Title: STRANGE HAPPENINGS IN THE BELLY OF A BIG FISH

Focus: Jonah’s story points to Jesus’ story points to our story today.

Function: To move the people to take their “cues” from Jonah and Jesus, thus learning to die to sin and to rise to new life.

Text: Jonah 1:10-2:10

Confession: L.D. 16 (esp. Q.A 43)

People shaped by reason and science often don’t know what to do with the story of Jonah in the belly of that big fish. Enlightened by reason, they say that Jonah’s story is really a “whale of a fish story”—a fantasy. That’s the mindset of modern man.

The mindset of postmodern man—the mindset found among the younger generation—is much more open to mystery. They are willing to explore the story of Jonah in the belly of the big fish, and learn from it without being troubled by the question whether “it really happened or not.” The historicity or the “happenedness” of Jonah’s story does not concern the postmodern mind that much. The modern mindset appeals to reason; the postmodern mindset appeals to mystery. The one tends to reject the story of Jonah; the other tends to embrace it without a question and much thought.

Then there is the irrational mindset. Some Christians show that mindset by saying, “If the Bible says that Jonah would have swallowed the fish, instead of the fish swallowing Jonah,” then I will believe the Bible.” But there is no need to put our brains in neutral. Reasonable people may simply trust in the truthfulness of the Bible and in the story of Jonah in the belly of a big fish. Why? I’ll tell you soon. But first I will give you the message in a nutshell: Jonah’s story points to Jesus’ story points to our story today. In other words, there’s a connection between Jonah and Jesus and us. Discover the connection and take your cues from Jonah and Jesus.

JESUS’ STORY

I think that Jesus is the smartest, the brightest person in the entire visible and invisible world. He is both the eternal Son of God and fully, perfectly human. I think we can safely take our cues from Jesus. Listen to him (Matthew 12:40) “…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.”

Here we see that Jesus points to his own death, burial and resurrection and bases their truthfulness, their historicity, their “really-having-happened” on Jonah’s 3 days and 3 nights stay in the belly of a big fish. Jesus accepts the story of Jonah and uses it to build his own story on it. So then, Jesus’ burial, death and resurrection becomes the key by which we approach Jonah’s story and unlock its doors for us to enter in. Jesus’ approach is the key. And Jesus’ story connects us with Jonah’s story

The Apostles’ Creed summarizes the story of the Christian faith in 12 statements of faith. Some of them point to Jesus’ story: “I believe in Jesus Christ, (God’s) only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to hell. The third day he rose again from the dead.” Jesus was in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. He ended up in a tomb, but his tomb turned into a womb. That story of death and resurrection really happened; that miracle of God is at the core of the Christian faith.

We feed and thrive on that story. We see that story symbolized and pictured in the Lord’s Supper: the bread and the cup underscore the faith signed and sealed by these elements: “Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again.” Ah, the story of Jesus at Golgotha. Jesus is the key! His story sheds light on Jonah’s story and on ours.

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JONAH’S STORY

Jonah is a fascinating prophet. He has a stubborn streak that gets him into trouble. God says to him: “Go to Nineveh!” Jonah decides to go to Tarshish. God says to Jonah: “Go and preach to Nineveh the message I will give you!” That message, it turns out, is one of repentance and mercy. Jonah preaches that message to Nineveh, but in his heart he is looking for judgment on Nineveh. God looks for Nineveh’s repentance and life; Jonah hopes for Nineveh’s destruction and death. It’s easy to relate to Jonah, for he is so much like us. Perhaps that’s why Jonah’s story “sticks” with us.

We enter the story of Jonah at a very critical time: Jonah is on the run; he’s fleeing from God’s mission. Jonah is on a ship, traveling with pagan sailors on a stormy sea. The sea is getting wilder and wilder; the sailors have a sense of doom; the gods must be angry with them; they feel a need to appease the wrath of the gods. They try to figure out who has offended the gods of the sea and the wind. Jonah knows what’s going on. He knows that the problem lies with him. In response to the sailors question as to what should be done, Jonah says: “Pick me up and throw me into the sea, and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.” Scared, out of their wits, praying to the God of Jonah, offering a sacrifice, and making promises to God, the sailors throw Jonah into the abyss, into a certain death. Jonah enters his watery grave.

And that’s precisely where the Lord wants Jonah to be: in the clutches of death. But God does not abandon Jonah in the sea. No, the text says: “But the Lord provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights.” I wonder what it must have been like for Jonah inside that fish; surely that belly must have smelled and felt to Jonah like a tomb. Jonah finds himself in the clutches of death inside the belly of a big fish.

But strange things begin to happen inside that belly: Jonah is coming to his senses. Jonah’s stubborn streak of rebellion against God breaks down and turns into a trickle of humility, which turns into a stream of repentance, which results into a flow of praise and thanksgiving coming out of Jonah’s heart and mouth. In that tomb we notice that Jonah, the rebel, dies a slow death; and that a new Jonah is born; the tomb is turning into a womb. And after three days and three nights, God commanded the fish, and “it vomited Jonah onto dry land.” The old Jonah has died; a new Jonah is popping up.

Jonah has written down his “death and resurrection” story after he came out of the tomb--that belly of the big fish. Jonah’s story is in the form of a prayer of thanksgiving and praise. Listen to Jonah:

• Describing his troubles: “In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry…The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head.” Clearly, Jonah was in the grip of death. But the Lord’s hand was with Jonah. Listen to Jonah:

• Pointing to God’s salvation: “But you brought my life up from the pit, O Lord my God…Salvation comes from the Lord.” Strange things are happening inside that tomb, that belly of the fish. Jonah is coming to his senses. What does he do? He turns to God in his anguish and distress. Jonah humbles himself before God; he repents and he vows to turn his life over to God and do what God calls him to do. Listen again to Jonah:
• Praying to God: “I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.” And as Jonah turns his heart to God, clarity comes his way. He realizes that “Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.” And Jonah resolves to change his ways before God, saying: “But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good.”

Jonah’s death and resurrection story inside the belly of the big fish is a shadow that points forward to Jesus’ story of death and resurrection. It also connects with our story today. For Jonah’s story reflects the daily rhythm of the Christian faith in our lives. It’s the rhythm of dying and rising, dying to sin and to the powers of the world, and rising to the life of love and obedience to which Jesus calls us each day.

OUR STORY

Earlier I said that Jesus is the key, connecting us with Jonah and with Jesus’ death and resurrection story. You can see these connections in Paul’s letters to the churches. Listen to

• Eph. 2:4ff “…because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus….” In other words, believers in Christ participate in Christ’s death and resurrection story.

That participation in Christ’s story comes through in our own baptism. The baptismal font is like a tomb in which we dive and die to sin and the world. Endowed with the Holy Spirit, the baptismal tomb turns into a womb, for our baptism calls us to rise and live the life of Christ, the life of love and obedience and service. Listen to the apostle Paul speaking to the church in Rome:

• Romans 6:4ff “We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” Jonah’s story points to Jesus’ death and resurrection story. And so we are connected to Jonah’s and Jesus’ story today. Their stories provide us with advantages for Christian living.

It’s in that light, that the Heidelberg Catechism explores Jesus’ death: Q. 43 “What further advantage do we receive from Christ’s sacrifice and death on the cross?” A. “Through Christ’s death our old selves are crucified, put to death, and buried with him, so that the evil desires of the flesh may no longer rule us, but that instead we may dedicate ourselves as an offering of gratitude to him.”

Jonah’s spirit of rebellion died in that belly of the fish; a new Jonah rose three days later, when the fish spat him out on dry land. The belly of the fish turned from tomb to womb. Because of our connection with Jesus’ death and resurrection, our “old man”, our sinful, rebellious nature, must die a daily death to sin and the powers of the world. The new man, that is, the new mind—the mind of Christ—must dominate and rule our lives, so that we become each day a living sacrifice of gratitude to God.

What does it mean to die to sin and the rebellious powers of the world? An old German minister by the name of Otto Thelemann (An Aid to the H.C. p, 168) tells the story of a young person asking an experienced mature Christian, “What does it mean to be dead to the world and to sin?” The Christian replied:

Go to the cemetery. And when you get there, cry out to all the dead in their graves to respond to your voice and wishes.

The youth was astonished at his words, but went and did as he was told. He came back to the Christian and said, “The dead will not come.” The man said to him: Go back again. Call the dead, and praise them to the sky; speak well of them, and make them all kinds of promises they can’t resist.

The young man did as he was told; he came back and said to the Christian, “The dead will not come; they ignore me.” The man said to him: Go back again. But now call the dead and threaten them with curses; rebuke them; tell them that if they don’t listen to your voice, they are going to be in deep trouble. The youth did as he was told. He came back to the Christian and said, “It’s no use. The dead will not come.”

“Good,” said the Christian man, “now learn from the dead in the cemetery. Learn from them what it means to be dead to sin and the powers of the world. It means to strenuously resist the voice of sin and of the powers of the world; it means not to allow yourself to be moved by their flatteries, their false promises, their pressures and their lures; it means to ignore their threats and their reproaches.”

Congregation, when we are connected to the Lord Jesus Christ and his story of death and resurrection, we may find the benefit of living a new life—a life demonstrated by Jonah’s stay in the belly of a big fish. As he died to his sin of rebellion against God’s Word, so we must die daily to the lures and powers of sin in our world.

Learn from the dead: say “No”, do not give in, ignore the voices and lures of sin. Flee from the beckoning of the devil; turn around, repent and discover the new life through the Spirit of Christ. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.