung into the sea.   Many of us have run away from responsibility and perhaps even family through neglect and perhaps fear.  We feel like whale dung.

We should use the sign of Jonah as a way to set us back on the right path – to do what must be done even though that may be a hard choice requiring us to be forgiven and to be brave.  Many of us have spent far more that three days and nights in the ground and in darkness.   We must resurrect ourselves using Christ to light our way.   He’s the shovel we use to unearth ourselves.

Deacon David Pierce