Tag Archives: Nineveh

LUKE’S GOSPEL…THE SIGN OF JONAH – 29c

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“As the crowds increased, Jesus said, “This is a wicked generation. It asks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation…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.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭11‬:‭29‬-‭30‬, ‭32‬ ‭NIV‬‬

We cannot leave Jonah without examining some of the lessons he might have learned through this harrowing experience. What did he reflect on when he was back home in his safe space? Had he known what he had learned from his encounter with God, would he have thought and done things differently? 

One thing is clear. Despite being a prophet of God, Jonah did not share God’s attitude towards ungodly unbelievers. Whatever God thought about the Assyrians, the Jews hated them because they were vicious, cruel, ruthless, and powerful. However, the fact that he, Jonah, was to preach judgment against them was no comfort to him because he also knew that God was merciful. What if they repented and God forgave them?

With this thought in the back of his mind, Jonah had tried to escape God’s command but failed. His worst fears were confirmed when, after preaching judgment, the whole city of Nineveh repented even when he thundered against them. 

“Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.”

‭‭Jonah‬ ‭3‬:‭4‬-‭5‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jonah was angry and rebellious. Why did he not share God’s compassion for a city under judgment? Jonah viewed the Assyrians, not as people to be pitied because they had no idea what judgment meant, but as a threat to his own people’s existence. In other words, his view of the Assyrians was “enemy” to be exterminated, not sinners under judgment to be pitied. 

God’s view, by contrast, was “people”, created in His image, who needed to be rescued because they were precious to Him. God’s plan was, from the beginning, to have a human family, created in His image, with whom He could have fellowship and share His love. The fact that humans changed sides and rebelled against God did not change His plan. He revealed the extent of His love by sending His own Son to take the judgment intended for humans. He judged them, not by what they had done but by what they had done because they had refused to believe and obey Him. 

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”

‭‭John‬ ‭3‬:‭16‬-‭18‬ ‭NIV‬‬

God does not love to judge. He yearns to save.  Through Ezekiel, He spoke to His own people…

“Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?’”

‭‭Ezekiel‬ ‭33‬:‭11‬ ‭NIV‬‬

God’s mercy overrides judgment when people repent and turn to Him, but He also comes down hard on those who, having received His mercy, refuse to treat others with mercy. 

“Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.”

‭‭James‬ ‭2‬:‭12‬-‭13‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The end of Jonah’s story is telling. God used an object lesson to confront Jonah with his terrible attitude…Jonah was angry because a worm destroyed his shelter and because caged forgave the Ninevites.  He judged people by what they did, not by who they were, people created in God’s image regardless of what they did. 

“But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?””

‭‭Jonah‬ ‭4‬:‭10‬-‭11‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Did Jonah learn the lesson? We don’t know. 

So, God reached out to the worst of sinners then, and He still does…He wants us, His children, to do the same.  We are to treat others as He has treated us. This is the crux of real faith in Jesus…hearts so full of gratitude for God’s mercy that we, in turn, reach out in mercy towards others. 

To be continued…

THE SIGN OF JONAH

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Matthew 12:38-41 NLT
[38] “One day, some teachers of religious law and Pharisees came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, we want you to show us a miraculous sign to prove your authority.” [39] But Jesus replied, “Only an evil, adulterous generation would demand a miraculous sign; but the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah. [40] For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. [41] “The people of Nineveh will stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for they repented of their sins at the preaching of Jonah. Now someone greater than Jonah is here—but you refuse to repent.”

Jonah’s story is intriguing. It has hidden lessons that casual readers will not easily recognise. Why is it included in Scripture? Why did Jesus quote it as a sign of His own death and resurrection?

We know the story well from Sunday School days. God instructed Jonah to go to Nineveh with a message of inevitable coming judgment. Nineveh represented a cruel and godless nation that had caused great harm to Israel. It should have pleased Jonah to tell them of their fate.

Instead, Jonah fled in the opposite direction, as far from Nineveh as he could go. Why? Deep in his heart he knew that, if the people of Nineveh repented, God would forgive them. If he didn’t deliver God’s message, God would judge them without mercy.

God was so determined to give Nineveh a chance that He stopped Jonah in his tracks, got him off the boat and sent him back, via a big fish, in the direction of Nineveh. Jonah must have been so traumatised that he had no option but to obey, albeit with great reluctance… as the story unfolds.

What did he look like when he came out of the fish? We can only speculate. Was he so bleached by the fish’s digestive juices that he appeared as a ghost to the Ninevites?

Whatever his appearance, they listened and repented to a man. Even the animals were forced to participate in their expressions of repentance.

Jonah was incensed. Just as he thought, God forgave the people of that city and let them off the hook. Jonah sat outside the city and sulked, watching hopefully for sign of God’s judgment to fall on Nineveh.

In the interim, a little scene played out on the hillside where Jonah sat, between him and God, an object lesson for the rebellious prophet. It was scorching hot, a Middle Eastern summer. God mercifully and miraculously grew a plant to provide shade for His perspiring servant.

Jonah was grateful for the shade until a worm ate through the stem and collapsed the plant. Once against, the prophet sat in misery and discomfort to watch what God would do. He was angry with God for treating him cruelly. He was upset about the plant that came and went so quickly.

The story ends, with an unanswered question.

Jonah 4:10-11 NLT
[10] Then the Lord said, “You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. It came quickly and died quickly. [11] But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?”

Yes, or no, Jonah? No reply! Case closed!

So, how does this story fit with Jesus’ death and resurrection? The answer seems obvious. Jonah was entombed inside a great fish for three days and three nights, apparently dead, but he came out alive with a message of judgement (and redemption – implied) for a whole city. Jesus would be entombed in a burial cave, really dead, for three days, and three nights, but He would also come out really alive, to bring redemption to the whole world. No wonder Jesus declared that, “A greater than Jonah is here.”

Is that all to the message of the story?

We understand that God used natural means supernaturally, to redirect His prophet.

We understand that the sight of Jonah and his message shocked the people of Nineveh, albeit temporarily, into a change of heart.

We understand that God responds to repentant hearts with grace,
no matter how bad they are.

What does this have to do with the context of the story?

The religious leaders, scribes and Pharisees, masters of unbelief, were, once again, on Jesus’ case. No matter what He said or did, they refused to be convinced that He was who He said He was. They refused to examine the evidence. Once again, for the umpteenth time, they demanded a sign.

So, Jesus gave them a sign which, unlike the Ninevites, they would reject to their own doom. How strange, that godless pagans repented when they saw and heard one sign from a prophet, but the religious leaders of God’s own people utterly refused to repent after seeing and hearing many signs from the Son of God Himself!

Does this story speak to us today?

God extends His grace to all who repent, no matter what culture, colour or creed. His message is clear and simple. Turn away from your life of sin and believe in Jesus.

His message is the same to His own people who have piled so much on top of the simple story of Jesus’ death and resurrection that its simplicity has been lost under the burden of theology and tradition.

Repent, return to the ancient way, is His call to us today. Despite our opinions and prejudices, His way is still the same. Repent, return, and follow Jesus. He extends mercy and forgiveness to everyone who repents regardless of who and where they are.

The sign of Jonah? Not only did Jonah’s ‘burial’ in the fish for three days and nights provide a parallel for Jesus’ own death and burial for three days but also God’s mercy to the Ninevites points to His mercy to all people through the death of His own Son.

God takes no delight in the death of sinners. Even His warnings are forerunners of mercy. His mercy to undeserving sinners peaked at the cross and was cemented at the empty tomb. Hence His question to which Jonah had no answer…
“Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?”

Jonah 4:11 NIV
[11]”And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE – THE SIGN OF JONAH

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THE SIGN OF JONAH

“As the crowd swelled, He took a fresh tack: ‘The mood of this age is all wrong. Everybody’s looking for proof but you’re looking for the wrong kind. All you’re looking for is something to titillate your curiosity, satisfy your lust for miracles. But the only proof you’re going to get is the Jonah-proof given to the Ninevites, which looks like no proof at all. What Jonah was to Nineveh, the Son of Man is to this age.'”  Luke 11:29-31.

It seems that human nature has never changed. Jesus had issues with the people of His day because they had a lust for entertainment. To many of them, He was nothing but a great entertainer. They followed Him in droves to watch what He could do and to get what He could give but, when it came to the tough decision to identify with Him and take the flak for being a follower, they opted out because the price was too high.

Their excuse was that they wanted ‘proof’ but, no matter how much proof He gave them, they were always demanding more. What did they mean by ‘proof’? Proof of what? Jesus offered them one sign, which He called ‘the sign of Jonah.’ What was the sign of Jonah? Jonah spent three days and nights in the belly of a fish because of his reluctance to offer Nineveh God’s mercy. God was merciful to him. He sent him to Nineveh a second time to warn them of His coming judgment because of their wickedness. Why did God want to warn them? Why not just dump judgment on them? Was it not because God was merciful? He wanted to give them an opportunity to repent.

And they did.

Jesus spent three days and nights in a grave because of God’s mercy to all mankind. He rose from the grave as a witness that He is who He said He is, the Son of God and that God is merciful to all who believe in Him. Because of Jesus’ suffering and death, God can offer mercy and forgiveness to every person who responds to His offer and receives Jesus as Lord. Faith in Jesus involves active participation in His life, following, imitating and obeying Him as Lord.

But nothing has changed. Whether it is secular or spiritual, people generally love to be spectators; sport, TV, pop festivals, no matter what form it takes, we sit on a seat somewhere, in front of the TV, in a sports stadium or a concert hall or even a pew in church and watch. Christian TV is big business. TV channels are mushrooming. Which are the most popular and lucrative – those that offer the most entertainment and the biggest rewards for ‘sowing into their ministry’?

Jesus’ solution is simple but radical. ‘Whoever does not take up his cross daily and follow me, cannot be my disciple.’ The Jonah-sign demands an active response of trust and obedience, getting up off the seat and following Jesus, right to the death of the self-life and into a life of self-giving for the sake of others.