![]() Jesus recognized their hardness of heart and refused to give them further proof of His identity. Rather than believe, they accused Jesus of doing this by the power of Satan. Jesus had just performed a great sign in the Pharisees’ presence by healing a deaf man who was possessed of a demon. Jesus had already been producing miracles that were witnessed by many. It is this three days that Jesus was referring to when He spoke of the sign of Jonah. After the three-day period, the Lord caused the great fish to vomit Jonah out onto dry land (Jonah 2:10). ![]() Jonah was soon thrown overboard and swallowed by a great fish where he remained for “three days and three nights” (Jonah 1:15–17). ![]() The Lord then sent a severe storm that caused the crew of the ship to fear for their lives. Jonah disobediently ran from the Lord and headed for the city of Tarshish by boat. In its first chapter, we read that God commanded the prophet Jonah to go to the city of Nineveh and warn its people that He was going to destroy it for its wickedness. To fully appreciate the answer that Jesus gave, we must go to the Old Testament book of Jonah. 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 something greater than Jonah is here” (Matthew 12:38–41). ![]() 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. Shortly after the Pharisees accused Jesus of driving out demons by the power of Satan, they said to Him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.” He answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. The Pharisees remained unconvinced of Jesus’ claims about Himself, despite His having just cured a demon-possessed man who was both blind and mute. Jesus answered with this expression when asked by the Pharisees for miraculous proof that He was indeed the Messiah. The phrase “sign of Jonah” was used by Jesus as a typological metaphor for His future crucifixion, burial, and resurrection. ![]()
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