SOME of the scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus, "Teacher, we wish to see a sign from You." He said to them in reply, "An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. At the judgment, the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and there is something greater than Jonah here. At the judgment the queen of the south will arise with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and there is something greater than Solomon here."
The Word
The son of Amittai from Gathhepher, the prophet Jonah (Hebrew yona, "dove," Greek Ionas) is the central figure of the Book of Jonah. He predicted that King Jeroboam II would restore "the boundaries of Israel from Labo-of-Hamath to the sea of the Arabah" (2 Kgs 14:25).
The prophetic book pictures Jonah as a reluctant prophet. Sent by God to preach repentance to Nineveh, Jonah tries to defy the command by traveling to Tarshish which is in the opposite direction. God stirs up a storm at sea; Jonah is thrown into the sea but is swallowed up by a great fish in whose belly the prophet is sheltered for three days and nights. God directs the fish to vomit Jonah on dry land and gives the prophet the same mandate. This time Jonah complies, and the Ninevites heed his warning and repent immediately. As the prophet has feared, God spares the city and its people from impending destruction.
Though they see the wonders Jesus performs among the people, the scribes and Pharisees insist on asking Him for a sign. Jesus points to the figure of Jonah, whose message of repentance was positively received by the people of Nineveh. Jesus interprets Jonah’s being swallowed and vomited by the "whale" as a figure of His own death and resurrection, which is to bring about the repentance of many.
SOURCE:
"365 Days with the Lord," ST PAULS, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 895-9701; Fax 895-7328; E-mail: publishing@stpauls.ph; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph. 
