If this is your first time this morning, or if you've not been around for a while, we're taking mornings this term to look at people, events and passages in the OT that point us towards Jesus, specifically things that help to explain what Jesus achieved on the cross.

Today we come to look at the prophet Jonah.  Jonah's a pretty unimportant bible character, his book is tucked away in the minor prophets – that says it all really.  And yet, Jonah is one of the best known people in the whole bible.  If we were to ask 100 people on the street to name an OT prophet Jonah would be a pretty good bet to make the top five – probably even top three.  I mean – he get's swallowed by a whale right?  Who can forget about Jonah and the whale?

But then, maybe we don't know it as well as we think.  Have you heard of the band 'Noah and the Whale'?  Noah and the whale?  Maybe Jonah's losing his currency… and even in church we might be more ignorant than we realise.  For starters, the Bible never mentions a whale – it was a big fish, possibly a sea monster.  And after Jonah went to Nineveh and rescued the whole city did you know he hated it?  The book ends with Jonah railing at God, demanding that he punish Nineveh!  We're left asking what is this all about? What does it teach us about God and us? And for this sermon series – what does it have to do with Jesus and the cross?

This morning I want to suggest a comparison that might help – think of Jonah as an OT version of Les Miserables.

You know the story don't you, the hero – Jean Valjean – is an ex criminal who goes straight, but is pursued mercilessly by the bad guy – Javert a police officer who doesn't care about people, only about the law.

The story of Les Mis is the story of Valjean escaping the vengeful judgement of Javert, and saving others along the way.

So if Jonah is an OT Les Mis how does the story fit – for the hero substitute the city ofNineveh; and for the bad guy substitute the prophet Jonah…

Yes you heard that right – Jonah's one of the best known prophets, but in his own book Jonah's the bad guy: he's God's prophet, but he hates God's mission, he runs from it because it disgusts him – God's mercy makes him so angry he wants to die.  He's just like Javert: a fanatic – he wants Nineveh to get what they deserve.

But the point is God cares about the people of Nineveh, and even that wicked, debased city can be saved by repentance.

So what does Jonah have to do with Jesus then?  Jesus makes the connection in the passage we heard from Matt 12 – Jonah is a sign that points to Jesus.  But how?  I want to suggest four ways:

1) Jesus death is not the end

2) Jesus death is for others

3) Jesus death saves sinners

4) Jesus death comes from opposition but advances God's plan

So putting all of those pieces together the big idea is this: Jonah points to Jesus' death as a temporary death for the salvation of sinners, a death that results from opposition to God's plans, but actually achieves God's plan.

We're going to be working between Matthew and Jonah so keep a finger in Jonah (page 653) and turn up Matthew 12 (page 690).  And let's unpack each of those four pointers as our four points this morning:

1) Jesus death is not the end

2) Jesus death is for others

3) Jesus death saves sinners

4) Jesus death comes from opposition but advances God's plan

And Let's jump straight in at point one:

1)    Jesus Death is not the end of him

Have a look with me at Matt 12:39ff.

38 Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to Jesus, "Teacher, we want to see a miraculous sign from you." 39 He answered, "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Just to give this the smallest bit of context – Jesus has just given the sermon on the mount and he's been doing many miracles that fulfil specific OT predictions, specifically Isaiah 42, which predicts a servant who heals and teaches but is rejected.

Jesus say he will be opposed and what do you know, immediately the authorities reject him, saying that he does miracles by Beelzebub; that is they call him a messenger of Satan.  

Let that sink in – Jesus is fulfilling the OT, healing and teaching, but the authorities call him a messenger of Satan.       

So, having said that Jesus is a messenger of Satan they come to him and demand of his authority (remember he's just done a series of signs which they ascribed to Satan).

Jesus says: 'no, I'm not going to perform for you, you want a sign, read this sign - just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the son of man will be three days and nights in the heart of the earth'.

What?  Let's tease the logic out.  Look at the point of comparison: Jesus points to Jonah's time in the belly of the fish as a kind of death, a partial death – and says he will experience something similar, Jonah back then was pointing to him, like a sign post.

Jonah was, as it were, buried in the fish; and Jesus will be actually buried in the earth.  Jonah went through a kind of almost death; Jesus will go through real death.  But the real point of comparison is that both experiences of death will come to an end, they weren't permanent:  Jonah was spat back up onto dry land, the land of the living.  And Jesus will come back up from the dead too.

So the sign of Jonah is a sign that Jesus death will not be the end, he will overcome death and emerge victorious.  Yeah yeah, ho hum –  we know this.  Don't get blasé about this – this is massive.  Jesus overcame death, he can never die again.  A man has defeated death.  And here it is, right back in the OT.  Paul says Christ was raised on the third day, according to the scriptures, and here it is.  Jonah's experience of three days in the grave will be mirrored (only more so) in Jesus' three days in the grave.  Jonah's experience of coming back to life after death will be mirrored (only more so) by Jesus conquering death never to die again.

This is one of those signs that you really can't miss.  Jesus has been doing all kinds of miracles, but he's dismissed as from the Devil (all they see is a guy breaking the Sabbath – he can't be from God he's breaking the rules – kill him!!!!)  They can't see the signs, but what if Jesus comes back from the dead?

Well we know what happened – in that case they'll make up a story about the disciples stealing the body.  They're so angry they won't acknowledge any sign, no matter how powerful.  But –crucially – they won't be able to fool everyone.  That line about doing miracles by the power of Satan – people will see through that when Jesus rises from the dead.  When Jesus came back and sent down the Holy Spirit and the disciples preached the risen Jesus – it was just like Jonah in Nineveh, people actually listened, people actually repented – they said 'brothers what can we do?' and that day 3000 repented and were saved.  Just like the people ofNineveh.

So that's the first aspect – Jonah's come back from death in the fish points to Jesus come back from death in the tomb.  But there's more here so let's keep turning this idea over…

Next we need to look at how Jonah points to Jesus' death as a death for others.

2) Jesus death is for others

Flick back to Jonah.  (page 653 if you've lost it, 653…)

In the midst of a raging storm, sent by God to stop Jonah, the sailors discover it's his fault, let's pick it up in verse 11:

11 The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, "What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?" 12 "Pick me up and throw me into the sea," he replied, "and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you." 13 Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. 14 Then they cried to the LORD, "O LORD, please do not let us die for taking this man's life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, O LORD, have done as you pleased." 15 Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm.

It's quite clear isn't it, that Jonah goes to his death in order to spare the lives of all on board the ship.  The equation is very stark 'what shall we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?' and the answer: 'throw me into the sea'.  They're convinced they're killing him, and his death will bring them life.  They throw Jonah into the sea all becomes calm, and for all they know he dies, but they live.

Now there are a few points of difference here between Jonah and Jesus, namely Jesus is perfect whereas Jonah brings this on, nonetheless Jonah's 'death' is as an innocent man for the salvation of others.  And so is Jesus', only more so.

We know this, we've seen it week after week, so I won't labour the point.  But please notice this pattern – the one dies for the many.  And it's not some sort of over the top romantic expression of love – 'oh it's so wonderful to know you I'll do anything for you'; no, the pattern is one dying for the many to save them from a real objective danger that they can not overcome for themselves.  An objective danger that is tied up with God's anger at sin.  Jonah fits that pattern perfectly.

Jonah points forward to Jesus' death as a saving death, a rescue achieved by death.

Please understand this: Jesus died for us, to save us.  He is Jonah thrown into the sea to calm the storm, he the sacrificial lamb that dies in the place of the worshipper, he the Passover lamb that dies to redeem the first born sons, he the suffering saviour who dies to save others; he the willing substitute who offers himself to God, to take our place.  He is the innocent man who dies so others can live.

So, the sign of Jonah says Jesus death won't be the end of him, and that Jesus death will be a saving death, a death for others.  That's two points down.

And there's more.  The really striking thing when you read Jonah is that God wants to saveNineveh, but Jonah is dead set against it.  Jonah runs away rather than preach to them, not because he's afraid but because he's worried they might repent and God might spare them!  There's a sting in the tail for self righteous people – God sends Jonah to save bad people, notorious sinners.  And that's our third point:

3) Jesus death saves sinners

For this point it will help to remember thatNinevehwas the capital ofAssyria;Assyriawho destroyedIsrael, wiped them out;Assyriawho invadedJudahand destroyed every walled city right up toJerusalem, and kept the city under siege till it starved.  That's 2 Kings 17-19, you might remember looking at that last October.  The point isNinevehwas a name that evoked terror and disgust.  Jonah knew what they were like, what they'd done.  And he hated them for it.  He longed to see them get what they deserved.

Turn to Jonah 3, verse 4 (page 654 if you've lost your place):

4 On the first day, Jonah started into the city. He proclaimed: "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned." 5 The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.

Skip down to verse 10:

10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.

These are the bad guys, God was about to wipe them out; but when Jonah preached they completely changed; they turned from wickedness and put their trust in God.

RESULT!

Right?

No; not for Jonah.  He wanted them dead.  It's hard for us to empathise at this point.  But we haven't suffered like he did – most of us have never been subject to tyranny, we've not had to watch our families starved to death, or seen whole nations removed from the map in repeated genocidet.  Some people in our world do.  And it's that what gives rise to Baltic wars, Rwandan massacres and Mau Mau uprisings.  When there's tyranny our heart cries out for justice – don't let them get away with it God!

That was Jonah's heart's cry – 'don't let them get away with it'.

When God said he wouldn't punish them, do you know what Jonah did then?  He set up camp outside the city to watch, just in case God changed his mind and destroyed them…

Look at chapter 4:

1 Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. 2 He prayed to the LORD, "O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. 3 Now, O LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live."

Just stop and take that in.  Why is Jonah so angry at God?  Because God is a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity (he's quoting exodus 34).

And think a bit more, why is Jonah even there to see this?  Because God is a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.

Jonah can't see it, but if God only expressed justice and never mercy, he would be just as much in the firing line as the people ofNineveh.  He was an object of mercy just as much as they were.

And a lot of the time you and I might not see it like that either.  But we need to be clear – we are objects of mercy too. The clear message of the bible is that none of us is on the right side of God's justice.

If God were to meet out justice right now - each of us getting just what we deserved – then we'd all be destroyed.  End of story, no more human race.

We need to get this into our heads, and into our hearts.  Turning away from God to live for ourselves is no small thing.  It's everything, the worst thing.  We may not be killing and raping and pillaging... but we're living against the one who gave us life, and that must end in death, that's just logic, like a deep sea diver rejecting the oxygen mask – cut yourself off from the life giver and you die; and that's what we've done.

But God is gracious and merciful so God doesn't giveNinevehwhat they deserve.  Why not? Look at Jonah 4.11:

11Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?"

These are brutish, violent people; but they're God's people, he made them, and he loves them, even now.

So see the sign to us.  God is gracious, so loving and gracious that his forgiveness extends to everyone who repents, everyone.

God forgiving rapists and murderers might disturb us.  God forgiving people who hurt us than we are might disturb us.  God's grace might wind us up.

But God's grace reaches to the furthest extremes to show that it can reach even to me, and even to you.

Jonah is a sign that whatever we've done, no matter how far we've run from God, you and I and everyone else can be forgiven, if only we will repent. 

What about justice? – Jonah doesn't answer that – but we just need to look at the cross – the cross where Jesus paid the debt for you, for me, forNinevehand everyone else. Anyone who repents and trust in him can be forgiven because Justice has already been done to Jesus.

So as we look forward to a week of invitation events let me ask you – do you want this church to fill up? To fill up with guilty, messed up people?  Do you want this church to fill up with prostitutes and drug addicts and extortionists – with the sort of people Jesus hung out with?  Do you really want the broken and the hurting and the nasty to come in here – because God does.  Jesus died for bad people, not for good.

We've seen that Jonah points to Jesus death as temporary, as for the salvation of others, and now, for salvation of people who really don't deserve it.  There's one last thing to see here.  And we're going to be quick..

4) Jesus death comes from opposition but advances God's plan

One last thing: there is an ancient Jewish tradition that Jonah was somehow marked by his three days in the belly of the fish – perhaps stomach acid turned him white.  That tradition suggests that's why Jonah was so effective in preaching.  He was the sign – the sign of Jonah.  They listened to him when he said judgment was coming because he'd already suffered God's judgment.

Think that through with me: Jonah was thrown to the fish trying to prevent God from savingNineveh.  But Jonah's very opposition ends up making God's plan happen – God uses it to achieve the very thing he tried to sabotage.

It's the same with the Pharisees and Sadducees in Matt 12.  They opposed God's plan and tried to sabotage it, but they only end up making it happen.  They put Jesus to death to stop him.  But Jesus' death is the means by which he achieves his mission, by his death he saves us.

The sign of Jonah led to the salvation of many inNineveh.  So will the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ – not just for Jews, and not just for religious people, or good people, but for the bad, the sinners, the prostitutes, the tax collectors, the corrupt, the filthy and the guilty; for everyone who repents from every nation under heaven.

So who are you – are you Jonah, are you confident in your own goodness; do you resent forgiveness and long for judgement?  Or can you see that you'reNineveh– your only hope is that Jesus blood covers you so you can be forgiven?

Whoever you are look at the sign of Jonah and see what it points us to – when Jesus died on the cross he really died, he died for us, to bring us forgiveness for our rebellion against God; but he didn't stay dead, he rose to life again.  And because of his death and resurrection we can all be forgiven, we can all experience life after death with Jesus.  Isn't that awesome?

And if God cares forNineveh don't you think he cares for Gateshead, and Newcastle and Middlesbrough and every other city in this world that he's made?  Let's not copy Jonah in reluctantly sharing the message, let's pray and cry out to God for the salvation of the people he has made.  And let's do all we can to make sure they hear the message of Jesus death – temporary, for others, for sinners, from opposition, but God's plan for the salvation of the whole world.

Let's pray.