What is the Sign of Jonah and Has It Come Upon Us?

In today’s Gospel the Lord says, This generation is an evil generation;  it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah (Lk 11:30). So what is the sign of Jonah and does it apply today?

The Gospels really present two signs of Jonah only one of which concerns us here.

  1. First Sign: In the Gospel of Matthew’s version of this pericope,  Jesus invokes Jonah in a two-fold way: For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth (Matt 12:40).  Hence in this image Jonah’s descent into the belly of the whale is a sign of the Lord’s descent to Sheol. I would like to set aside any consideration of this sign for the sake of some brevity and go on to discuss the second sign of Jonah that Matthew’s version sets forth is a way that is essentially the same as the Lucan version we heard today at Mass.
  2. Second sign: In Lucan version read at today’s mass the mention of the whale is omitted and only this second sign is declared: This generation is an evil generation;
    it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah.  Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. At the judgment  the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation  and she will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and there is something greater than Solomon here.  At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because at the preaching of Jonah they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah here
    . (Luke 11:29-32)

But the question remains, what is the sign of Jonah?At one level the text seems to spell it out rather clearly. Jonah had gone to the Ninevites with the message Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed(Jonah 3:3). But the Ninevites, led by their King repented, fasted and prayed and God turned back his intent to destroy them.  So at the plainest level the sign of Jonah is “Repent or Die.”  Just as the Ninevites heard Jonah’s warning, put faith in it and lived so the people of Jesus’ time should hear Jesus’ warning to repent and believe the Good News, they should put faith in his words and live. If they do not they will meet great punishment.

But I want to suggest to you another level of what is meant by the sign of Jonah. I say, “suggest” because the reading of Scripture permits different interpretations, some of them certain, others more propositional. This description of the sign of Jonah I have read from several sources and it taps into the historical context of Jonah’s ministry and then proposes that the Lord is also speaking a deeper more polemical level when he invokes the “Sign of Jonah.” Here are the basic elements.

  1. When Jonah was told to go to Ninevah he resisted. He must have figured it was a no-win situation. Either they would rebuff his prophecy and likely kill him or they would heed his message and grow stronger. Now Ninevah was the capital of Assyria, the mortal enemy of Israel and Jonah had no interest in seeing them strengthened. For if they grew in strength through repentance they would surely gain the capacity to over-run Israel.
  2. This in fact takes place. Jonah makes his proclamation of destruction within forty days and Assyria does repent. An in their strength they would become a rod in God’s hand to punish Israel.  Isaiah the Prophet had well described Israel’s crimes and that punishment would surely come upon her from Assyria. God would use Assyria to humble and punish his people, Israel. Here is a key passage wherein Assyria is described as a rod in God’s hand to punish Israel: …Assyria, the rod of my anger,  in whose hand is the club of my wrath!  I send him against a godless nation (Israel), I dispatch him against a people who anger me, to seize loot and snatch plunder, and to trample them down like mud in the streets. (Isaiah 10:5-6)

Here then is a deeper meaning of the Sign of the Prophet Jonah: That if Israel will not repent, God will take the power and strength from them and give it to a foreign land that knows him not. They will shame and humiliate Israel inflicting God’s punishment.  This is humiliating on two levels. First of all Israel, God’s own people would not repent but a pagan country would. Secondly they are humiliated by being conquered by a foreign and pagan people. The destruction by Assyria was a devastating blow to the Northern Kingdom of Israel and resulted in the loss of the Ten Tribes living there. They became the “Ten Lost Tribes of Israel.” Only Judah and the Levites were left in the South  as a remnant.

Let’s apply this understanding of the Sign of Jonah to Jesus time and then our own.

  1. In Jesus’ time the Sign of Jonah means that if Israel will not repent and accept the Gospel, God will take it from them and given it to the Gentiles. Jesus says elsewhere to his fellow Jews: Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. (Matt 21:43).  Further, just as Israel’s ancient refusal to repent led to destruction by the Assyrians, so now Israel’s refusal to repent  in Jesus’ time means destruction by the Romans which definitively took place in 70 AD and all this was prophesied by Jesus in the Mount Olivet discourse ( Matthew 24:1 – 25:46. ;  Mark 13:1-37 and Luke 21:5-36 ). Over a million Jews were lost in this horrible war according to Josephus.
  2. In our time I want to ask you to consider that the sign of Jonah may be active. I know that this may be controversial but it occurs to me that many Christians and Catholics in the decadent West have stopped loving life. Our birthrates have dropped dramatically and we are well below replacement level. In effect we are aborting and contracepting ourselves right out of existence. And God has loosed judgment on us in the form of the Sign of Jonah. In effect he seems to say to us, “Fine, if you do not love life, I will take it and give it to a people who do. Even if like the Assyrians of old they are not my people as you are, I will use them to humble you ad punish you. I will take the gift of life that you have cast aside and give it to the Muslim people. They will grow and increase while you age and decrease. And perhaps in your humility and when you are punished by a people who do not respect your religious liberty, perhaps then you who remain will repent and begin to love life.”  Currently in France the Birthrate is 1.7 children per French woman (well below replacement level). For Muslim Women in France the birthrate is 7.1 children.  Most other European countries have equally dismal rates. Do the math and realize that Europe as we have known it is coming to an end. Here in America we are boosted by Christian immigrants and are close to replacement level in this country. But generally, the Catholic world is in decline. Last year the Roman Catholic Church was replaced as the largest Faith in the world. As you surely know it was the Muslims who have replaced us. I do not argue we will be destroyed for the promise is that we will prevail (cf Mat 16:18). but we are surely being diminished by our culture of death.  The Sign of Jonah? You decide.

This Video does a good job of describing the problem but it makes one strange claim that birthrates are dropping in Islamic Countries. This is surely not the case in many though, or  if there is a “drop” it is from  having  8 babies per marriage to 7. But the fact remains that Muslim Birthrates are VERY high in comparison to the below replacement birthrates of the Christian West.

48 Replies to “What is the Sign of Jonah and Has It Come Upon Us?”

  1. I don’t buy it as you apply it to our times. It’s true that the natural law and the law of cause and effect have their origins in God, but you make this sound like direct Divine Intervention. “If you do not have children, your population will shrink” is a poor example of supernatural intervention.

    1. I see your point. It is surely a difficult interplay between the natural effects of something and God’s intervention. What I am arguing in the Assyrian conquest is that there was a natural explanation: that sin weakens a nation, repentance strengthens it for all the obvious blessings that self-control and discipline brings. Nevertheless the Divine Author tells us that God is involved in that in a mysterious though revealed way. Hence today there may not be an either/or scenario viz Natural causes vs Divine intervention but the same sort of interplay wherein God has handed us over to our sinful turning from life and continued to bless the Muslims with numerous offspring. THere are natural ways of understanding this but also a mysterious inaction with the Divine will to punish us for our sin.

      1. There is another explanation. As societies advance, population reproduction rates decrease due to better living conditions. During the agrarian period, families needed to be large to handle the work. The cause and effect is not due to religion but to environmental stress. Most of the population in the developed countries are urban inhabitants. Space is at a premium and social programs are more embedded in the fabric. That said, it bothers me that fewer people are church goers. Religion is an essential for a healthy soul. The power of the the Devil grows as people drift away from the good.

        Does it concern me that the Muslim religion is growing? If it did not have the radical psychopathic fringe, I would say not at all. All religion is good at its core. The golden rule is expressed in every single religion.

        Do I love my Christian God? Absolutely. Does he love all life including humans, yes.

    2. My interpretation of this is like Jonah was 3 days and 3 nights in the belly of a fish, so the son of man Jesus was 3 days and 3 nights in hell. Right after that in my bible it goes on to say how when a demon is cast out of a man 7 more will come back, I dont know maybe I’m not making any sense.

  2. Hmmmmm….this one is definitely making me sit and think. I don’t know a whole lot about Muslim culture other than what I learned from Muslim friends, and taking a Study of Religion course as a freshman in college. I do know that for some of my friends it was a huge deal for them to be able to come here and go to school. Family has a very strong tie in Muslim culture to my understanding, and in the States unfortunately in many cases family ties are very weak. Last I heard the U.S. does have one of the highest divorce rates. What I know about Europe is that they tend to emphasize on long term partnerships rather than on marriage, and they are a bit more free-spirited than we Americans to say the least.

    I would say that yes, we are a culture of death, with abortofacients and abortion quite common. Unfortunately, until certain aspects of our culture change, I don’t see either of those things going away anytime soon. I see girls as young as 14 coming in to the ER for miscarriages and botched abortions. It’s really very sad, how kids are doing things younger and younger these days. Something’s got to change.

    I’ve had a lot of major events happen to me personally in a very short span of time. I either had to grow up and learn from it, or continue to make the same mistakes. I think more people need to be willing to speak out to teens and us young adults – we don’t necessarily want to be lectured, but we do want to hear about how you learned from your mistakes. It’s the older adults that I am friends with and look up to that have kept me out of serious trouble and from making mistakes that I would regret later.

    1. I completely agree, having older friends teaches us wisdom, so does praying and asking God to give us wisdom. As far as politics and muslims and Jonah I really havent a clue, but I am going to go out trying to learn. I from experience know that by fasting, repenting, and praying and fellowship we go stronger as a Christian family. God Bless

  3. You failed to mention that the birth control pills are actually in the water systems.
    They can’t filter it out which means our children are drinking those hormones so most likely in the next 20-50 years all female children might be incapable of giving birth at all.
    My mother told me that a priest in her parish said the major sign of ‘end of times’ was when no babies would be born for 7 years. During the 30s and 40s that would sound almost impossible to even believe.
    But if the hormones are in the water and western culture continues to abort and ‘plan’ their pregnancies they might find that they are incapable of becoming mothers.
    I am sure this sounds like a scifi scenario but then again many things have been predicted before I suggest, if you can locate the book, to read: ‘Lord of the World’ written in 1909 by Robert Hugh Benson. It’s a chilling tale and not for the faint of heart.

    1. A few things:

      1. The dosage makes a difference. Arsenic, mercury, and lead are also in the water — and they always have been, since they are in nature. At sufficiently low levels they should make no difference at all, and the same is true for the hormones. However, I’m not sure of the dosage in water supplies, and I do not know if ANYONE knows what (if any) effects would come of a low dose for decades.

      2. Although there may well be health problems associated with the tainted water supply, I haven’t seen anything to indicate that hormones in the water are driving down teen pregnancies.

      3. You can always purify your water — distill it, if necessary.

      1. I think hormones are pretty biodegradable. As long as they are polar, they have an affinity for water, but microbes will have an affinity for them, and access to them if they are in the water. I don’t think you should worry about hormone levels in the water.

      1. Through being passed in urination.

        birth control pills, hormone replacement therapy, growth hormones in livestock and people

  4. Amen Msgr Pope.

    I am so sadden by this video for many reason, but I won’t take up a lot of space on the blog.

    Many of us comment on this blog about many things that we have a passion about, as much as 60, 70, 80 comments on a lot of our spiritual and social concerns. It is now mid-day and only 2 comments. Hmm? It makes me wonder what we really want to talk about. Our Children — our Christian and Catholic children in particular. No judgements, it just makes me wonder.

    I’d like to know how I can obtain this film. I’d love to share this with some folks. Thanks for sharing.

  5. Yes, but the causal link in your piece that I feel most suspect is precisely that: the idea that declining birthrates in Western countries can be entirely explained by Westerners/Christians/Catholics “sinful turning from life.” There are a plethora of secular reasons, mostly economic. In fact, I would say that the most important variable in this is the fact that Muslim countries tend to be more agrarian, and thus on a functional day-to-day level, having many children is essential to survival in a way children are not in more economically advanced Western societies.

    Also, in your piece, you say that the French birth rate is 1.7 while the Muslim French Birth Rate is 7.1. I’m interested in the origin of these statistics, seeing as how the French don’t collect demographic data on religion.

    1. There are likely many reasons for declining birth rates. I admit that. The source of the statistics is the Youtube video Muslim demographics. I am aware that it is currently much disputed. Also the book “America Alone”

  6. Good points made. I thought you were going to take it in another direction. It is this: We Catholics have been given the fullness of the faith. We stand on Sacred Scripture, Tradition, and the Sacred Deposit of Faith in the Teaching Magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church – a hefty tripod on which to stand. Yet too many Catholics have squandered their birthrights, and live lives of lukewarm faith. Enter the Pentecostals and Evangelicals who stand on just one leg of the tripod: Sola Scriptura – yet many of these Protestants live vibrant lives embued with love for Jesus Christ, lives that can put Catholics to shame. One might be tempted to suggest that the Holy Spirit will go where the Spirit is eagerly embraced. God desires to be known and proclaimed; Jesus told us to go forth and proclaim the Gospel – the Pentecostals and Evangelicals are actively doing just that around the world. This is not to suggest that the Truth of Catholicism is being eclipsed by these Christian faith movements – it is to suggest that we are not doing the job the way we should be doing it – so the Spirit is moving amongst those Christian brethern to make known some of the fundamentals of faith.

      1. Donna, you should be a leader in the church. I want to be an evangelical Catholic but I have trouble getting fundamental answers to my questions. Do you know someone who knows where some of our questionable traditions come from?

        1. Jesus calls us after Himself in love and truth, not a church, denomination or any other earthly structure.
          He actually calls us His body, we are a living temple in which Christ dwells through the Holy Spirit.
          How amazing is that, not a church building, icon, painting or statue, He lives in us, the bible calls the
          true believer a living stone. The true believers are called the Ekklesia which means the called out ones
          why? because He has called us out of darkness into His wonderful light. We are His ambassadors,
          the bearers of His true light and hope.
          Andre

  7. In the USA material culture, the decision to postpone & limit the number of children born – sometimes to -0- – is seldom the result of economic need; and frequently the result of the pressure or desire for material possessions – having the cable shows on TV, the newest electronic toys, the nicest cars, flat screen TVs, etc. As a people, we have chosen mammon, whether possessions, high lifestyle or expensive travel, over God’s way. The failure to replace ourselves, and the demographic problems that in turn are causing severe repercussions in a few years for our Social Security and similar old age income replacement schemes are a consequence of these choices. They are not inevitable; but very likely. Our younger people could still “turn their hearts to The Lord” and be saved.
    TeaPot562

  8. most likely in the next 20-50 years all female children might be incapable of giving birth at all

    If folks haven’t seen it, I recommend the movie Children of Men, which is about a world where all women everywhere are infertile. (warning — there are lots of bad words and violence and a little bit of nudity (not sexual or gratiutious, though)).

    1. I saw Children of Men – I thought it was a great movie, but definitely not a kids movie :p

      I really hope our future doesn’t change so much that we women can’t give birth!

      1. Don’t worry, the Bible has several passages where there are plenty of people on the Earth when the Lord comes.

          1. When He comes the second time, doesn’t He meet with the Church in the sky. Then I think the Jewish Israelites realize He is their Messiah and unanimously say “Blessed is He who comes in the Name of The Lord”. Doesn’t He then procede to put His foot/feet on the Mount of Olives, split the mountain, and gather them to protect them. If all this is true, the answer to the question “But when the Son of Man comes do you think he will find any faith on the earth?” varies from moment to moment. Makes me want to find a Bible and lookup those details so I can answer them next time someone asks the question.

          2. To read the bible and find out what God the Father is saying to you personally is of vital importance,
            the Lord says we are to meditate on His word day and night, we can only do this if we read His word.
            With eternity as the prize, heavenly eternity, one would think to get a hold of these life giving and
            life changing words that we call the bible. The bible says we are to work out our salvation with fear
            and trembling. Its a matter of eternal consequence, the fear is a holy reverance of the Almighty God,
            the trembling, when you seek Him you will find Him, when you seek Him with all your heart. To be found
            in the presence of the Living God is an awe inspiring, knee bending time.
            Andre

  9. “you failed to mention that the birth control pills are actually in the water systems.”

    ??????

    1. Actually this is an increasing problem. I am rather at a loss as to how to say this in a polite way. But lets just say that the hormones leach into the urine and that goes into our rivers since the treatment plant can’t screen it. hence both animal and humans who drink the water from rivers get a lot of of extra estrogen etc. This has effects on both animals and men in terms of fertility.

  10. I have heard this argument made before. The Population of the Western world is decreasing that we know. However I just ran across this article the other day that is encouraging. http://blog.siena.org/2010/02/seventeen-million-more-catholics-in.html Perhaps the Western Catholics are in decline but it seems according to this article that over all the Catholic Population is starting to increase. None of this matters in the end as you said Mt 16:18. God is God he created the universe. He is all powerful. I think he has an ace in the hole. Actually he probably has an infinite number of aces in the hole. I have followed many Marian apparitions. Some approved some still waiting to be approved. The Muslims have a great devotion to Mary. I think Mary will be that ace in the hole and convert the masses when the time comes. Consecrate yourselves to Mary and trust in God. Pope JPII was asked about the increasing Muslim population in comparison to the Catholic population in the book Crossing the Threshold of Faith. I don’t quite remember his answer but I think it went something along the lines of He wasn’t worried because God is in control.

  11. You know whats wrong with your presentation? You are pointing out the mistake of not having children – not making families and you say this displeases God and is not good for our western civilization – well, that is something to point out all right. However, it is not the main issue here – it is something that people bring up in order the avoid the real horror which is too uncomfortable to talk about. Notice in all the above not once is the word “murder” used. What is far more important a consideration if you are worried about what God thinks of us is that a wonderful medical procedure is being used by Catholic mothers to murder their very own little innocent babies fast asleep in their most sanctified beds in the middle of their most innocent sleep – they are the victims of the most heartless and cruel and premeditated murder that ever existed and they are murdered in this fashion in greater numbers than any other group of human beings that ever existed. And it is done by mothers who hire professional murderers to help in the horror. No Catholic blog will even refer to it as murder – instead it is called an “abortion”, or “killing”. The first is a wonderful medical procedure that intrinsically has nothing to do with murder, and the second is called merely, “killing” something we do to fish and chickens to feed our children. These are Planned Parenthood euphemisms used to disguise this reality no one will define for fear of social rejection. There is no more premeditated or heartless murder than to take everything, even baptism, away from a person. The dead are not even free to brush the flies out of their eyes. And, the one thing we could do to honor this most dishonored and disgraced of all the humans who have ever lived is to give them the dignity of naming the monstrous evil that was done to them – but we will not even do that! These children who are denied the dignity of a burial, do not even receive the honor of having the monstrous injustice done to them, which ended everything for them, named! These babies were MURDERED by a medical procedure by their own mothers. But, my pastor, and everyone I know, teach and repeat the lie that abortion is not murder. If enough people called it for what it surely is, this kind of murder would have ceased long ago – but it is still ruling the earth because the great majority of Catholics are either ignorant because of an absence of teaching, or because they are moral cowards. Now, you are ready to pay your taxes to directly assist in the murders – or are you?

    1. You just did what the Catholic Church always does . . . you came across, strongly, with what appears to be “your opinion”. My whole family, in fact a lot of my old neighborhood, is Catholic. But without using the sword of God, SCRIPTURE, a lot of believers who don’t read the Bible don’t want to put unnecessary burdens on other people’s backs. They only want to stand for what they know is God’s position. I heard this many times when I was growing up. And today, at 51, that is my attitude. I heard too many Priests giving me their feelings and opinions when I came to them for “religious advice”. I wanted God’s opinion and expected they knew the scriptures better than I did and could show me where to look. Since they didn’t, and some couldn’t, I lost a lot of respect for some of them. If you want to be effective with a lot of today’s Christians, Catholic or otherwise, you need to do it God’s way. He specifically commanded us to use the scripture. If you don’t, you just look like all the other bloggers on this page who don’t quote it. I feel for you and the children. I’d look it up for you but I lost my place and don’t have my concordance. I know Exodus has an example of God saying he chose Pharoh for this very purpose (before he was born, to be stubborn and not let the Israelites go), God knew us before we were knitted in the womb, and as far as using the sword of scripture I remember reading it in the New Testament but I don’t remember where. Maybe some of the other bloggers can help. Maybe one of the Priests who read this blog can help. Anyway, I think you realize why the current methods are so ineffective. I wrote about this several times to several Priests, but I never, ever, even one time, saw my Catholic Church use scripture on a TV commercial, on radio, in the news, or even at mass on the subject. Hope you can make a difference. Maybe we should start our own ministry and collect funds to get the scripture in the media. What do you think?

  12. I have noticed at many instances, a blessing involves “blessings for children” i.e. any and every blessing will at least show up in the life of the children of those who were blessed. Is this true of the Bible in general? If so, then the family is a single entity and any one who harms a family is blocking a blessing from playing its part.

  13. Um, Hal — I know of a lot of blogs, Catholic and otherwise, who rightly refer to abortion as murder. They have hardly been silent or meek on the matter.

  14. Hal, I understand your righteous anger at the atrocity occurring in our midst, but I think you’re preaching to the choir on this one. We know that it is murder, and many of us are active in the pro-life movement. Also the Catholic Church has been spearheading the efforts to keep abortion funding out of the health care bill, for instance. But I do understand your frustration that it is ongoing, and I agree that abortion feeds the culture of death that is breaking our families and leading to the demographic decline of our civilization.

    Traditional Christians and other religious people are the only ones left reproducing at replacement-rate or better. So, maybe there is a blessing in that, Msgr.

  15. Dear Monsignor Pope,
    I feel like we live on different planets. I have only been Catholic in one parish for one decade, but everything I know in my life is a complete opposite to these social trends described in your article and the ensuing comments.
    Granted, I’m pretty sure V II didn’t affect this parish or the diocese we are in! There have been, are and I think there will continue to be, huge families as far as the eye can see from where I am standing.
    Our Pastor, all the Priests I know, are unwavering in their assertions on the values of this Culture of Life. Abortion is always called murder. The number of large families, home-grown and exported, attests to a fastidious adherence to NFP, be it the Creighton Model or Couple to Couple League, or even on-line traching devices like nutmeggroup.org.
    Aren’t you getting an influx of JP II Catholics in your local parish? They are the young happy couples who have large numbers of children and place JP II’s Evangelium Vitae high on their lists of priorities.
    I read this whole discussion and saw not a mention of this phenomenon. How does a movie from Hollywood even rate in this discussion? It’s a work of fiction, but it was mentioned more than once. Tainted water? Yeah, we have that too, but how significant is that in the greater scheme?
    We have all these great marching orders from not one but two of the greatest minds of the last and present century.
    I can’t stress how much this discussion needs a witness. It seems a little ridiculous for it to be me, but here goes.
    I was raised perfectly protected from Christianity. ( Besides receiving Baptism in the Catholic Church.) It’s awful not to know right from wrong. I married later in life, converted to Catholicism when our youngest was three, and have since had another five kids. I stay home, although we scrape to get by. Our Parochial School is right next door, and even though it too exists on a shoe-string budget, it’s growing. What we lack in fiscal ways are made up by involved families who give as much of their time as they are able.
    I love this Church and this community and feel free for the first time in my life. I thought that this version of Catholicism was “The” version of Catholicism.
    EWTN and Spirit Radio support this view of things. I feel my enthusiasm reflected in the classic and current apologists. The strangest thing of all, I’d say, is that I am slightly more pessimistic than many of my neighbors, and yet hear I am telling you JP II said “Be not afraid!”
    So I ask you and all your commentators, is this really the world as you see it?
    Sincerely,
    LL

  16. As far as you article, assuming your interpretation is right, it is interesting to note that God started primarily with Abraham’s son Isaac, moved through the Greeks, and finished with Abraham’s son Ishmael. The Jews seemed to think God was not the God of the Greeks, and the article gives the impression the today’s church feels He is not the God of the Muslims. It just seems to make sense that he would gather some fruit from the Muslims too. After all, if Abraham was Chaldean, Jesus, Isaac, and Ishmael would be as well.

  17. Thank you for your insites into “The Sign of Jonah.” My I respectfully offer you an alternate theology on this subject? Our Lord represented this sign as “The only sign that will be given….” That’s a mystery because, as we are all aware, He was presenting many signs in His ministry: raising the dead, healing, walking on water, etc. So why characterize “The Sign of Jonah” as “The only sign?”
    The Sign of Jonah must, of course, be associated with the death, burial, and resurrection of Rabbi Yehoshua. Now the reason that this sign is the “only sign” is that, whereas all of the other great signs exist only in historical record, it is here with us now! It is none other than His Holy Burial Cloth, the famous Shroud of Turin on which is imprinted the miraculous image of His Holy Body. Ref: Holyfaceofjesus.com

  18. You people ARE OUT OF YOUR MINDS.none of you really knows what the sign of Jonah is ,after thousands of years you are still totally ignorant about God and Jonah. Everything I heard about God on the internet is nonsense. My God you are all lost. The sign of Jonah is the last and final warning mankind will get from God before Armegeddon.It was meant for the last adulterous generation.The bible was written in forms of expression alpabetically and numerically. The sign of Jonah simply unseals the bible the way it was written both alphabetically and numerically.For example the sign of Jonah equals 107 and 138 which translates to 107= the word of God 138= [of] Jesus Christ .The sinking ship =48 means the sinking [earth=[48]] throwing the cargo=[71] into the sea to lighten the load means throwing in [71= [who ] have rebelled , [against] the voice, doctrine, command, [of] their God, Christ] in attempts to please God to stop the oceans from rising over the land masses, the great fish=[88] that swallows Jonah is [88= politicans , [in] Washington] that imprision Jonah =[43 seer [of the] language of God]Nineveh=[61] that great city =[143] equals [61 modern babylon]143 [United States] You people have no future. you are simply to far gone. If you want to wake up before its to late read the Jonah Prophecies xlibris press Maybe you will finally possess at least a sliver of God’s wisdom and word before your judgement day.

  19. The Sign of Jonah obviously has something to do with the death, burial, and resurrection of the great Jewish Rabbi, Yehoshua be Yosef. The difficulty comes in trying to understand why our Teacher said that this sign would be “The only sign,” because in those times He was performing miracles all over Israel. How can the Sign of Jonah be the only sign? I believe that the answer to this puzzle is simply that the Sign of Jonah is permanent sign, and that is why this sign is different. It is the only sign that exists today. What do we have that is miraculous and at the same time somehow associated with the Rabbi’s death, burial, and resurrection? It is none other than the Holy Shroud of Turin! It is the Sign of Jonah!

  20. By the Sign of Jonah, Jesus was showing truly that he is Lord of Heaven and earth and would always have the
    power to overcome death and be raised to life on the third full day. Jonah was three dayd and three nights in
    the belly of a large fish and was as good as dead until he prayed and God the Father made the fish spew him
    onto land. In a way he was brought back to life and his life given back to him. It was also a pre-determined time
    and by Christ using this as a sign showed the power of prophecy and the power of God Holy word. this showed
    again that He had the power over life and death and so could determine the exact time and day to the hour of
    His ressurection. Only a God-man could have such authority and power. The Shroud of Turin has nothing to do
    with it. Dont worship idols, Christ said to worship Him in spirit and truth, its a relationship with Him by the indwelling Holy Spirit to the glory of the Heavenly Father, not an earthly father, not now not ever. Why do we complicate things when Jesus has shown us that He is the way to the Heavenly Father.

  21. “Last year the Roman Catholic Church was replaced as the largest Faith in the world. As you surely know it was the Muslims who have replaced us”. This is an absolute error. The Muslims have not replaced the largest faith in the world, Christianity is the largest faith in the world, but not all Christians are Catholics. With that being said, there are hundreds of “cults” or 501C entities or bodies all over the planet. The true church, those that refuse to be a denomination or carry a label, who were first call Christians in Antioch, do not preach or teach that others will go to hell if they dont go by their rules. They dont make Mary a co-redeemer, use mantra rosaries, light candles, or bow down to statues… all of which are NOT in the bible, nor were given or practiced in the early church. Neither was sodomy. The catholic church is losing to other sects and religions because of the traditions of men that have been enforced in our fathers house without merit. You really should take Jesus off that cross, after all HE IS RISEN. Respectfully submitted.

    1. Dolores, I respect your opinion, but I want to explain why the Catholic faith has Jesus on the cross. First of all, because Jesus is on the cross, the term is modified to crucifix. Anyway, Jesus is on the crucifix, because Jesus is the Savior who has unending love. Jesus says that the greatest love is laying down your life for your friends! Do not be mistaken that Catholics overlook the resurrection, because we proclaim this EVERY mass. In order for the faithful to realize just what Jesus did for us, the crucifix reminds us to not lose heart.

  22. Jesus gave Peter the keys to the kingdom. He had already told Nicodemus that everyone Must be born of the Water and the Spirit to enter the Kingdom of God. Peter said,1.Repent 2. Be baptized in Jesus Name,for the forgiveness of your sins, and 3. You will receive the Holy Spirit. Peter preached that truth to thousands of people that day. None of the other disciples disagreed. Thats how they were born again. If we, or an angel preach another doctrine, let him be cursed.

  23. Living I a Muslim country, I can tell you they do pray x5 times every day and everything stops
    for that prayer time. Teaching young adults I find it gratifying that they do it genuinely and without
    complaining. They have generally way better morals and spirituality than typical ‘Christian’ westerners
    ….. who ofcourse are often atheist/secular/lapsed whatever, anything other than practising believers.
    I can see how the vacuum will be filled and we can only hope that it is the more enlightened,peaceful
    Muslims who take over. So very,very sad for Western Christian culture…but we have brought it upon ourselves.
    However, better a Muslim world than an atheist one. There is only one God after all… as they say.

  24. I think what you typed made a ton of sense. But, what about this?

    what if you wrote a catchier title? I ain’t suggesting your content isn’t good., however
    what if you added a post title that grabbed people’s attention?
    I mean What is the Sign of Jonah and Has It Come Upon Us?

  25. Clearly comments on this post have been going on for a couple years, I came across it today when I heard sad news of the burial site of Jonah being destroyed by ISIS. Sure makes me consider that the sign of Jonah is applicable today. “….there is something greater than Jonah here” Luke 11:32.

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