The Slow Church Podcast

Plodding through life putting theology into practice.

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8: Salvation Belongs to the Lord: Jonah 1:17-2:10

30:09

In this episode, Joshua and Jeremiah look at Jonah in the belly of the great fish. They follow how God pursues a prophet who is running from him. They read the passage on three levels: the story itself, what it teaches about repentance, and how it points to Christ. Their main point is that salvation belongs to the Lord, and that Jonah is ultimately about Jesus, the "better Jonah."

Key topics and takeaways

  • God pursues his people. Jonah flees, and the Lord sends the storm and the fish. Both the rescue and the repentance are God's work.
  • Three levels of reading. The story is Jonah's physical rescue. The lesson is repentance and God's pursuit. Christ is the fulfillment, as Jesus draws the "three days and three nights" parallel himself.
  • Actions versus the heart. Jonah corrects what he does but never his heart. The hosts connect this to the Sermon on the Mount and to our need for a new heart, not just a second chance.
  • We are like Jonah. Even our obedience is reluctant and tainted by sin. In Christ, believers are credited with the "better Jonah's" righteousness.
  • All of salvation is of the Lord. Justification, sanctification and glorification are all God's work. That gives believers assurance and rest even when circumstances are hard.
  • The Christian life on repeat. Look to Christ in faith, then to your neighbor in love.

Notable moments

  • 0:41: Jeremiah's recap of Jonah 1–2 and the sermon.
  • 4:29: Joshua introduces the story, the repentance lesson and the Christ connection.
  • 7:07: Jesus' "three days and three nights" words and reading Scripture as the apostles did.
  • 9:10: "Jonah is about Jesus," and the idea of a better Jonah.
  • 12:05: Jonah changes his actions but not his heart.
  • 17:44: The heart of man compared with the heart of God, and the old man versus the new.
  • 24:08: Quote from Justin Perdue on weakness, grace and comfort for sinners who grieve their sin.
  • 26:11: Jonah can't rejoice with those who rejoice.
  • 29:16: Closing thought: faith is in the Son of God who loved you, not in your own faithfulness.