The Sign of Jonah

Sorry for the long radio silence. I’ve been busy.

So I was browsing around in Matthew today, partially because I have to for my gospels class, but also because Bill was discussing it today in his sermon, and I came upon another instance of the Sign of Jonah that Jesus mentions a couple of times.

 Now when the Pharisees and Sadducees came to test Jesus, they asked him to show them a sign from heaven.  He said, “When evening comes you say, ‘It will be fair weather, because the sky is red,’ and in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, because the sky is red and darkening.’ You know how to judge correctly the appearance of the sky, but you cannot evaluate the signs of the times.  A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” Then he left them and went away.

And just previously in Matthew:

12:38 Then some of the experts in the law along with some Pharisees answered him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.” 12:39 But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 12:40 For just as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish for three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. 12:41 The people of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented when Jonah preached to them – and now, something greater than Jonah is here!12:42 The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon – and now, something greater than Solomon is here!

In both instances there are Jews asking Jesus for a sign and in response Jesus calls them an adulterous nation and tells them about the sign of Jonah, and in chapter 12 Jesus talks about himself, calling himself the Son of Man. So I was looking at that today and kept reading in chapter 16 and thought this was pretty curious. It’s right after the quoted section above:

16:13 When Jesus came to the area of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 16:14 They answered, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 16:15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16:16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 16:17 And Jesus answered him, “You are blessed, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven!

What I was interested in was that a sign of Jonah is brought up twice, and usually involving the Son of Man, and when Jesus asks the disciples who they think he is, Simon, son of Jonah, properly reveals who Jesus is, a fact not revealed by any person but from God. What do you guys think? Coincidence that both names happen to be Jonah? Seems pretty particular that the title son of Jonah is stated here. Could the author be trying to show us that the sign they are looking for doesn’t come from the sky, from a miraculous act, but from Simon, a fisherman, not a teacher of the Law.