Jonah finds out that God’s mercy endures forever

The figure of Jonah is a fascinating one, is he not? To get all historical-critical for a moment, we first have to recognize that this book of Sacred Scripture is considered part of Wisdom literature. Yes, Jonah is a prophet, but unlike the other prophetic books, it is almost entirely a narrative. If you notice, the prophetic word only comes in passing through the rather artful, rather ironic narrative.

Jonah is a rather passive prophet. In fact, this seems to be the sacred author’s intent. God is the active one here in this story. Jonah is a rather reluctant prophet, too. He doesn’t really want to preach the message of repentance to the people of Nineveh. One of the main reasons why he doesn’t want to do it is because of who these people are.

Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian Empire. They were oppressors of the Israelites. Why would God want to warn these people to repent? Why wouldn’t God just choose to wipe these people out? Jonah didn’t want to go to Nineveh because he did not like them and really didn’t think that they would be worthy of the Lord’s mercy.

Are we like that at times? Do we doubt to whom God’s mercy extends? True, God’s nature is love; the concrete application of love is mercy and, yes, the correct application of mercy is justice, but we can forget that God’s mercy endures forever and his faithfulness to a thousand generations. God’s mercy is for all who turn to him and repent, calling upon his name. If you notice in this story, Jonah is shocked by the fact that the people of Nineveh repent and repent quickly, heeding his prophetic message.

And a further question, how do we deal with those with whom we might be uncomfortable in our ministry? Are we open, attentive, reasonable and loving before all, living these transcendental precepts in our deeds and in our words. Sometimes in our service to the People of God, we do not have a choice to whom we minister; sometimes they just ring the doorbell. Be not quick to judge — God has placed them in our midst, indeed, he has placed us in their midst, so that we as his followers can be the prophetic voice, calling us all to know the Lord who is mercy incarnate.