Monday, July 23, 2018

Who is Jesus Part 10 Three days and Three Nights


Three Days and Three Nights was Enough !!

As we continue our journey to discover who is Jesus, we are reminded that in the Old Testament there were prophesies and also pictures showing Jesus as the Messiah.

Today we shall take a short view of Jonah one of the rebellious prophets as he decided to run from the commands of the Lord.  God told Jonah to go preach to Nineveh and tell them to repent or else in 40 days their city would be destroyed. 

Jonah decided NOT to obey, because in his mind he felt the wicked city needed punishment, so he entered a ship going in the opposite direction.  (Isn't that like us at times?  We know what we should do, but because of our stubborn heart, we get ourselves in trouble and that is exactly what happened to Jonah. 

The Bible says a great storm arose, not just a gentle rainstorm, but a gigantic fierce hurricane with dashing explosive waves.

Reading from Jonah chapter one:   
Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, “What is this that you have done!” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.   
Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?” For the sea grew more and more tempestuous. Jonah said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.” 
Nevertheless, the men rowed hard,  in an attempt to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. Therefore they called out to the Lord, “O Lord, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.”  

So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.  And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. - -  

(From that dark place of trouble, Jonah repented and made a decision - - "obedience is the better choice.") So the Lord spoke to the fish and it vomited Jonah onto the dry land. 

We leave Jonah as he travels to Nineveh to obey God.  Jesus used this picture of "Death for three days" to illustrate his own future, and that after three days He would raise from the dead, to be alive for ever more.)

Jesus was without sin, and He always obeyed His Father God.  One day as he was preaching in the temple, the rebellious Religious leaders asked Jesus for a sign that he was the Messiah.   

Matthew 12:39-40 "An evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign: and a sign shall not be given it, but the sign of Jonah the prophet." For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.  

And Jesus repeats: Matthew 16:4 "A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign: and a sign shall not be given it, but the sign of Jonah the prophet."

While Jesus was talking to the people, his mother and brothers came where he was, and his friends said, look, your mother and brethren desire to speak with you.  Jesus answered with a remark that to some might seem harsh. 

"Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?"  And He stretched out his hand toward his disciples, and said, "Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, my sister, and my mother."

Jesus was declaring that those who obey God and follow Him will be likened onto a family.  When you confess your sins and come to Jesus Christ, you become a part of the "Family of God."  




1 comment:

Karen said...

For God says, "At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you." Indeed, the "right time" is now. Today is the day of salvation. 2 Cor. 6:2