I read the book of Jonah this morning and was struck by what sounded like strong similarities with a passage in the Gospel of Mark, chapter 4, verses 35-41. In Mark, Jesus suggests to his disciples that they cross the "sea", and while sailing "a great windstorm arose" which terrifies the disciples but does not wake Jesus from his slumber in the back. They come to him, asking him to do something lest they "perish"; he gets up, stops the storm, and everything is fine (except that the disciples are now afraid of Jesus, not the storm!).
As I read Jonah, some of these things seemed to have their parallel, as if Mark is picking a theme from his own heritage and demonstrating its present-day tragectory in Jesus' life and ministry. First, like Jesus, Jonah is sent by God to pagan Gentiles in Nineveh (Jesus was crossing the sea on his way to the Gerasenes, a non-Jewish people). Second, unlike Jesus, Jonah splits town in the opposite direction (this would be how Jesus is "better" than Jonah). Third, "a mighty tempest" comes which, like the one that terrified the disciples, gives Jonah's mariner-companions cause for fear of their lives (like the disciples) and which compells them to inquire of Jonah (after they wake him from his slumber in the ship's hold) to invoke his god like they had invoked theirs (just in case), "lest we perish". Fourth, like Jesus, Jonah proves to be the decisive person on board who can do something to fix the problem. Jesus, unlike Jonah, controls the storm, and thus speaks to it and stops it. Jonah can only obey God's command to go to Nineveh which pacifies God's wrath against him. And sixth, like the disciples, "the [mariners] feared the LORD exceedingly" after Jonah goes in the water and "the sea ceased from its raging."
Without wanting to claim too much, I think you'll agree that there's more here than just coincidence; sorting out all the parallels in their proper place and strength is for another time. But it was instructive to see, particularly how effective both men were in their mission: Nineveh repents and is spared God's wrath against their sin, and God's people (which, in Christ, includes Gentiles) are delivered from God's wrather against their sin.
Jesus is the "true and better" Jonah.
BHT
