“In His name will the Gentiles hope” (v. 21). Due to the rejection by the Jewish religionists, the Servant of Jehovah, with His salvation, turned to the Gentiles. Now the Gentiles put their hope in His name, believing in Him and receiving Him as their Savior.
The Gentiles have hope only in the name of the Lord Jesus. Apart from His name, there is no hope. The worldly people have no hope because they do not have the name of the Lord Jesus. But in His name we, the Gentiles, have our hope.
In Matthew 12:38-41 Christ is unveiled as the One greater than Jonah. When the scribes and Pharisees asked for a sign, the Lord Jesus said that no sign would be given “except the sign of Jonah the prophet” (v. 39). As a prophet, Jonah is a type of Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection.
“Just as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights” (v. 40). The heart of the earth is called the lower parts of the earth (Eph. 4:9) and Hades (Acts 2:27), where the Lord went after His death. Hades, equal to Sheol in the Old Testament, has two sections: the section of torment and the section of comfort (Luke 16:23-26). The section of comfort is Paradise, where the Lord went with the saved thief after they died (23:43). Hence, “heart of the earth,” “lower parts of the earth,” “Hades,” and “Paradise” are synonymous terms, referring to the one place where the Lord stayed for three days and three nights after His death and before His resurrection. After those three days and three nights, He, as the Son of Man, was resurrected from the heart of the earth.
As the One greater than Jonah, Christ preaches glad tidings to the nations. “Ninevite men will stand up in the judgment with this generation and will condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something more than Jonah is here” (Matt. 12:41). Here we see that Christ, as the Prophet sent by God to His people (Deut. 18:15, 18), is greater than Jonah the prophet. Jonah turned from Israel to the Gentiles and was put into the belly of the great fish. After he had remained there for three days and three nights, he came out to be a sign to that generation for repentance (Jonah 1:2, 17; 3:2-10). This was a type of Christ, who would turn from Israel to the Gentiles and would be buried in the heart of the earth three days and three nights and then be resurrected, becoming a sign to this generation for salvation. As the One greater than Jonah, Christ in resurrection is the unique sign for today.
“The queen of the south will rise up in the judgment with this generation and will condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something more than Solomon is here” (Matt. 12:42). Here we see that Christ, as the Son of David to be the King, is greater than Solomon the king. Solomon (1 Kings 6:1) typifies Christ as the One with wisdom to accomplish God’s eternal purpose, to build up God’s house, the temple, and to rule over God’s kingdom.
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