Introduction: Discomfort in cross-cultural language situations

I. What is the sign of Jonah? We could also call it the parableof Jonah

Jonah’s truehistorical experience taught by Jesus as parabolic symbolism that he fulfills as a first chapter in a continuing true story.

Matthew 12:39-41 But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. 

1. JONAH’S PARABLE THEMES: Judgment-to-foreigner-desiring PROPHET facing God’s stormy wrath was thrown into a temporary FISH tomb, vomited to land-life to grumpily warn foreigners of God’s judgment, foreigners who incredibly believe-repent (sailors and Ninevites), all to teach hard-hearted, ethnocentric Jews about God’s mercy.
2. JESUS’ FULFILLED STORY THEMES: CHAPTER 1: GREATEST PROPHET sent to evil, Messiah-rejecting Jews, at the cross thrown in the seas of God’s wrath for his people, died and buried for three days, but death vomited him to resurrection life and ascended power at God’s right hand CHAPTER 2: who sends a few Spirit-filled Jews to believing-repenting foreigners . . . CONTINUING CHAPTERS: who now sends us foreigners to other foreigners as part of Jesus’ continuing fulfillment of the sign of Jonah. As others have been to us, we are signs of Jonah reflecting God’s merciful presence! 

Jonah 1-4 story

II. The sign of Jonah to Jonah and Israel: “I will discipline your anger at my mercy to foreigners” all to teach Jonah and all Israel (by including Jonah in the Old Testament) the lesson than their "salvation belongs to the Lord" (Jonah 2:9)

A. Big Wind & Waves, Lot fell on Jonah, Fish swallowed Jonah 1:1-2:8and vomited JonahJonah 2:9-10

B. Plant protected Jonah, then died Jonah 4:6-9

Jonah 4:2-3 

III. The sign of Jonah to the nations: all to show the "salvation [of peoples from every culture and language and nation] belongs to the Lord" (Jonah 2:9)

 A. JONAH’S PARABLE THEMES: Judgment-to-foreigner-despisingPROPHET facing God’s stormy wrath was thrown into a temporary FISH tomb, vomited to land-life to grumpily warn foreigners of God’s judgment, foreigners who incredibly believe-repent (sailorsJonah 1:14-16and Ninevites Jonah 3:3-10), all to teach hard-hearted, ethnocentric Jews about God’s mercy.

 B. JESUS’ FULFILLED JONAH’S STORY THEMES: CHAPTER 1: GREATEST PROPHET sent to (mostly) evil, Messiah-rejecting Jews, at the cross thrown in the seas of God’s wrath for his people, died and buried for three days, but death vomited him to resurrection life and ascended power at God’s right hand Matt 12:39-41

C. JESUS’ FULFILLED JONAH’S STORY THEMES: CHAPTER 2: Jesus sends a few Spirit-filled Jews to believing-repenting foreigners . . .Saul/Paul and Peter and in Acts 9:1-18; Galatians 2:9; Acts 10:1-48, and to us Romans 10:20

 D. JESUS’ FULFILLED JONAH’S STORY THEMES: CONTINUING CHAPTERS . . . Jesus now sends us foreigners to other foreigners as part of Jesus’ continuing fulfillment of the sign of Jonah. As others have been to us, we are signs of Jonah reflecting God’s merciful presence! 2 Corinthians 5:20

1. 1. Expanding your oikos: making room, expecting harvest
   a. classmates, neighbors, co-workers, including those not like us who are not easy to talk to, with different languages and cultures, missionaries; Examples: The Gospel Comes with HouseKey Rosaria Butterfield, learn a new language with Duolingo or Rosetta Stone; help with international students and immigrants (Church World Services CWS, Lancaster); thirdmill.org providing free seminary education in 19 languages; Yates family 25 years in East Asia.

Evident in Bible translation using Jonah 2:9
ישועתהליהוהYeshuatah leYHWH (Hebrew) 500 BC
σωτηρίου τῷκυρίῳ. [sotiríou tó kyrío] (Greek Septuagint) 200 BC
salute Domino (Latin Vulgate) 405 AD
Hilfe ist des HERRN (Luther’s German) 1522
sauinge cometh of the lorde(Tyndale’s English) 1536
Salvation isof the LORD (King James version) 1611

+Ten most important languages of the world based on how many people speak that language
救恩出於主[Jiù ēn chū yú zhǔ] (Chinese Union) 2 billion
Salvation belongs to the LORD! (ESV)  1.875 billion
¡La salvación viene del Señor! (NVI, Spanish) 750 million
मैंतेरीमन्नतेमानूँगाऔरअपनीमन्नतोंकोपूराकरूँगा।(ERV-HI, Hindi) 650 million
A salvação vem do Senhor(NVI-PT, Portuguese) 450 million
Le salut vient de l'Éternel (LSG-French) 449 million
لأَنَّلِلرَّبِّالْخَلاَصَ(NAV-Arabic) 305 million
у Господа спасение! (Russian) [u Gospoda spaseniye!] 260 million
Die Rettung kommt von dem Herrn! (SCH-2000, German) 185 million
私の救いは主のみです(Japanese) [Watashi no sukui wa omo nomidesu] 127 million

b. Prayerfully and with guidance of mature believers, to those who have harmed us, or whose ethnicity has mutual dislike or distrust: Matthew 5:44

Principles: The Peacemaker by Ken Sande; www.rw360.orgExamples: Family, Come Back Barbara; Foreigners, From Far Formosa by George MacKay to northern Taiwan in 1873-1905, The Mosaic Miracle by Stephen Beck offering quad-lingual worship services in Germany.  

c. Jesus now present with us to confirm his promises of mercy in communion, all to show the "salvation [of peoples from every culture and language and nation] belongs to the Lord" (Jonah 2:9)