Justin Appel

Dear Friends,

Today’s Old Testament reading is from the book of Jonah.

Reading this lesson, I am reminded that Old Testament stories like Jonah’s are sometimes set aside by modern readers because they seem “obviously fictional.”

I’m not suggesting that the story of Jonah (one of the Twelve Prophets) is a precise historical account, but rather that the typological shape of Jonah’s story is so foundational to our faith that we bracket it at our peril. Looking at the symbolic content of his story, we have many rich connections to other themes in the Scriptures. As they say, symbols point to deep realities!

  • Jonah is protected in a boat (as Noah survives in the wooden arc—the nave of a church is a boat of salvation)
  • Jonah is cast out of the boat (as Adam and Eve are cast out of the garden, and as Christ is lowered from the cross to the grave)
  • Jonah is swallowed by a fish for three days, and Christ was swallowed by the grave for three days
  • The fish is sometimes depicted iconographically as a whale (a sea monster) that bears the flames of Hades in its mouth in scenes of Judgement or Harrowing
  • Jonah’s prayer in the belly of the fish (“out of the belly of Sheol”) connects to Christ’s dramatic Harrowing of Hades
  • Jonah’s salvation from death is a type of Christ’s glorious resurrection and the destruction of death
  • Jonah’s deliverance through the sea (Israel’s deliverance through the Red Sea and our deliverance from sin and death through Baptism)
  • Jonah’s message of repentance goes out to the Ninevites, and Christ’s euangelion (good news) goes out to the Gentiles

Such symbolism is spelled out helpfully (and with pictures) in this discussion by a prominent contemporary Orthodox iconographer, but it is also expressed in the 4th-century Catechetical Lectures of St Cyril of Jerusalem, where objections against miraculous resurrections were answered for catechumens being taught the faith before (and after) baptism at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

The bottom line is, we need to read Jonah deeply and wisely. This story is part of our biblical literacy and contains deep themes of salvation and deliverance that resonate throughout our symbolic worldview.

Yours in Christ,

—Justin

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