Germination

Today’s reading : Jonah 2

I called out to the Lord, out of my distress,  and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried and you heard my voice.
3 For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas,
    and the flood surrounded me;   all your breakers and your waves passed over me.
5 The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head.
7 When my life was fainting away  I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you  into your holy temple.
9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving  will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay.
    Salvation belongs to the Lord!”

10 And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.  – Jonah 2: 1-10

Germination  is the process where a stored life through metamorphosis forms into a living being.

As we are entering the Spring season and entering the season of Easter we can see the growth that is happening around us. A lot of the growth that we see is due to the revitalization of the plants that we have.

But there is a part of the spring cycle where seedlings have been planted and start sprout. This is the mysterious process of germination.

In Jonah Chapter 2,  Jonah is currently in the big fish. He has just been thrown overboard and swallowed by the fish.  Jonah had been in the fish for 3 days and this starts the connection  to the mystery of Easter, we see that both Jonah and Jesus go through a germination process. 

The stories of Jonah and Jesus are parallel and are intended to show the mysterious power of God.  In both of their stories, Jesus and Jonah are in the dark for three days and then they begin a new ministry.  In Jonah, the germination process is in the belly of the great fish.  In Jesus, the germination process is in the borrowed tomb of Joseph from Sundown of Friday to the Dawn of Sunday.  In this germination process, both of them are separated and isolated from everything else. While they’re going through the germination process, they do not know that they are being transformed. It’s something different.

Jonah has sacrificed himself on behalf of the ship that was going down in the middle of the sea. He sees that he is the answer to salvation of his fellow shipmates. Jonah sees that the only way that the chaos and the strife of that moment can be cured is by him sacrifice in his life.

Therefore they called out to the Lord, “O Lord, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.” 15 So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. 16 Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows. – Jonah 1:14-16

Jesus sees the chaos and the strife that was happening in the world. Jesus saw the absence of love and compassion and peace. Jesus came to sacrifice his life so that we similar to the shipmates would have peace.

The peace and  relief was not long coming for the shipmates. Once they knew what was happening, they tried not to sacrifice Jonah. The shipmates tried everything that they could do on their own terms to stop sacrificing himself. But in the end, Jonah knew he had to be sacrifice.

In the passage it shows us that as soon as Jonah was thrown into the sea, the Tempest and the hurricane stopped instantaneously.

Therefore they called out to the Lord, “O Lord, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.” 15 So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. 16 Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows. – Jonah 1:14-16

When Christ came and sacrificed himself on Good Friday, the Tempest ceased. The chaos and death stopped. There are still things that try to distract us from the peace and joy that the resurrection has given us, but we have to understand that it was already taken care of.

No matter what you’re going through. The victory has already been one.

Once Christ died on Good Friday, and the resurrection was happening on Easter Sunday, that victory has already been given to us. Let us reflect on how amazing that the mystery of the germination process that transformed Jonah and Jesus has given us peace in the middle of the chaos.

Be Blessed