PrintTwo Men In A Boat (7)
This seventh comparison between Jonah & Jesus finds Jonah thrown overboard. The storm stopped at once. I know what the sailors response was to that phenomenon (1/15,16). But I'm not told about the response of Jonah. He must have known that to be thrown overboard meant certain death. The sailors definitely believed that to be the case (1/14).
What is evident in the biblical account is that "God arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah" (1/17). In fact, right through the 4 chapters of Jonah's book, God was very active arranging winds, a storm, a great fish, a leafy plant, a worm and who knows what else!
I can't imagine what Jonah felt when he first saw the dark shadow in the water. I only know what we are told. A great fish swallowed Jonah and for three days and nights he was as good as dead. On top of the drama of the storm, this was the last straw (so to speak). Jonah now prays to the Lord. This is the first time in the account of this man's experience that we are told he prayed. A consideration of the content and significance of his prayer can wait for another time.
What I note is that he has reached the end of his resistance and disobedience. Now he will fulfill all his vows including, I assume, the vows that he took as a prophet. When he surrenders to God, the great fish spews him up onto a beach. Yuk! Despite all the ghastly stuff that we can only imagine in that scene, it is as if Jonah has returned from the dead – certainly his prayer conveys that realization. Here is an amazing picture of resurrection.
This is where the comparison with Jesus comes alive. Jesus obviously saw the parallel of His own imminent death and resurrection with the experience of Jonah. In Matthew 12/40Jesus states;
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.
Jesus was swallowed by death but death had no power to keep him. It had to give Him up to life. It's like Almighty God commanded death to release His Son. To use the words of the Apostle Paul, "Death is swallowed up in victory" (1 Cor.15/54). Now Jonah is ready to fulfill his commission.
There is still one more comparison to be made but that will have to wait until my next entry.
