The Sign of Jonah and the Validation of Jesus as God

The Pharisees and Sadducees came up and testing Jesus, they asked Him to show them a sign from heaven. But Jesus replied to them, “…a sign will not be given except the sign of Jonah.”
Matthew 16:1,4

Woody Allen: “If only God would give me some clear sign! Like making a large deposit in my name at a Swiss bank.”



French atheist Voltaire: “Even if a miracle should be wrought in the open marketplace before a thousand sober witnesses, I would rather mistrust my senses that admit a miracle.”



At the first reading of this Biblical text, one may ask Jesus, “Why not do a miraculous sign in the sky and prove that you really are the Messiah? Why not settle the issue once and for all? Why speak so encrypticly and use phrases such as ‘The sign of Jonah’?"

However, a closer reading of the text from Matthew’s gospel will reveal recent days that were full of miracles, specifically miracles of compassion: miracles of healing (14:35-36; 15:28; 15:30-31) and miracles of provision (15:32-37). The Pharisees and Sadducees had all the miracles they needed if they were truly seeking evidence of who Jesus is.

The issue wasn’t that the Pharisees and Sadducees were searching for God; they were “testing Jesus” (16:1). But Jesus was not into “miracles on demand.” He was not some circus freak show.



He did, however, promise them one Granddaddy miracle: “the sign of Jonah.” The first time Jesus mentions “the sign of Jonah” was at a similar confrontation in Matthew 12:39. There Jesus explained what the sign of Jonah is: “for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”

Jesus is saying if you really want a sign, then wait. For when you kill me, three days later I shall be alive again. To rise from the dead with a resurrected body to never die again is a miracle that no one has ever before done in history. There are evidences for “smaller” miracles, but one has ever risen from the dead!



The Sign of Jonah would vindicate Jesus as God in the flesh once and for all. Why listen and follow mere “prophets” when the Lord God Almighty became a man, was crucified, dead, buried and then rose again? There is no God like our God!

The issue of the Pharisees and Sadducees was not that they didn’t have enough evidence (which, by the way, is an argument frequently put forth by atheism even today). The issue is that their own hearts were hard to the things of God.

Will we believe in God, or will we only trust Him further, if He performs a miracle according to our expectations? Rather embrace the God Who Is knowing the Sign of Jonah, His resurrection, validates His claims and His supremacy.