The Signs of Jonas
When our Lord died, there were several notable occurrences to indicate the significance of his crucifixion. Darkness fell over the land from noon to 15:00, when our Lord expired. The Veil in the Temple was rent from top to bottom, the earth shook, graves were opened, and the moon eclipsed. Those who soberly considered these signs received a sense of the importance of Jesus’ death.
“Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man. And all the people that came together to that sight, beholding the things which were done, smote their breasts, and returned.” (Luke 23:47, 48)
The darkness must have been ominous. From what would ordinarily have been the brightest point of the day, until our Lord expired, “there was a darkness over all the earth.” (Luke 23:44) Perhaps one lesson of it was that God no longer recognized the offerings which the Israelites were busy preparing during that afternoon – the Passover lambs and evening sacrifice. As Daniel had prophesied, “In the midst of the 70th week, he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease” to be recognized. (Daniel 9:27).
The veil rent in the temple pictured the rending of our Lord’s flesh on the cross. (Hebrews 10:20) The opened graves pointed to the time when “all that are in the graves … shall come forth” due to Christ’s death for them. (John 5:28, 29)
That there was an eclipse of the moon that was not recorded in the Gospel accounts. But astronomy calculations show there to have been a lunar eclipse on Friday, April 3, 33 AD, which was the day of Jesus ‘death. “Shortly after Christ’s death at 15:00 (3 pm) Jerusalem time, a partial eclipse of the moon commenced at 16:09 over western New Guinea, reached its peak 17:23 at moonrise in eastern Babylonia, which would have lasted up to 19 minutes past moonrise near Jerusalem (18:18 to l8:37), and its conclusion barely seen at moonrise in Egypt. The maximum eclipsing would have been about 40%.” (Chronology of the Time of Christ, J. Parkinson. 1974, pg. 17) Because of its timing, we suppose it was conspicuous, unless clouds prevented visibility. We think it was an intended sign of the eclipsing of Israel’s favor.
But as all these signs might be attributed to natural causes, the impact of them could pass over the callous heart of the Pharisees. Even the rending of the temple veil may have been thought caused by the earthquake which opened the graves. But our Lord had previously declared that there would be one sign which would be suited to even the “wicked and adulterous generation.” The sign of Jonas.
When the elders and chief priests had demanded of our Lord a sign of his authority, it was clear that their motive was evil, not sincere. They had ample “signs” which they chose to ignore. Jesus had just healed a withered hand, and cast out a devil, but their reaction had been to hold a “council against him. how they might destroy him, and to accuse him of casting out devils “by Beelzebub.” (Matt. 12:10-14, 22-24) Evidently these things occurred in Galilee. (Matt. 13:1) But the Pharisees near Jerusalem were similarly convicted. They had the direct testimony of healing from one who had been blind from birth (John 9:14.16), and one who could not walk. (John 5:9-13) Later they even had the evidence of Lazarus raised from the dead, Their response? A plot to “put Lazarus also to death; because that by reason of him many of the Jews … believed on Jesus.” (John 12:10, 11) To such evil hearts were the rebukes of our Lord’s last day of public ministry, when he called them “vipers, hypocrites, whited sepulchres.” (Matt. 23:1 & 33)
But the “sign of Jonas” was more radical than anything even they could have thought to ask him. He was to rise from death after 3 days being in the heart of the earth. The Pharisees understood what Jesus meant, for they told Pilate “that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again: and desired his tomb to be guarded to avoid his disciples from stealing the body to make the claim appear correct. Pilate replied, “Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can. So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch” (Matt.27:63-66) And the very ones assigned to insure there would be no fraud, observed that “the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: and for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men” (Matt. 28:2-4) This was reported to the chief priests and elders, who then bribed the guards with “large money” to change their story and claim the disciples had stolen Jesus’ body. (Vs. 11-15)
What a convincing evidence that the sign of Jonas had been fulfilled! The very guards which they had set to insure against fraud testified of the verity of Jesus’ words.’ How manifest it was made that inveterate hypocrisy lay at the root of the Pharisees’ position!
But for those whose hearts could receive it, the sign of Jonas was convincing. And it could be reasoned on more deeply. Paul tells us,
“But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.” (I Cor. 15:20)
We think there is more in this statement than an arbitrary simile, and suppose Paul was referring to the fact that Christ’s resurrection was a fulfillment of the firstfruits offering of the Law.
The ordinance is in Leviticus 23:10-12…
“When ye come into the land … and shall reap the harvest … ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath shall the priest wave it. And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the Lord.”
The “sabbath” referred to was the special sabbath of Nisan 15, “an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein” (Vs. 6, 7) Every year, the Passover lamb was slain on the 14th of Nisan, the 7 day feast of Passover began on the 15th of Nisan, and “the morrow after the [15th) sabbath,” Nisan 16, the firstfruits were to be offered. Just so, our Lord died on Nisan 14, and was raised Nisan 16.
We state that the “sabbath” of verse 11 was always Nisan 15. This is commonly agreed by Christian commentators, and by contemporary Jewish authorities. But in our Lord’s day some sects, the Sadduccees among them, held that the sabbath referred to was the Saturday following Nisan 14. Under this arrangement the firstfruits would not have been offered the 3rd day after the lambs were slain, except in the unusual case when Nisan 14 was a Friday. Note however that the year of our Lord’s death was an unusual one, in that Nisan 14 did fall on a Friday, and therefore Nisan 15 was a Saturday. In this way both views of the ordinance would coincide, and all would be able to appreciate that Jesus fulfilled the firstfruits offering.
The burnt offering of a lamb strengthens our assurance of the application of the firstfruits offering to Jesus. A burnt offering signifies the manifestation of God’s acceptance of a preceding offering. (Tabernacle Shadows, page 73) The preceding offering must in this case refer to the Passover lamb, and at least harmonious with this is that a lamb was used for the burnt offering [1]. Why was the burnt offering delayed for 2 days, if it pertained to the Passover lamb? Because antitypically it was the resurrection of Jesus on the 3rd day that was the evidence of God’s acceptance of His sacrifice. This was illustrated also on the Day of Atonement. The High Priest passing beyond the veil, into the Most holy, was subject to death if all had not been performed properly. His standing, alive, in the Most Holy, was proof that the offering was acceptable. So Jesus’ resurrection into the Most Holy was proof of God’s acceptance. So, the burnt offering pertaining to the Passover lamb, showing God’s acceptance, is properly attached to the type of Jesus’ resurrection, the firstfruits offering.
But Paul makes a broader application also…
“. . . in Christ shall all be made alive … every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his presence [parousia].” (I Cor. 15:21, 22)
“Christ the firstfruits” here means the church, the body members of the Anointed. They also are raised on the 3rd day from the death of the Passover lamb. In this case, the 3rd thousand-year day.
[1] In most cases the burnt offering was not of the same kind of animal as the offering which it pertained to. Perhaps in this case it was, to enable us to discern more easily that the firstfruits offering was direct), related to the passover lamb which was two days earlier.