I. THE NOBLE SPIRIT OF JONAH

There was a most exemplary and commendable submissiveness about Jonah.

1. He submitted to the Lord. He told the men plainly what would stop the storm, verse 12.

2. He submitted to the men. Having God’s chastening administered by others is a humbling thing and not easily borne.

3. He submitted to the sea. Drowning is not an easy death and one which makes us shudder. 

II. THE IMPACT OF THE WITNESS OF JONAH

1. The sailors feared the Lord. Note the word “exceedingly.” “The fear of the LORD [is] the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy [is] understanding,” Proverbs 9:10. This was a new beginning for these men.

2. The sailors sacrificed to the Lord. A burnt offering and certainly praise. 

3. They made vows to the Lord. First use, Gen 28:20.It is likely that they vowed to go to Jerusalem and formally thank God by way of a sacrifice, Gill says Hebrew conveys that meaning. See Mark 1:44.

III. THE UNSEEN EVENTS BENEATH THE WAVES

To the human eye, Jonah was dead, drowned beneath the waves. But not so. “Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights,” Jonah 1:17.

Here is what the Saviour meant in Matt 12:39-40. “But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: for as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”

The story of our Saviour’s death, burial and resurrection are set forth in the story of Jonah. Remember, Jonah came forth with a message of life for the Ninevites. He cried against their sin, verse 1, 3:4. He preached of coming judgment and the way of deliverance. The amazement of the sailors would have been like that of disciples, Luke 24:19-24.

That is the message of Christ that we must preach today.