The Sign of Jonah

Well, it's wonderful to see all of you this Sunday.

For the last five weeks, we have been in the book of Jonah

and basically looking at the Old Testament text.

I remember as a young Christian, as a senior in college,

reading scriptures for the first time.

I did not grow up in a family where we had regular devotions.

You could have asked me how many Gospels there are and I'd have no idea.

That wasn't my upbringing.

But as a young Christian, I started to realize that Jesus regularly alludes to

or quotes or mentions the Old Testament.

As many as 4,000 times.

I remember reading the verse,

but my father's house is a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers.

And it dawned on me that Jesus was quoting from Jeremiah chapter 7, verse 11.

Jeremiah 7:11

I was, in some ways I should have known that, but I was shocked.

I thought to myself, I am reading the same verse that Jesus read at one time.

And then I started to think to myself, what did he feel?

How old was he?

What was he doing before?

How did that verse impress him?

Why does he quote it, but he doesn't quote from the other 50 chapters in Jeremiah?

And I found myself really fascinating by the fact that Jesus knows the Old Testament

and refers to it regularly.

Well, this morning, we're going to do something similar to that.

We are going to look at the sign of Jonah.

But we're not from the Old Testament.

We're going to ask ourselves, when Jesus read the book of Jonah, what did he get out of it?

I know what I get out of it.

I know what my students get out of it, because I give it a passage on a test and they all do badly.

So they don't get much out of it, but I get a lot more out of it.

And I thought, what did Jesus get out of it when he read it for the first time?

Did he say, oh, that's me in the future?

Or what?

So we're going to look at the sign of Jonah in the Gospels.

You are familiar with the sign of Jonah in the Gospel of Matthew.

This is not what we're doing today.

We are not looking at Matthew.

We are looking at Luke chapter 11, verses 29 through 32.

Luke 11:29–32

So I want you to turn your Bibles to Luke chapter 11.

Luke 11 · chapter mention

But let me cheat here a little bit.

Because we are in the Gospels,

whenever you read the Gospel, you must keep two things in mind.

It doesn't matter which Gospel, which passage, which verse, what chapter.

You must always remember two things before you even begin.

This is like preliminary.

This is like prerequisite.

And what we need to remember about the Gospels are these two things,

which we find very well stated in the Gospel of John.

So please turn, first of all, to the Gospel of John, chapter 20, verses 30 through 31.

John 20:30–31

And then we'll go back to Luke.

Look at John, chapter 20, verse 30 and 31.

John 20:30

Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples,

which are not recorded in this book.

John is saying, I didn't include everything that Jesus said or did.

I left out some things.

I would add to it, he left out some things as he was inspired by the Holy Spirit

to decide what to include and what not to include.

But if you read the Gospel of John, you shouldn't say,

I have read everything that Jesus said and I've read everything that Jesus did.

John is telling us, no, he did not.

But Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of the disciples,

which are not recorded in this book.

So if he included some things guided by the Spirit,

if he included some things, why did he include them?

One of the things you will be surprised to find out,

that in the four Gospels,

the only miracle that is recorded in all four Gospels is this.

It is not raising Lazarus from the dead.

I thought that would be big enough to make all network news at seven.

It's not raising Lazarus from the dead.

It's not walking on water.

For all of you who think walking on water is easy,

after the baptism service, I'll pay $10 for everyone who can do it.

It's not walking on water.

It is not calming the storm.

It's interesting to notice that the only miracle that Jesus,

that all four Gospels record, is feeding the 5,000.

So this illustrates John's point.

Jesus did many other things that are not recorded in this book.

So, why did he include some material and leave out others?

Look at verse 31.

These are written,

that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ,

the Son of God,

and that by believing,

you may have life in his name.

John is saying,

this is my purpose for writing.

So if I read the Gospel of John,

and I conclude that Jesus hates the Gentiles,

I've misread John.

Because John is telling me,

you should arrive at this conclusion.

If I arrive at that conclusion,

I miss the point.

And so,

John,

bless his heart,

says,

but these are written,

that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ,

the Son of God,

and that by believing,

you have life in his name.

I love John,

because he tells us,

I like,

I'll put this delicately,

I like Mark less,

because he doesn't tell me.

He wants me to play detective.

John is kind.

Mark needs to be rebuked by somebody,

not me.

Keeps me guessing.

Maybe gives New Testament scholars something to do

in their profession.

So,

the Gospels,

the evangelists,

choose the material they're going to include,

guided by the Holy Spirit,

and they choose it for a purpose.

John makes the same point,

again,

in chapter 21,

verse 25.

In chapter 21,

verse 25,

John writes,

Jesus did many other things as well.

If one of them were to,

if one of them were written down,

I suppose that even the whole world

would not have enough room

for the books that would be written.

If we,

of course,

this is a hyperbole,

if we wrote down everything that Jesus did,

we'd fill this world with books.

So,

evangelists do not record everything.

So,

we're going to look at the sign of Jonah

from the Gospel of Luke,

which automatically raises the question,

what is the purpose of the Gospel of Luke?

Well,

I'm not going to tell you.

Not right now.

At the very end,

we'll get back to this.

So,

I'll keep you in suspense for a while.

We're going to ask ourselves,

what is the purpose of Luke?

And why does he include the sign of Jonah?

So,

let's turn to the Gospel of Luke,

where we're going to be staying

the rest of this sermon.

Luke chapter 11,

Luke 11:29

verse 29.

Luke 11,

29 is going to illustrate

what we just finished reading.

Luke 11,

29.

As the clouds increased,

Jesus said,

this is a wicked generation.

It asks for a miraculous sign,

but none will be given it

except the sign of Jonah.

Keep reading.

For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites,

so also the Son of Man

be to this generation.

The Queen of the South

will rise at the judgment

with the men of this generation

and condemn them.

For she came from the ends of the earth

to listen to Moses' wisdom.

And now,

one greater than Moses is here.

The men of Nineveh

will stand up at the judgment

with this generation

and condemn it.

For they repented

at the preaching of Jonah.

And now,

one greater than Jonah is here.

Look at this passage carefully.

29 through 32.

Did you read anywhere

the word fish?

There is no word fish.

Did you read anywhere

three days and three nights

in the belly of the earth?

No.

No.

As I was saying a minute earlier,

the Gospels don't record

everything that Jesus said.

They choose what Jesus said

to make a point.

So we know that Matthew

is trying to point

to Jesus' death and resurrection

based on scriptures

because that's important for Jews.

But Luke is doing something else.

So what's he trying to do?

Well, that's what we need to do.

Let me begin by

helping you understand something.

Verse 29.

As the clouds increased,

Jesus said,

this is a wicked generation.

It asks for a miraculous sign,

but none will be given it

except the sign of Jonah.

What is a sign?

In the Old Testament,

if a prophet said something fantastic

or incredible or too much,

like if I said,

God in one night

is going to wipe out

the whole Assyrian army

in one night.

Miraculously.

Well, you may say,

well, he may be patriotic

or he may be hallucinating

or maybe he's on LSD

or, you know,

God knows what's happening to him.

So you ask

the prophet Isaiah,

give us a sign

that will authenticate

that you are a true prophet,

not a false prophet,

that you're not making up this stuff,

that you are indeed

bringing us a word from God.

And then you could have

signs from above

and signs from below.

Signs from above

would be the rainbow.

God says,

I'm going to give you a sign.

I'm not going to flood the world

again like this.

And so a sign from above

would be the rainbow.

Another sign from above

is at the time of Elijah,

where he says,

you say Baal is the great God

and I'm telling you

Elohim is the great God.

You call on your God

to send fire,

I'll call on my God.

And they called and called

and nothing happens.

And he called on his God

and fire came from heaven.

So that's fire from heaven.

At the time of Noah,

the flood, water,

came from heaven.

So that's a sign from heaven.

It could be a sign from earth.

In the book of Numbers,

because they disobeyed God,

God made the earth

open its mouth

and all these evil leaders

were swallowed.

So signs could come

from both places.

Jesus' death and resurrection

is signed from below,

not from above.

He is rising from the earth.

Now,

in this case,

the sign is,

as verse 30,

as Jonah was a sign

to the Ninevites,

so also will the son of man

be to this generation.

So we have to figure out

what does that mean.

Let's ask several questions.

The first one,

the first very important question is,

how are Jonah and Jesus similar?

If Jesus is a sign

to his generation

the same way that Jonah

was a sign to his generation,

how are Jesus and Jonah similar?

Well, most of the time

we think of Jesus and Jonah

are quite different,

and they are.

Jesus is the son of God.

Jonah is not the son of God.

Jesus will judge the world.

Jonah will not judge the world.

Jesus is part of the Trinity.

Jonah is not part of the Trinity.

And you can go down the list.

Jesus accepted his mission.

Jonah rejected his mission.

Jesus went and did

what the father told him to do.

Jonah tried to run away

and escape.

And so there are differences,

but there are similarities.

And this,

noticing the similarities

will help us figure out

what the sign is.

Number one,

they were both sent by God.

They were both sent by God.

I am standing here in front of you

because the elders asked me

to preach this Sunday.

Am I sent by the United Nations?

No.

Am I sent by the IRS?

No.

Am I sent by FIFA?

World soccer?

No.

Why am I here?

Because the elders,

representing God,

asked me to come.

So I am representing the elders.

I am also representing the Lord.

So in that sense,

in a very, very small way,

I am sent by God.

But on a much, much larger,

more magnificent way,

Jesus is sent by the father

in a fantastic way.

But I am sent by God.

Why did I come here?

Well,

for a purpose.

It's not to negotiate a treaty

with Iran.

If I wanted to negotiate

a treaty with Iran,

I wouldn't be here.

I would be over there.

I am not here

to spy

on

Mike Salvati.

I don't know why

I would want to spy

on him.

I am not here

to pull a rabbit

out of the hat

to show that I can do

more magic tricks

than the rest of you.

I am not here

to conjugate verbs

in Arabic.

I am here

because

I am

trying

to present

a message

from the Lord.

I am bringing

you a message

in a very

humble

way

I am saying

thus

saith the Lord.

While

quite aware

that I am terribly

inadequate

and lousy sinner

and should be on my knees

begging for mercy.

But

I am sent

by God

as was Jesus

as was Jonah.

They were both

sent with a message

and they both

preached

to their audience.

Jesus didn't

escape to Germany

Jesus preached.

Jonah escaped.

God got him back

and he preached.

So

they were sent

by God

with a message

from God

and they carried

out their duty

of bringing

that message.

One

with great love

for the world

and one

with resentment

and

probably didn't

like to do it

anyway.

But

interestingly

enough

the sign

of Jonah

is associated

is connected

with the Ninevites

and the queen.

So let's look

at verse 31

please.

Please

verse 31

the queen

of the south

will rise

at the judgment

with the men

of this generation

and condemn

them

because she

came from

the ends

of the earth

to listen

to Solomon's

wisdom

and now

one greater

than Solomon

is here.

The men

of Nineveh

will stand

up at the judgment

with this generation

and condemn it

because they

repented

at the preaching

of Jonah

and now

one greater

than Jonah

is here.

He is saying

look at the example

of the queen

of the south

look at the example

of the Ninevites.

How are they

different?

This will become

important in just a second

but let's figure out

first

how are the Ninevites

and the queen

of the south

different?

Well

first

obvious way

is that

she is a woman

and they are

men.

The text says

the men

of Nineveh.

I need to tell you

something about Hebrew.

Semitic languages

are strange

in some ways

as all languages

are.

So if there is

if all of you

were here

and indeed you are

and this is a mixed

company

with men

and women

in Semitic languages

I would address

you as gentlemen.

It's not because

I can't tell the difference

between men

and women

or because my

eyeglasses

are so bad

that I can't tell

that there are

women standing

in front of me

but Semitic language

is such

that you would

use the word

gentlemen

to cover men

and women.

We don't do that

in English

but we do it

in Semitic languages

we do it in Arabic

and you know

you learn to live

with it.

So

I don't want you

to think that

only men

in Nineveh

believe the gospel.

I suspect

the whole population

but if you're

going to talk

about a mixed

group

you would say

the men.

So she is

a woman

they are

men.

Not only men

but they are

men.

She is just

one singular

person.

They are

multitudes.

Noah

mentioned

God mentions

the 120,000

in the city

who don't know

the right hand

from their left.

She is one

they are

multitudes.

She is

from the south.

They are

from Nineveh

which would be

the north.

It's like saying

I have a friend

from New York

and I have a friend

from California.

that means

one end

of the United

States

the other end

of the 48 states

or one

from Massachusetts

and one

from Florida

north

south

east

west.

She is

from the south

they are

from the north.

The other

difference

is this.

She is

a queen

they are

just

ordinary

citizens.

If she is

a queen

that means

she is rich

she is

powerful

she has

prestige

she has

position

in society

she is

highly

respected

they are

just average

citizens.

And

one more

important thing

to notice

she

came

to listen

to Solomon

they did

not

come to

Jerusalem

Jonah

went

to them

they stayed

put

in their

place

but in

her case

she had

to travel

they didn't

have to

travel

he had

to travel

but they

didn't

so there

are these

differences

but what

do they have

in common

well

they have

several things

in common

number

one

they are

both

Gentiles

if she

is queen

of the

south

she is

a Gentile

by the

way

during

World War

II

Ethiopia

was ruled

by a

dynasty

the last

emperor

in Ethiopia

was

Helasi

Lasi

and he

claimed

that he

was a

descendant

of the

queen

of the

south

that she

had a

son by

Solomon

absolutely

nothing is

said about

that in

the Bible

the Old

Testament

it says

nothing of

the sort

they claimed

according to

their tradition

which they

may have

made up

that they

were descendants

of Solomon

through the

queen of

the south

in its

gardeners

whether

anyway

she

she is

a Gentile

and so

are

they

they

both

heard

the

message

they

both

believed

in

God

they

both

as the

text

says

will

stand

up

on

judgment

day

and

condemn

this

generation

and

they

both

were

ministered

to

by

someone

less

than

Jesus

please

notice

the

expression

someone

greater

than

Solomon

is

here

someone

greater

than

Jonah

is

here

so

they

are

Gentiles

who

heard

the

word

of

God

believed

in

the

Lord

they

were

ministered

to

by

someone

far

lower

rank

than

Jesus

and

they

will

stand

up

for

that

reason

and

condemn

that

generation

so

why

does

Luke

include

this

passage

in

his

gospel

he

left

out

other

things

resurrection

is not

listed

here

so

why

does

he

do

it

John

tells

us

his

purpose

you can

read that

in

John

John 20:31

chapter

20

verse

31

what

is

Luke's

purpose

and

why

would

the

sign

of

Jonah

help

us

understand

Luke's

purpose

what's

on his

mind

well

the best

way to

understand

that

is

to

turn

to

Luke

Luke 1 · chapter mention

chapter

1

Luke

Luke 1 · chapter mention

chapter

1

the

first

four

verses

many

have

undertaken

to

draw up

an

account

of the

things

that

have

been

fulfilled

many

things

that

have

been

fulfilled

among

us

just

as

they

were

handed

down

to

us

by

those

who

from

first

were

eyewitnesses

and

servants

of the

word

therefore

since

I

myself

have

carefully

investigated

everything

from

the

beginning

it

seemed

good

also

to

me

and

there

it

is

it

seemed

good

also

to

me

to

write

an

orderly

account

for

you

most

excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.

Most excellent Theophilus. Please notice two things. First of all, his name. If you are at

a baseball game and they are introducing the players and one of the players' name is Jesus

Gonzalez, you can say with some certainty, yes, he is probably Hispanic. If the next player

is Hans Reichenbach, then you can be sure he's probably of German certainty. So if your name

is Theophilus, what does that mean? It is two Greek words. His name consists of two Greek words.

Theos or Theo, which means God in words like theology and Theophilus. The Phil part means

brotherly love. Philadelphia, philanthropy, philosophy. So his name means lover of God, one who loves

God. That is clearly a Greek name. That's clearly a Greek name. And secondly, he is addressed with the

title most excellent. In the New Testament, this is the title that you use to address a Roman governor.

Roman governor. So he may be a Roman governor. It's not limited to Roman governors, but it is used

very often with Roman governors. He may have been a senator. He may have been a governor of a province

or mayor of a large city like Corinth, but this is a high-ranking Roman person. He has a Greek name and he has a very high title.

So if that is the case, then he is a Gentile. In chapter 11, who else is a Gentile? The citizens of Nineveh and the Queen of the South. Both of them heard the message of God and accepted it, even though they were ministered to by

somebody not quite as great as somebody not quite as great as Jesus. Someone greater than Solomon is here.

Someone greater than Solomon is here. So this person is also hearing the word of God, but he is not hearing it from a minor prophet.

And a king. He is hearing it from Jesus. And Jesus is greater than both. If they repented at the preaching of Solomon and Jonah, how much more should he repent hearing the words of Jesus?

Jesus. But you may say to yourself, well, he is a very high-ranking officer. May I suggest that the Queen of the South was a very high-ranking officer too.

So what is the point? The point is, God does not say only university professors can be saved. God does not say only musicians can be saved.

God does not say only taxi drivers can be saved. God does not say that only bankers can be saved. If you look at the Queen and the citizens, the gospel goes out to a woman and it goes out to men, regardless of gender.

God does not say only. It goes out to a woman and it goes out to a woman and it goes out to people who are high position and people who are just ordinary.

It goes out to those who have great prestige and just common citizens. It goes out to people who live in the north and people who live in the south.

It goes out to people who live in the south. It goes out to people who are looking for the truth and think that they have found the truth there and they go to it and some of them just stumble on the truth because somebody decides to share the gospel with them.

What it is saying is that the gospel goes out to the whole world.

Regardless of gender, regardless of position, regardless of money, regardless of influence, regardless of geography, the gospel goes out to the world.

This is like Luke's version of the Great Commission.

And what Luke wants to do is to encourage the church to open its eyes and realize that the gospel isn't just going to be limited to Jews.

It will include Gentiles.

That even in the Old Testament, Gentiles were converting the queen, the people of Nineveh.

We can add more to those.

Ruth.

So, what this means to us is that we shouldn't underestimate the power of the gospel.

which can convert the whole city or limited to few people, not realizing that it can reach the whole world.

That is the point that Jesus wants to communicate in the gospel of Luke.

Now, how is Jesus able to do that?

Well, here's where the gospel of Matthew puts in.

He is able to do it because he will rise from the dead, conquer death, and empower us to carry on the task.

Let's have a word of prayer.

Let me pray for you.

Father, we are a young church.

We desire to obey you.

We desire to love you.

We desire to do you well.

Give us the confidence that the gospel is powerful and that it can reach every segment of the human race,

regardless of where we are or where that person is.

Help us to have confidence in your ability to change hearts and to bring into your flock those you are calling.

Show us how to do these things, Father.

How to be faithful to you by preaching the gospel.

I ask it, Father, in Jesus' name.

Amen.