Rev. Kevin M. Pleas

Matthew 16:1-12

March 25, 2007

The Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test Jesus they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. He answered them, "When it is evening, you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.' And in the morning, 'It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.' You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. An evil 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. When the disciples reached the other side, they had forgotten to bring any bread. Jesus said to them, "Watch out, and beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees." They said to one another, "It is because we have brought no bread." And becoming aware of it, Jesus said, "You of little faith, why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? How could you fail to perceive that I was not speaking about bread? Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!" Then they understood that he had not told them to beware of the yeast of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

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Don't you suppose that if someone came to you claiming to be the Son of God you would want to see his credentials? The gospels, as I've said before, often make the Temple authorities out to be the bad guys. This passage is a perfect example. The Pharisees and Sadducees come to Jesus with an eye toward making him prove that he is who he claims to be. The way the passage is written, it is clear that we are not supposed to agree with them. We are supposed to "beware" of their teaching. The funny thing is though, I can't help feeling at least a little sympathy for their skepticism. It's not every day someone shows up claiming to be the Messiah, and if your job was to protect the Temple from crackpots and charlatans, I imagine you'd want some proof.

Matthew however, gives us this cautionary tale about how if we can't read the signs of the times we're in serious trouble. If we need more proof of who Jesus was than what he'd already given, then clearly, no proof would ever be enough. So rather than performing a few tricks like a trained monkey, Jesus simply says that no sign would be given except the sign of Jonah.

I get the impression that the people he was talking to would have understood what that meant. Jonah was God's messenger to the people of Nineveh, who announced that they were going to die if they didn't repent. On the surface of it, what Jesus might be saying is simply, "repent or die." But I have a problem with that. To me, it just doesn't sound like something Jesus would have said. So I find myself wondering what this "Sign of Jonah" was all about. And if we're going to figure that out, we need to have a better understanding of Jonah's story.

First off, I want to say I think the book of Jonah has got to be the funniest book in the Bible. Pam and I had a great time one year on vacation reading Jonah together while driving from Illinois to the East Coast. At the time, I had been comparing different translations of the Bible because I was trying to convince my congregation in Geneseo to buy some new ones for the church pews. The New Revised Standard Version had just been published and I decided to take a copy along on vacation to get a feel for it. Driving along somewhere on the Ohio Turnpike, Pam and I picked out the book of Jonah at random and she began reading it to me. It wasn't long before we found ourselves laughing out loud at the exploits of this incredibly reluctant prophet.

Reluctant prophets are not uncommon in the Bible. Moses tried every excuse he could think of to get out of being sent to the Pharaoh. Elijah went off to hide in a cave. Jeremiah, Isaiah and Amos all struggled against their calling. Even Jesus asked God to, "take this cup from me." But when it comes to reluctance, Jonah takes the cake. God says, "I want you to go to Nineveh," which was located in modern day Iraq on the Tigris River. Jonah immediately goes to the port city of Joppa and books passage on a ship bound for Tarshish, which is thought to have been somewhere in Spain.

Not to be put off, God raises a storm, which brings Jonah's ship to a standstill and threatens to drown everyone on board. In fear for their lives, the sailors begin tossing things overboard and crying out for salvation to every god whose name they can think of. Meanwhile, Jonah decides it's a good time for a nap. Eventually, the sailors come to suspect that Jonah knows more than he's telling. They wake him up and force him to admit that it was his attempt to escape from God's will that was causing all their trouble. He says that if they will just kindly throw him overboard, everything will get back to normal. He says this not because he is concerned about the ship, but because he is still trying to run from God, and he figures God can't make him go to Nineveh if he is drowned.

Much to Jonah's dismay, God won't let him go even then. He is swallowed up by a big fish, in the belly of which he stews for three days before finally giving in. He cries out to God for deliverance, and is promptly spewed out on the beach. At long last, he heads for Nineveh because it has become painfully obvious that there isn't going to be any other choice. I'm sure Jonah could relate to the writer of Psalm 139 who said, "Where can I go from your Spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence?" For Jonah, there was literally no where to run to and no where to hide.

So, Jonah makes his way to Nineveh, where he delivers the message God has given to him. "God wants all of you to know the He has had it with you. Forty days more and you're all going to die." Jonah then goes out east of the city and settles down to watch what will happen next. What happens is that the people actually believe him, and they do something about it. They repent, every last one of them, king and commoner alike. They beg for mercy. They humble themselves. They put on sackcloth and toss ashes on their heads as a sign of mourning. Heck, they even put sackcloth and ashes on their pets. All this repentance pleases God, who changes His mind and decides to let the Ninevites off with a warning.

At which point Jonah has goes ballistic and starts yelling at God. He says, There you see. That's exactly why I headed out for Tarshish in the first place. These people deserve to die. You know it and I know it. But here you drag me clear across the world to tell them they're going to die, and then you don't follow through. Just like I thought: you've allowed your mercy to cloud your judgment, and made me look like a fool in the process. Now would you just please kill me and get it over with? Jonah goes off to sulk in the hot sun. Whereupon, God causes a bush to grow up over him to give Jonah some shade, for which he's grateful. Then God kills the bush, which makes Jonah mad all over again and allows God point out that Jonah should be at least as concerned about the people of Nineveh as he is about his own comfort.

Now, I know I've got a weird sense of humor, but this is funny stuff. I keep waiting for some creative person to turn it into a comedy routine, like Bill Cosby did with Noah. Beyond the comedy though, Jonah's story has a number of messages that could be understood as signs. "Repent or die" is one possibility. But how about, "Don't bother trying to get away if God really wants you to do something." Or maybe, "God's mercy will always trump God's wrath, even in those cases where we might prefer that it didn't." Or what about, "It is not always necessary for us to understand God's will in order to play the role God wants us to play." The common theme among all these signs though, is the love of God and the healing of the world.

One thing is certain. If, like the Temple authorities of Matthew's story, we're looking to prove to ourselves that Jesus is who the Bible says he is, that proof won't likely come by magic or miracle. The only way I know to "prove" Jesus to our own satisfaction, is to live into his life, into his teaching, into his love and devotion to God and into the church that bears his name. When we do that, we gradually come to know and trust a man who was forever trying to improve our relationship with God, who was always seeking to open our minds, free us from fear and bring us into the life of faith, compassion and service. His was a radical love for God and the world, and whatever he might have meant by "The sign of Jonah," it must be understood in the light of that love.

Amen.