Matthew 12 is packed with powerful claims. In Matthew 12:6, Jesus said, “I tell you, something greater than the temple is here.” And he was referring to himself. In 12:8, “For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.” Again, he was referring to himself. In 12:29, “Or how can someone enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man?” Yes, Jesus is the stronger man plundering the evil one’s domain. In 12:42, “Behold, something greater than Solomon is here.” Who is greater than Solomon? You only need one guess.
Among the incredible statements from Jesus in Matthew 12, we read of the prophet Jonah in Matthew 12:38–41. The reason Jesus brings up Jonah is because God literally brought up Jonah from the belly of a fish in Jonah 2:10. Soon Jesus would descend into death and then ascend through a victorious resurrection, and the story of Jonah provided the descent/ascent pattern that foreshadowed the Messiah’s work.
The story of Jonah had a typological function. In other words, Jonah’s experience was a type (or prophetic pattern) of Christ. I’ve written about typology on this site before (see here and here and here), and I’ve written about Jonah as well (see here and here). For a book-length treatment of typology, check out 40 Questions About Typology and Allegory.
My claim about Matthew 12:38-41 is that Jesus is reading the story of Jonah typologically. Some scribes and Pharisees wanted a sign (12:38), Jesus responded by calling them an evil and adulterous generation, and he told them that no sign would be given except the sign of the prophet Jonah (12:39).
What about Jonah’s life did Jesus have in mind? “For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matt. 12:40).
The correspondence between Jonah and Jesus involves the descent-and-ascent pattern. Differences in the stories are obvious: Jonah was a disobedient prophet, while Jesus was the ultimate prophet and the obedient Son of God; Jonah was in a great fish, while Jesus’s body was in an empty tomb. In other words, the character of the people and the location—and condition—of their bodies differed.
The escalation between the stories is also key, for while there was no report that Jonah actually died, the four Gospels narrate the physical death of Jesus. Jesus is the greater prophet whose life was marked by a greater—and perfect—obedience, and his grave descent was more serious than the belly of the fish. The experience of physical death, however, set up the joyful news of resurrection on the third day, a deliverance greater than Jonah’s.
When Jesus uses the title “Son of Man” in Matthew 12:40, he’s talking about himself, and he’s interpreting the Old Testament account of Jonah in ways that disclose correspondence and escalation. Jesus sees typological significance in what happened to that prophet.
If a reader goes back to Jonah 2 and searches for messianic references, there aren’t any to be found. The same thing holds true for Jonah 1 and Jonah 3–4. The four-chapter book focuses on the flight, near death, rescue, recommission, submission, and anger of the prophet. No clear messianic prophecies appear.
So, in Matthew 12, why is Jesus telling us that the story of Jonah has christological significance? Because the biblical authors advance messianic hope not only through direct prophecies but through patterns. And patterns become promises—indirect prophecies. When Christ came to fulfill the messianic prophecies of the Old Testament, such fulfillment included the patterns that preceded him.
A pattern notable in the Old Testament is the distress/deliverance motif, sometimes depicted directionally with descent/ascent language. The story of Jonah features such a motif, and it even includes a three-day reference for the prophet’s deliverance. Just as Jonah was in the fish for a period of days associated with the number three, so too was Jesus in the grave until the third day.
Jesus wanted his contemporaries to realize how crucial their position was in salvation history. They were in the days of the Son of Man. “The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here” (Matt. 12:41).
The escalation between the stories of Jonah and Jesus not only included the elements of their personal character and the location and condition of their bodies, it also involved the preaching of the men. At Jonah’s preaching, people in Nineveh repented. But Jesus’s contemporaries, specifically scribes and Pharisees (Matt. 12:38), opposed Jesus instead of repenting. The greatness of Jesus established the importance of his preaching. Here the very Son of Man was speaking to sinners, teaching them and healing them and proclaiming the kingdom of God.
When we read the story of Jonah typologically, we can rejoice that the Pattern Keeper has come, and he descended and rose again on the third day with unrivaled victory.