Someone commanded the people to repent
Nineveh's king responded as should all of us in authority
Some of us find Jesus’ use of the Jonah story as a prophetic connection a strong clue to its veracity. Why would Jesus wrap such an essential reference to three days in a whale by Jonah to his upcoming three days in the “heart of the earth?” Would he use a critical piece of scripture that is fulfilled from a made-up story?
Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary
Jonah 3:1-10
Luke 10:38-42
Today’s reading from Jonah skips over the anger of a reluctant prophet, his obstinacy in the face of a God he knew to be immovable, and the frightening reframing of Jonah’s need to go to Ninevah through an experience of a giant fish that spewed him out of its gullet after three days onto a beach.
Instead, we get the happy conclusion, a successful command from Jonah that the Ninevites would be killed if they didn’t repent. Actually, it doesn’t appear from the text that Jonah offered repentance. Quite the opposite. He was a mouthpiece describing Nineveh’s upcoming demise and was angry with God when the people were spared.
It’s the king who fostered the behavior of a repentant people. “Who knows, God may relent and forgive, and withhold his blazing wrath, so that we shall not perish,” said the King, imploring God to save them.
The unholy people then did what the king asked — rather, commanded. “Man and beast shall be covered with sackcloth and call loudly to God; every man shall turn from his evil way and from the violence he has in hand.”
This remarkable tale ends like a fairy tale, with God relenting his hand, stopping “the evil that he had threatened to do to them; he did not carry it out.”
I say fairy tale, because theologians have argued over the origin of this scripture. Like the story of Job and many other Old Testament documents, the stories present fanciful, legendary fireside drama.
Yet, some of us find Jesus’ use of the story as a prophetic connection a strong clue to its veracity. Why would Jesus wrap such an essential reference to three days in a whale by Jonah to his upcoming three days in the “heart of the earth?” Would he use a critical piece of scripture that is fulfilled from a made-up story?
Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, “Teacher,* we wish to see a sign from you.” He said to them in reply, “An evil and unfaithful* generation seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights,* so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. At the judgment, the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and there is something greater than Jonah here. (Matthew 12:38-41)
In fact, Jesus identifies the men of Nineveh as present on the judgment day. Of course, if we take Jesus seriously, and we layer the power of God upon the miracles and preposterous-sounding healings during Jesus’ earthly life, Jonah’s story assuredly is true.
The symbolism of the story isn’t in the details of events. The symbolism refers to the very nature of kingship, which is connected to God through both inherited and appointed authority. Jonah’s attentive king was perhaps the King of Assyria, or simply a local, provincial ruler, say the scholars. In any case, his leadership was that of a servant who finally hears and takes the proclamation of God to heart.
We more often place ourselves in the shoes of Jonah, for good reason. Obstinacy and avoidance better reflect our natures. Our roles as authorities present more opportunities for sin, but we may not recognize that. God, in most cases, must force our hand to obey him. The King of Nineveh, however, has performed worse evils than Jonah, allowing and surely participating in the sins of Nineveh. We, too, have authority roles very similar to those of this man who wisely, and just in time, garnered God’s favor.
I’m reasonably sure that we’ve all, at one awful time or another, called for punishment by God for another person. Indeed, we’ve played this card on entire nations.
God’s response to Jonah reminds us of our place within and in collaboration with God’s divinity. These are the last words in the short 4-chapter book of Jonah.
“And should I not be concerned over the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot know their right hand from their left, not to mention all the animals?” (Jonah 4:11)
God didn’t say to Jonah that the people were innocent, but they were certainly ignorant. Likely brainwashed and coerced into sins slowly and methodically. Most fascinating is God’s back-handed mention of the dumbest elements of creation, the animals, as examples of the people’s sinfulness.
Jonah had no right to be angry. The king had no right to be subordinate to evil. We don’t know if or when Jonah realigned his attitude toward God, but we like to think he woke up to God’s correction. We do know that the king’s response is a treasure for all of us in authority, which is likely everyone of us in some fashion.