The Scribes and Pharisees Ask for a Sign. Joel Kramer.

Joseph of Arimathea asked Pontius Pilate for the body of Jesus Christ to place in his new tomb. Joel Kramer shows us a rolling stone tomb by the edge of a road in Israel, please excuse the sound and filming quality. The Scribes are Pharisees ask for a sign that Jesus is the Messiah, the only sign He offers them is Jonah who was three days and three nights in the belly of a great fish.

[jonathanlee]

👍Thanks. Btw, your tour group on this set of uploads -- the one with Michelle -- always seems much happier, integrated and relaxed than the tour groups on other Holy Land tours on Youtube👍

[petergianakopoulos]

"And none will be given to them.."

[jeffreyerwin]

It is too bad that the authors of this video refuse to participate in a dialogue about it.

[jeffreyerwin]

Thanks for the informative video. However, it doesnt' actually say what the Sign of Jonah is. Whatever the Sign of Jonah is, it needs to conform to these facts:

1. In Mark 8 Jesus forcefully prohibited any sign from heaven for first century Israel. The phrase, "In truth I tell you. .." is part of an Hebraic oath formula, much like the English, "Never in a million years, " or "It will be a cold day in hell when that happens." Therefore, the Sign of Jonah for first century Israel cannot be a miraculous sign such as Jesus' resurrection. (Jesus' resurrection certainly did take place, but it was witnessed by less than 1000 brothers, and not by all of Israel. Jesus did not parade throughout Israel displaying his fatal wounds for all to see.)

2. In Luke 11 Jesus noticed that the crowds wanted a sign from heaven to confirm his authority, and he rebuked them. In Luke 11 Jesus said that the only sign that first century Israel would receive was the sign of his ministry, and he compared his ministry to that of the prophet Jonah's in Nineveh. Jesus' definition of the Sign of Jonah in Luke 11 fits in nicely with his prohibition of any sign from heaven for Israel in Mark 8.


3. In Matthew 12 Jesus is asked for a "sign from you, " and he replies by predicting that his burial will be for more than 24 but less than 72 hours. Jesus compares this limited time of burial to Jonah's burial in the great fish. This prediction about burial duration has been misunderstood as meaning resurrection. But Jesus predicted his resurrection many times, and in none of those instances did he include the words, "The Sign of Jonah." The key to understanding the Sign of Jonah in Matthew 12 is to notice that Jesus did not designate it to "this generation, " as he did in Luke 11. Instead Jesus used the words, "An evil and unfaithful generation, " and that phrase is not era specific. It could be understood as meaning any future generation, including our own.

See: "The Image on the Turin Is 'The Sign of Jonah" For Our Generation!" by Rev. Larry Stalley, 2020.
And: "The Enigma of the Sign of Jonah, " BSTS Shroud Newsletter, Summer 2023.