While there isn't a direct parallel story of someone being swallowed by a large fish in the New Testament, the story of Jonah is referenced and used as a
type or
shadow of Jesus's own death and resurrection.
Here's why and how:
* Matthew 12:38-41 & Luke 11:29-32: Jesus himself draws the comparison. When the Pharisees and teachers of the law ask for a sign, Jesus says:
> "An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here." (Matthew 12:39-41 NIV)
* The Key Parallel: Death and Resurrection The crucial element isn't the literal swallowing by a fish, but the three days and three nights of being in a state that parallels death (the fish's belly/the earth) followed by a return to life (Jonah being vomited out/Jesus' resurrection). Jesus uses the Jonah story as a foreshadowing or prophecy of his own death, burial, and resurrection.
* Repentance: Both stories also involve a call to repentance. Jonah's preaching leads to the repentance of the Ninevites. Jesus' preaching calls for repentance and faith, but he emphasizes he is greater than Jonah.
In summary: The New Testament doesn't have a story where someone else is swallowed by a sea creature. But the story of Jonah serves as a powerful prefigurement of Jesus's death and resurrection. Jesus himself explicitly makes the connection, highlighting the significance of the three days and the call to repentance in both narratives. So, rather than a similar *story*, it's more accurate to say Jonah's story is a *type* or *shadow* that finds its fulfillment in the story of Jesus.