Our readings today focus on the prophet Jonah and the Sign of Jonah. In today’s first reading Jonah is called to announce God’s message to the great city of Nineveh. So, we hear that “Jonah set out for Nineveh, in accord with the word of the Lord.” This call seems very straightforward until we realize that this is not the first time God called Jonah: “The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time.” What happen the first time? He did not head east towards Nineveh but headed west instead:
“The word of the LORD came to Jonah, son of Amittai: Set out for the great city of Nineveh, and preach against it; for their wickedness has come before me. But Jonah made ready to flee to Tarshish, away from the LORD.” (Jonah 1:1-3).
Jonah was a reluctant prophet but as we hear in today’s reading, he finally headed east to preach God’s message to the people of Nineveh. He preached and the people repented of their evil and God showed them mercy and compassion. This upset Jonah greatly since the Ninevites were the enemies of Israel:
“O LORD, is this not what I said while I was still in my own country? This is why I fled at first toward Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, abounding in kindness, repenting of punishment.” (Jonah 4:2).
Jonah wants God to be “gracious and merciful” to himself and to his fellow Israelites but not to the enemies of the Israelites.
In today’s Gospel Jesus proclaims the only sign that will be given is the sign of Jonah. “This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah. Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation.” The sign of Jonah is that God is a gracious and merciful God. Jesus recognizes the truth about God that Jonah refuses to see, that God is gracious to both the bad and good, the just and the unjust.
“But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.” (Matthew 5:44-45).
Image: “Jonah preaching Repentance” by Lawrence OP is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.