Dear Editor,

Jonah presents a teachable moment for all faiths given the context of Jesus’ instruction to wit:

First–“An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign; but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.”

Second–Jesus compares Jonah’s three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, to his burial in the earth as the Son of man following his egregious death on the cross as he had prophesied in Jn 2:18-22, 5:22, Jn 6:28-29, 8:28-29, 10:17-18, 12:27-33, 16:6-11, 33, Mt 16:21-23, & Jn 7:24–“Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”

Third–Unlike Jonah, the Second Person of the Trinity willingly obeyed God the Father’s direction leading to the Incarnation that existentially expressed the atoning power of his life proliferated through death as both the RSV & KJV clearly state in Phil 2:1-8 that certified Jesus’ authority as revealed in Mt 3:15-17, Mk 1:12-13, Mt 4:1-11, Jn 1:29 and declared in Jn 4:19-26, 17:19-26, 1:9-18, Heb 2:9-18 that embraces all of humanity.-Jn 1:9-10, I Tim 4:9-10, Eph 1:9-10

Defining religion as the authority or authorities one consults to define and answer questions of ultimate importance is critical to understanding God’s “Paradigm & Crucible of Freedom & Uniqueness” that represents the “whale we all have in common”–“For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself, and has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of man.-Jn 5:26-27 complemented by I Cor 15:20-23

William M. Yavelak

Belmont