For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly;

so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights

in the heart of the earth. Matthew 12:40

 

      Did Jesus just compare Himself to Jonah or the tomb to the belly of a whale? .

      You probably remember Jonah as the disobedient dude who ran away from His assignment. If this were the army he would be AWOL—absent without leave. God, being more effective than the military police found the deserter on a ship in the middle of the sea. Big storm, Jonah is thrown overboard by his shipmates and instead of drowning is swallowed by a great fish.

      Jesus never went AWOL. He took on whatever assignment was given Him by His Commanding Officer. And He had some tough assignments. He had to regain territory from the enemy, defuse the landmines of sin, and avoid being hit by the bombs and bullets of false accusations and rhetoric.

       But Jesus and Jonah were alike in one way. God rescued each one from the pits of death. Jonah should have drowned according to the laws of nature. But God ordains a higher law so He allowed Jonah to be swallowed and protected by the whale. God also allowed His Son to be crucified and buried. He commanded the whale to let go of Jonah, just as He commanded death to release His Son.

      Jonah prayed while inside the whale and that prayer is recorded. There is no recorded prayer in the Gospels in the verses between the death and resurrection but it wouldn’t surprise me if Christ at least kept a prayer journal.

    Jesus wasn’t heaved onto the shore like Jonah. He walked out of the tomb so we could walk in Heaven with Him.