THE SIGN OF JONAH
The Pharisees and the Sadducees came to Jesus asking for a sign to prove His authority. He wondered aloud that they could read the signs in the sky to predict the weather, but were not able to read the signs of the times. In other words, they could tell when it was going to rain, but couldn’t see that He was the Messiah. They didn’t recognize that His time had come. He had already given them more than sufficient evidence of His identity, yet they refused to believe. He told them that an evil and adulterous generation demanded a sign. But the only one that would be given them was the “sign of Jonah.”
What was this “sign of Jonah?” Jesus explained it at another time, saying, “For as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights” (Matt.12:40). The sign of Jonah was that Jesus would be raised from the dead after three days in the tomb.
Jesus did many signs and wonders to prove His identity as the Son of God, yet the ultimate sign was His resurrection. Do you believe this sign? As the apostle Paul wrote, “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom. 10:9).
PRAYER: Dear Father, thank You for the sign of Jonah. For Jesus fulfilled it when You raised Him from the dead. And just as He was raised, so too will we be raised one day. For we have believed in Him. Until that day, strengthen us to proclaim the Good News of Jesus to the whole world. In Jesus’ name, amen.