The Holy Priest-Martyr Methodius, Bishop of Patara (311)
Apostles’ Fast. Abstinence from meat and foods that contain meat.
Read
Romans 15:7-16; Matthew 12:38-45
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
Jonah, like all the prophets, is a type of Christ. In other words, Jonah comes before Christ and is very similar to Him. The Ancient Christian Commentary on the Scriptures relates that: Jonah typified the Lord’s three days in the tomb. He remained unharmed in the sea and waves, and though swallowed by the whale, he was not consumed by death (Paulinus). Cyril of Jerusalem says that when Jonah is thrown into the sea, thereby calming the storm prefigures Christ’s rebuking the wind and storm while with His apostles. Further, Jonah, like Jesus, is a Jew who preaches repentance to Gentiles, in Jonah’s case the people of Ninevah.
However, it can be said that Jonah is also a type of the average person, you and me. How often have we forsaken the will of the Lord by disobeying His simple commandments like “You shall worship the Lord your God and have no other gods before Him; You shall remember the Sabbath and keep it holy; You shall honor your father and mother; You shall not commit adultery or fornicate; You shall not steal, lie nor covet?” How often have we disregarded Christ’s word to discipline our tongue, check our anger, and control our lust? Think of the many storms, great and small, we have brought upon ourselves through our disobedience. These personal storms not only affect us, but like the mariners, they affect those around us. There is no such thing as a sin that doesn’t hurt anyone but me. St. John Chrysostom eloquently says that “In their attempts to lighten the ship’s cargo, the mariners proved that the weight of Jonah’s disobedience was the heaviest burden.”