We must show them the sign of Jonah, for Jesus said this is the only sign He will approve (Matt. 16.3).

Great! But what is the sign of Jonah? Does Jesus want us all to be swallowed by a great fish?

Consider Jonah as a story: A man chosen of God flees from Him in fear and disobedience. He is confronted by God and thrown to his death. Except that, by the grace of God, he is sustained through death and redeemed unto new life. Whereupon, he takes up the course of repentance and obedience, and fulfills his calling by preaching repentance to the people of Nineveh, occasioning a great turning from sin and relying upon the Lord.

The sign of Jonah is thus the lives of God's chosen people, characterized by repentance, obedience, and the effective preaching of the Good News of the Kingdom of God. The world will believe that God has sent Jesus when it sees us, His people, united in repentance, united in obedience, and united in faithfully calling our generation to repentance and faith in Jesus (Jn. 17.21). The sign of Jonah is effective in confronting an evil and adulterous generation. We may expect it to be effective in ours as well. Do we? Does your church? Do you?

T. M. Moore