“Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, ‘Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.’ He answered, ‘A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.’ For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The sign of Jonah is the proof that Jesus will offer himself as a sacrifice and after 3 days he would be raised from the grave.” Matthew 12:38-40
Not to argue with our Lord, but I was struck with a different similarity between Jonah and Jesus.
While fleeing from God, Jonah took a boat westward. He fell asleep in the bowels of the boat. A supernatural storm sent by God ensued.
The boat's crew found Jonah and essentially asked, "Don't you care if we perish?"
Good question. Jonah certainly didn't care if the people of Nineveh perished. But he apparently cared about the crew of this boat. He volunteered to die in order to save them. He had them throw him into the raging sea. And the winds and waves abated at this sacrifice.
While escaping from the crowds, Jesus took a boat on the Sea of Galilee. He fell asleep in the bowels of the boat. And a supernatural storm ensued.
His disciples found him and essentially asked, "Don't you care if we perish?"
Oh, the irony of that question. They didn’t get it. Of course he cared if they perished. That's why he came to earth in the first place: To die in order to save them. But on this day he barked out to the storm, what I have been told is the Aramaic equivalent of "Knock it off!" And immediately the wind and waves abated.
The proof of Jesus’ deity was evident in his mastery over the supernatural storm. And no one in the boat died that day. The sacrifice to save us all would come later.
Yes, He cares if we perish, and He came to save us.