Sermon Text: Jonah 2:2-9
Date: April 9, 2023
Event: The Resurrection of Our Lord, Year A
Jonah 2:2–9 (EHV)
2He said the following:
In my distress I called to the Lord,
and he answered me.
From the belly of the grave I cried out,
and you heard my voice.
3You threw me into the depths,
into the heart of the seas.
The currents swept around me.
All your breakers and your waves swept over me.
4I said, “I have been driven away from your sight.
Nevertheless, I will once again look toward your holy temple.”
5Waters engulfed me so that I was near death.
The deep surrounded me.
Seaweed was wrapped around my head.
6To the roots of the mountains I sank down.
The earth locked me behind its bars forever.
But you brought my life up from the pit, O Lord, my God.
7When my life was ebbing away, I remembered the Lord.
My prayer came to you, to your holy temple.
8Those who cling to worthless idols forsake the mercy that is theirs.
9But I, with a shout of thanksgiving, will indeed sacrifice to you.
What I have vowed, I will certainly pay in full.
Salvation belongs to the Lord!
The Sign of Jonah Means Grace Like Jonah
You may be familiar with the account of the prophet Jonah, but if not, let’s take a moment to review it. Jonah lived and worked in the early 700s BC. Jonah was called with a unique mission. He wasn’t called to God’s people; he was called to foreigners. He was called, actually, to the capital city of the dominant world superpower of the time. He was called to Nineveh, the capital of Assyria.
Jonah did not really like the idea of going to Nineveh and sharing God’s Word with them. He did not want to share the love of God with the enemies of his nation because he knew that God just might be gracious to them and forgive their sins. So, instead of beginning his journey east to Nineveh, Jonah hopped in a boat and went in the opposite direction to what God had told him—his destination was as far west as he could possibly get.
While on the boat, a great storm arose on the sea, so much so that it threatened the lives of everyone onboard. Through the casting of lots, God made clear that the reason for this horrendous storm was Jonah and his disobedience to God’s call. The unbelieving sailors tried everything to spare Jonah’s life and the lives of everyone else on board, but it was ineffective. The only solution was to throw Jonah overboard and, reluctantly, that is what they did. When Jonah hit the water “the sea stopped its raging” (Jonah 1:15).
Our First Reading for this festival Sunday is Jonah’s prayer after all this happened. God provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah whole and the words we read he prayed from the stomach of that large animal. After parts of three days in that stomach, God caused the fish to spit Jonah out onto dry land, and his life was spared. He then embarked on the work that God had called him to do.
The words of a disobedient, obstinate man might seem like a strange focus on a day like Easter. After all, aren’t we here to celebrate Jesus’ complete obedience? Aren’t we here to celebrate Jesus’ victory? Aren’t we here to celebrate Jesus’ perfection for us? So why do we have the words of such a reluctant and stubborn prophet before us?
We heard on Good Friday that Jesus had told the people of his day that the sign they would be given to prove Jesus’ power and authority would be the sign of Jonah. “Just as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish for three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:40). Jonah’s time of contemplation in that fish’s belly was a foreshadowing of the time that Jesus’ body would lie in the tomb.
But Jonah’s prayer is far more than just a precursor of Jesus’ resurrection. Jonah’s prayer shows the change of heart that he had. While Jonah’s work would be far from perfect after this, he recognized where he had strayed. As he sunk into the water (and probably during the storm on the boat), Jonah was forced to reckon with his sin. He had been disobedient to God, and he recognized what he deserved. He deserved to be cut off from God forever because that’s the just punishment for sin.
But Jonah’s brief prayer is chock full of God’s grace—God’s undeserved love—for him: In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. From the belly of the grave I cried out, and you heard my voice…. To the roots of the mountains I sank down. The earth locked me behind its bars forever. But you brought my life up from the pit, O LORD, my God. When my life was ebbing away, I remembered the LORD. My prayer came to you, to your holy temple.
As Jonah sank into those waters, he knew what he deserved, and yet he also clearly recognized that that was not what God was giving him. He should be cut off from God forever, but he was being rescued. He should have died—both physically and eternally—but that’s not what was happening. God was rescuing him, preserving him, forgiving him.
My sisters, my brothers, we are Jonah. Maybe we haven’t literally hopped in a boat to go in the direct opposite direction God told us to travel, but we have done the opposite of what God expects us to do. God had said go right, and we have gone left; God has said go up, and we have gone down. Our lives are infected with sin from conception, and we are opposed to God. The greed, lust, selfishness, laziness, and self-righteousness that pervade our thoughts, words, and actions all mean that we deserve to be condemned to hell forever. And it's not just because the pile of sin is so large. Even one sin against the perfect, eternal God who demands perfection brings with it that eternal condemnation.
And so, in our sin, we are Jonah sinking to the bottom of the sea: Waters engulfed me so that I was near death. The deep surrounded me. Seaweed was wrapped around my head. To the roots of the mountains I sank down. The earth locked me behind its bars forever. We are just as helpless as Jonah was in the sea—even more so. We can do nothing to save ourselves or even to partially help ourselves. In our sin, we are lost.
And yet, here we are. We’ve journeyed to the tomb with the women, felt the earthquake, and heard the announcement of the angel, “He is not here. He has risen, just as he said” (Matthew 28:6). What does the resurrection of Jesus mean? What does the sign of Jonah mean for us? It means grace and mercy for you and me just as it meant for Jonah.
Jonah had confidence in his prayer. He said “I have been driven away from your sight. Nevertheless, I will once again look toward your holy temple.” Jonah, at that moment, would not have known if God would physically rescue him. But he had confidence that he would see God’s temple again—he trusted God’s promises. Perhaps God would save him physically and he would see Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem again. Or perhaps he would die there in the sea and he would be with God in heaven. Which was going to happen he did not know. But what he did know is that, live or die, he was safe with God.
Jesus’ resurrection means that we can face every moment of our lives with the same confidence. Will that bad thing go away? Maybe, but maybe not. Will life get easier for me? Maybe, but maybe not. But is God with me every step of the way? Absolutely. Will God ever abandon me? Never. Am I safe with my Savior? Beyond a shadow of a doubt.
Jesus’ death on the cross paid for every sin. He suffered the hell that we deserved because he loved us. And his resurrection from the dead proves that it worked, that the Father accepted his sacrifice on our behalf, which means we have been forgiven. We should have been abandoned by God, but, like Jonah, he saved us. We should have endured everlasting punishment for our sins, but, like Jonah, God took that punishment on himself. We should have drowned in despair, but, like Jonah, God has brought [our lives] up from the pit.
Jonah’s prayer ends with that clear statement of faith—Salvation belongs to the Lord! It belongs to him, and he has given it to us. We have done nothing to deserve his salvation, but he’s given it to us anyway. The sign of Jonah would prove Jesus’ faithfulness—his resurrection would show that he truly finished the work that his Father had given him to do to save us from our sins.
The sign of Jonah is our confidence as well. Our bodies will rest in the earth for some amount of time, until God raises us all to life again, reuniting body and soul. On that day, you and I and everyone who clings to Jesus as Savior by the faith that God alone gives will be brought to God’s perfect, eternal dwellings. We will stand with Jonah, knowing that we have all been forgiven by God’s grace, by his mercy, for us. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen!
