The Secret Behind Jonah and The Resurrection | Jonathan Cahn Sermon

The Sign of Jonah and the Power of the Resurrection | Jonathan Cahn

The people of Nineveh never saw the fish that swallowed Jonah. What they saw was Jonah himself—alive, standing before them, and calling them to repent. Without the fish, Jonah never would have made it to them. The fish was unseen, yet its impact was undeniable.

The same is true of the resurrection. No one saw the actual moment when Messiah rose from the tomb. But without the resurrection, nothing would have followed—no gospel, no disciples transformed, no church, no salvation reaching us today.

Jesus declared: “For as Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth.” Jonah’s experience was not just a story—it was a foreshadowing of Messiah’s death and resurrection. Throughout Scripture we see these shadows: Isaac laid on the altar, Joseph thought dead but raised to power, Moses gone from Egypt as if dead, only to return as a deliverer. Each one whispers of Messiah’s greater work.

Messiah spoke of His death and rising before it ever happened. He proclaimed it with certainty. No disciple could have invented this. This was not merely a man speaking—this was God Himself declaring the plan of salvation.

But here’s the challenge: Jesus said “three days and three nights.” Many have wrestled with this, suggesting He must have been crucified on a Wednesday. Yet Scripture is clear: He died on the Preparation Day—the day before the Sabbath. That is Friday. He was laid in the tomb as the sun was setting, rested through the Sabbath, and on the first day—Sunday—He rose.

Even modern science confirms it. Using astronomical records, we can trace the Hebrew calendar back to the first century. The Passover full moon fell on a Friday only twice in that window of time: in 30 AD and in 33 AD. On both dates, the Son of God was crucified on a Friday, the sixth day, the day God finished His work. On that day, Messiah declared, “It is finished.”

He rested through the Sabbath—the seventh day, the day of completion. And on the first day, He rose. A new creation began. A new work started. Just as Jonah emerged from the depths, Messiah rose from the grave, bringing life to the world.

But Messiah didn’t stop there. He said the people of Nineveh would rise up to judge this generation. Why? Because they repented at Jonah’s message, yet One far greater than Jonah has come—the very Son of God.

The sign of Jonah is not about a fish—it is about resurrection. The Ninevites never saw the fish. The world never saw Jesus rise. But the evidence is everywhere. Without the resurrection, the fragile movement of His followers would have ended in despair. Rome had the power, the Sanhedrin had authority, the disciples had nothing. All it would have taken was showing His body. Yet they never could—because the tomb was empty.

Something happened between Friday night and Sunday morning. That “something” transformed fearful disciples into bold preachers, mourning into joy, weakness into power. The powerless became world changers. The movement spread from Jerusalem to Rome, from Rome to the ends of the earth, and it has never stopped.

The resurrection has changed lives for two thousand years: murderers turned into preachers, persecutors into apostles, slave traders into abolitionists, cannibals into missionaries, Nazis into protectors of the Jewish people, and sinners into saints. That is the power of the sign of Jonah.

And what about you? You are the sign of Jonah to this world. You were once in darkness, but now you walk in light. Once bound in sin, now set free. The people around you may not understand it, but they see the change in your life. They didn’t see the moment God transformed you, but they see the result.

Your forgiveness, your hope, your love, your joy—that is the evidence of the resurrection. You are living proof that Jesus is alive. Your life is the sign of Jonah.