Jonah 1 - A picture of Christ (Jonah thrown into the sea)

Jonah 1:10-16

¹⁰ Then the men were exceedingly afraid, and said to him, “Why have you done this?” For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. ¹¹ Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you that the sea may be calm for us?”—for the sea was growing more tempestuous. ¹² And he said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of me.” ¹³ Nevertheless the men rowed hard to return to land, but they could not, for the sea continued to grow more tempestuous against them. ¹⁴ Therefore they cried out to the Lord and said, “We pray, O Lord, please do not let us perish for this man’s life, and do not charge us with innocent blood; for You, O Lord, have done as it pleased You.” ¹⁵ So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. ¹⁶ Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the Lord and took vows.

Here we can see a picture of the necessity of the sacrifice of Christ.

The men onboard are perishing in the storm. They know what they must do to be saved; they must throw Jonah overboard and into the sea. Jonah was a man who was willing to be a sacrifice for the men onboard (verse 12). He knew what was required of him, just as the Lord Jesus did. (Mark 8:31 ”And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.”)

Verse 13 shows us how there is nothing that the men can do themselves to be saved, no matter how hard they try to row. The men try hard to save themselves before coming to trust in the sacrifice of Jonah (Jonah 1:13“Nevertheless the men rowed hard to return to land, but they could not, for the sea continued to grow more tempestuous against them.”)  How often do men try and accomplish things on their own, how often do men try to save themselves through various ways, some without even realiazing that their efforts are in vain until it is too late. 

Finally, in verse 14, the men realise that the sacrifice of innocent blood is the only way for them to be saved. (Jonah 1:14 “… do not charge us with innocent blood.” Jonah 1:15 tells us how the men threw Jonah into the stormy sea. Then in verse 15, “…the sea ceased from its raging.” Verse 16 shows how these men have come to rely upon God. They have come to accept the fact that the storm was too big to row against in their own strength and trusted in God, carrying out the instructions of Jonah so that they may be spared from the storm.

We are all perishing in the storm and there is nothing we can do to save ourselves, there is nowhere for us to hide from the wrath of God. Men may try lots of things to save themselves, but ultimately the only option we have is to come to trust in the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus whose sacrifice on our behalf is sufficient to calm the storm and the deflect the wrath of God away from us. 

No matter how hard we try to row against life, the tempest will increase. Only when we trust in the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus and allow Him to row on our behalf will we be saved and will the storm cease.

-BACChristian