PrintTwo Men In A Boat (8)
Today I want to explore an eighth comparison or contrast between Jonah and Jesus. I'm fascinated by the comparison between Jonah's attitude to the city of Ninevah and Jesus' attitude to the city of Jerusalem.
Jonah was given a message of judgment for the city of Ninevah. There is no mention of repentance as a means of turning away the judgment of God on Israel's long-term enemy. But Ninevah does repent. This is not household salvation. It goes way beyond that. This is a city-wide repentance that casts itself on the mercy and compassion of God (3/9). Jonah wanted God to be merciless, harsh, quick to anger and filled with vengeful judgment towards these traditional enemies of his people. It was to be bad news, not good news.
The city repented. So did God (3/10). Now I discover the real reason Jonah disobeyed in the first instance. He knew that God was filled with mercy, compassion and unfailing love. Jonah was convinced that Ninevah did not deserve such mercy and grace and he obviously did not want to be the means that God used to bring Ninevah to the place where they experienced that mercy and grace.
How different was the attitude of Jonah to that of Jesus. The message of Jesus included the reality of coming judgment but it also contained a strong call to repentance (Mark 1/14,15). The message of Jesus was (is) good news. When Jesus looked over Jerusalem He grieved because of their resistance to God's message and their refusal to repent (Matt.23/37-39).
Like Jonah, Jesus knew that God's heart was filled with mercy, compassion and unfailing love. But, unlike Jonah, Jesus was grieved at the lack of positive response from the people of God. Jonah was angry that mercy was received in Ninevah. Jesus was grieved that mercy was refused by Jerusalem.
Through a series of events (chp.4) Jonah's attitude was exposed when he experienced sorrow but only because his comfort was removed. The book of Jonah ends with a powerful question asked by God, "Ninevah has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness…….Shouldn't I feel sorry for such a great city?" (4/11). Jesus did feel sorry for another great city - Jerusalem.
I live in a suburb that is filled with people who live in spiritual darkness. What do I feel towards them?
