see, One greater than Jonah is here! (Matthew 12: 41)

The Nineveh lent attracts greater significance in the year 2021 as the world is caught in the web of COVID19 and its variants. The Orthodox church stands out in ascribing and adoring the observation of this lent as it is considered as a precursor to the Great Lent that concludes in the passion and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The context of the statement presenting Himself (Jesus) as someone greater than Jonah draws a lot of similarities with what we see in the present generation of the body of Christ, unfortunately. In plain language, there is an over reliance on activities that attempt to darken or supersede the Word of God with temporary visual treats. An unfortunate notion has creeped in and now fairly weaved in the faith system that highlights miracles as ‘faith builders’ and ‘faith confirmers’. Jesus has categorically rejected visual treats as faith-builders through His words to Saint Thomas” …..have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe (John 20:29).

It is a surprise and a paradox to see that most of these so-called faith-building activities in the form of miracle performances happen among those groups that strongly advocates for adult baptism on the principle that only a person who qualifies as a believer should proceed to get baptised. It is a paradox because those who have believed and accepted Jesus Christ as his/her Lord and Saviour, are still dependant on visual treats for faith-building. The scribes and the Pharisees were authorities of the scripture, and were the sentinels and custodians of ‘faith’. They did not need a miracle to further build up their faith; neither did they ever felt the need for an upliftment of their faith- as we read in John 9:34 …..are you trying to teach us? But, the same folks are seen asking Jesus to perform a miracle (Matthew 12:38).

Since signs and wonders are not faith-builders, the ‘drum-beating’ of those in ‘worship gatherings’ could be misunderstood as nothing but a commercial hype rooted in the free-market principles of competition and survival of the fittest. This diverts the focus from the Word of God to ‘customer satisfaction’, where the ‘viewers’ as customers confirm the quality of preaching, teaching and worship. The performance criteria for this, thus, are the variety and quality of visual treats. It is the same situation as Jesus encountered when people said to Him What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? (John 6:30). As we see here, the key performance index (KPI) for Jesus to be accepted was a sign without which He had no place in their lives. The Chief Priests, the scribes, and the elders also placed a demand: …let Him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in Him (Matthew 27:41); and so did say one of the criminals crucified alongside: ….Are you not the Messiah? Save yourselves and us! (Luke 23:39), both indications of asking for a sign.

We are living in a world, where the central factor of our spiritual life, the Word of God, is pushed to the periphery and peripheral factors such as material prosperity are placed in the nucleus. As a result, it is saddening to see groups that have degraded themselves to the status of many scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ time, who replaced the core with peripheral factors. Jesus exposed (these groups) in Matthew 23:16-24. Reading through these verses, the greed-enabled exploitation of faith becomes clearly visible to the readers. In such and similar situations, customer satisfaction becomes the sole focus and it is the gathering that confirms the brand of spirituality. Remember, the dubious means the scribes and Pharisees adopted to cheat the folks, as given in Matthew 6:5; 23:5&14.

Miracles and wonders are not faith-builders, neither are the gatherings faith-confirmers. They were used to influence those who were non-believers. For instance, we read about many miracles performed by Moses during the early days of the formation of Israel (for e.g. see Exodus 7-12). Jesus performed many miracles, but He never wanted to be known as a miracle worker- hence insisted don’t tell anyone (Matthew 8:4; Mark 8:26). Having said, Jesus did give authority to the disciples to heal the sick, caste out demons, raise the dead, and cleanse the lepers (Matthew 10:8; Luke 10:8). However, it is to be noted that the power to perform these were weaved into the proclamation of the ‘good news’ about the Kingdom of God.

The foundation of faith cannot be a human being as we see today- many ministries are named after its human founders. It is Jesus Christ who is the founder and perfecter of faith (Hebrews 12:2). The former often attains a cultic status starting and ending with an individual, whereas foundation in Jesus (the true faith) may appear withered to a material world but the root never dies, and will blossom (Isaiah 11:1) at a time when people will realise that despite all the hip-hops they are still in dark. Neither can an individual or his/her deeds per-se work as a faith-builder nor his/her gatherings be faith-confirmers. However, God uses people to be faith-builders but the chosen needs to follow not his/her own logic but strictly use and follow the Word of God. The ‘Great Commissioning’ is to baptise and to teach the Word of God further to the baptised (Matthew 28:20). The confirmation of the Word of God preached and taught comes from God Himself, and not from the hearers. As is said in Mark 16:20, the disciples, after being commissioned, proclaimed the good news everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied it. As per this verse, there are two important things happening when the Word of God is proclaimed: 1. The Lord also works alongside His servants in the preaching and teaching process; and, 2. The Lord also confirms the preaching and teaching by signs.

When a person ignores or forgets the fact that the Lord is working with Him alongside, and it is He who will confirm, it could mean that Jesus is not with the worker and assumes that the poor preacher or teacher is left alone to establish his credibility among the gathering. Hence, they are misguided to perform miracles as a necessary means to establish and sell his/her brand. The other unfortunate meaning could be that like certain scribes and Pharisees, the person may have certain hidden aims such as mansions, luxury cars and private jets, which contradicts the basic qualification set by Jesus Christ for Kingdom workers (Matthew 10:9-10; Mark 6:8-9; Luke 9:3& 10:4).

The tendency to place signs and wonders above the Word of God (Jesus Christ) contradicts what Jesus said, One greater than Jonah is here. Jonah refused to share the Word of God with the people of Nineveh and followed his material instincts until he was corrected by God. As Jonah 4: 2-3 reveals, the prophet had a parsimonious approach to the Word of God. As verse 2 indicates, when God asked him to preach His Word to Nineveh, Jonah argued with God. He would have said, Oh common God, I know you well. You are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing. So why should I waste my time. Let me do something else. Jonah’s refusal only shows his misunderstanding about the importance of the Word of God.

The Word became flesh (John 1:14) to prioritise and establish the name of God above every name (Philippians 2:9). For the scribes and Pharisees, signs and wonders were important. But Jesus refused. He said, …..no sign will be given to this generation (Mark 8:12); and if at all they are willing to accept, the only sign that I can give is (author’s words) the sign of Jonah (Matthew 12: 39). I used ‘if at all’ to better understand Jesus’ words …an evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah (Matthew 12:39). Paraphrasing this verse, the only way to be saved from evil and adulterous way of life is through participation in His death and resurrection which could be somewhat compared to the sign of Jonah. It is something much greater than what Jonah went through; and is offered by someone who is greater than Jonah. Jonah did not die for his or others’ sin, but only stayed in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights (Jonah 1:17) whereas Jesus died for the sins of the entire generation past and present. Hence, Jesus is greater than Jonah, not only in the context of that conversation but beyond all comparisons.

The church, from the time of the disciples, never focused on miracles as a means to the end. Instead, the focus was always on sharing the Word of God. Acts 5:41 says that the disciples rejoiced when they were flogged for sharing the Word of God. In fact they were never punished for performing miracles, neither was Jesus crucified for performing miracles. Jesus and His disciples were punished for sharing the Word (teachings). The devil will only be partially uncomfortable with miracles because they know that as long as there is no Word of God, they can re-enter the person from whom they have been cast out (see Matthew 12: 43-45).

For those who are really keen on the miracles should know that the greatest of all the signs and wonders ever is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the remembrance of which is the called the Holy Eucharist. The church glorifies it as the “queen of all sacraments”. Even the sign of Jonah staying in the belly of the sea-monster is less significant when compared to Jesus’ stay in the heart of the earth (Matthew 12:40), and His resurrection on the third day. The call is to participate in this suffering, death and resurrection to receive a faith that will never fade away and live eternally with Him (John 6:56).

Saint Paul realised this and repeatedly said about participating in the ‘greater than Jonah’ spiritual phenomenon. Hence he said, I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the sharing of His sufferings by becoming like Him in His death (Philippians 3:10). This is diagonally opposite to the question of those who asked What sign are you going to see us then, so that we may see it and believe you? (John 6:30). Whilst the latter wanted a visual treat to believe, Saint Paul wanted to experience first-hand the greatest of all signs. The faith in the Holy Eucharist prompted the Saint to say For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we will certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His (Romans 6:5). More than anything else, Saint Paul preferred to carry the death of Jesus in his body so that the life of Jesus could be made visible (2 Corinthians 4:10). For Saint, the participation in Jesus’ death is the real transformation (baptism) which proceeds as a faith builder to receive the power of resurrection (Colossians 2:12).

In order to receive the power of resurrection of our Lord, which leads to our transformation through baptism, the Word of God works as a repentance initiator Acts 2:37 and faith builder (Acts 16:5). After Jonah came out from the belly of the sea-monster, he was again assigned by God to share the Word of God with the people of Nineveh. And, as soon as the Word of God reached Nineveh, the people turned to repentance (Jonah 3:5). No signs and wonders have ever worked like a sword piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow, or been able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12). But the Word of God is able to achieve all these as we read in Acts 2:37 and Acts 24:25.

The Word of God works in different dimensions in those who are willing to hear. For example, Felix, the governor (Acts 24:25) was frightened hearing the Word of God, though it did not lead him to repentance whereas the same Word of God led the people of Nineveh to full repentance (Jonah 3:5). And, when the Word of God was standing right in front of him, an evil and adulterous King Herod was only keen to see a sign (Luke 23:8). He was unable to recognise someone who was greater than Jonah (signs and wonders).

Signs and wonders are temporary whereas the Word of God is eternal. Jonah died but Jesus lives forever. The people who tried to fill themselves only with signs and wonders had only a temporary relief and did not live eternally as Jesus said in John 6:49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. He said, Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you (John 6:27). Signs and wonders are not primary. They are to be experienced through the partaking in the Holy Eucharist which is joining in the Word of God.

The Word of God (Jesus Christ) is greater than Jonah (signs and wonders). It is for the salvation of His creation. Jonah was not a saviour. In fact, even after proclaiming the Word of God, he waited on to see what would happen to Nineveh (Jonah 4:5), and perhaps hoped to see its destruction. Jesus’ greatness is to save everyone and not to lose even a single person. Therefore, let us turn on to our Lord Jesus Christ through repentance and receive Him into our lives through Holy Eucharist which is the miracle ever happened.

God bless you. Amen.

Note: Please do not hesitate to contact me should you need any clarification or have a prayer request.