Most people who study the Bible are familiar with the account about Jonah. He was told to preach repentance to the great city of Nineveh. The people there were very wicked. Jonah at first did not go. However, through God’s intervention, Jonah was convinced he should go. Jonah spent three days in the belly of a large fish. The fish then vomited him up. Jonah traveled to Nineveh and preached to the entire city. All of the people of Nineveh, including the king, repented at his preaching and turned to God. Jonah did not perform miracles for the people. They simply obeyed what Jonah preached to them.
Jesus refers to this incident in Matthew 12:39-41, after the scribes and Pharisees accused him of performing miracles by the power of Satan. After Jesus logically showed that He could not be of Satan, the scribes and Pharisees sarcastically asked him to perform a miracle for them.
Jesus stated that the only sign He would give to them was the sign of Jonah. He would be in the grave for three days and nights and then come out of the grave.
He then told them that the people of Nineveh would rise in judgment against them. Those Jesus spoke to had not only heard preaching of repentance, but they had witnessed great miracles by Jesus. Yet, unlike the people of Nineveh, they refused to believe the preaching or the miracles. Jesus was greater than Jonah, yet these people refused to accept His teaching. They would be condemned for their unbelief.
Study your Bible. Learn all you can about the One who is greater than Jonah. Then, accept His teaching and obey Him. If any of this is hard to understand, ask an adult to help you.
