Day 11

We know the story of Jonah well, but do we see the gospel in Jonah? Jonah was called by God to warn Nineveh about their destruction due to sin. Jonah tried to flee, but after being swallowed by a giant fish for three days and nights, he repents and obeys God's command. He delivers the message to Nineveh, and they repent, leading God to show mercy and spare the city but the book ends with Jonah struggling with God's compassion. Jonah runs from the mission of God in part because he doesn’t think the Ninevites deserve mercy. Are there people we don’t think deserve mercy? The mercy we see in Jonah shows us the mercy for all that is to come through Jesus!

In Matthew 12, we see Jesus discuss the sign of Jonah, who spent 3 days in the belly of a fish, but Jesus will spend 3 days in the heart of the earth. Jesus is the better Jonah because he took on the sins of the world for our forgiveness, died and rose again. Jonah went begrudgingly for a city, but Jesus came willingly for the world.

The big idea of Jonah is not the size of the fish, but the size of our God!

By: Richard Self