Based on Jonah and the Minors: Chapter 7—A Whale of a Time
Juliette Alvey
Dear Grown-up,
In chapter seven of the Jonah and the Minors zine, we finally arrive at the most famous part of Jonah’s story: being in the belly of a whale. I love the visual for this chapter of Jonah amidst the other sea creatures and water and the spine and stomach of the whale. The skit even gives the whale speaking parts, making “BLURP… BLOOP… BLERK” noises. What a fun way for kids to explore what it would have been like to be Jonah.
Jonah in the belly of a whale is one of the most difficult parts of scripture to imagine. I have a feeling it was not a “whale of a time” but rather a dark, smelly, terrifying experience. I am a bit claustrophobic, so being inside a whale at the bottom of the ocean sounds like the last place I would want to be. But Jonah doesn’t get to choose the way God saves his life.
The Jews who lived during the time Jesus walked the earth would have been very familiar with the story of Jonah. I wonder what the Pharisees thought when Jesus responded to their demand for a sign with, “...no sign will be given… except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matt 12:39-40). Not only was this response probably confusing to the Pharisees, Jesus even called them an “evil and adulterous generation” for asking for a sign.
What was wrong with asking for a sign?
Well, let’s look at what happened right before the Pharisees made this request: Jesus had healed a man with a shriveled hand… but the Pharisees didn’t like this because he did it on the Sabbath. Next he healed a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and the Pharisees accused him of using the power of demons to cast out this demon. Jesus is performing “signs” left and right, but they don’t have eyes to see it!
Jesus says that no sign will be given to them except the sign of Jonah. In other words, all he is going to do is die for them. Jesus will be in the darkness of the heart of the earth, which sounds even more terrifying than being inside a whale, and just as the whale spit out Jonah, Jesus escapes that pit of death into light again.
Jonah did not choose the pit of darkness he sat in, but Jesus went willingly in order to bring us with him into the light. Even if “the sign of Jonah” had been the only sign he gave, it would be enough, but we see in scripture that he did many, many signs that all point to his gift of salvation for the whole world.
Dear Jesus, open our eyes to the signs of your love surrounding us each and every day. Amen.
