the Rev. Henry Huenemann
For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth (Matt. 12:40).
Bible Reading
Matthew 12:31-41:Devotional
God commanded the prophet Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach against it. But he disobeyed, and went down to the sea, and took ship to flee from the Lord. A great storm overtook the ship and Jonah was cast into the sea. And God prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. He prayed unto God out of the fish's belly. And God spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land. Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites. He was a type of Christ. Christ, having assumed our human nature, came into the very depths of our misery, yea into our very death. The waves of God's wrath swallowed him up. He suffered death, and was buried; but He was not to see corruption. Death could not hold him. He brought life and immortality to light. The Ninevites believed the word of Jonah and repented, and God spared them. But the Jews of Jesus' time believed not. And here was a greater than Jonah. Jesus says, Even as Jonah became a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation. And further, the men of Nineveh shall stand up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and, behold, a greater than Jonah is here.
But what about us? We have heard the Gospel from childhood. Have we brought forth fruits worthy of repentance?
Prayer
Our Father, we thank Thee that Jesus Christ humbled himself to the very depths of death and hell, in order to deliver us from all the power of the devil; that He tasted death, and experienced the anguish of hell, so that we might go free; that He conquered death and hell, so that we might have life and immortality, and heavenly glory. We thank Thee that Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life; that whosoever liveth and believeth on him shall never die; shall not even see death. Father, we thank Thee for such complete redemption. Strengthen our faith, we pray for Jesus' sake. Amen.
Scripture in Devotional: Luke 11:30, 32.
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