Wednesday, Week of 1 Lent

“For as Jonah became a sign to the men of Nineveh, so will the Son of man be to this generation […] The men of Nineveh will arise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here” (Luke 11:30, 32).

Today’s reading is all about recognizing Christ – and what to do when you have. It’s also about a failure to believe, a failure to embrace or understand, a desire to demand more.

Before making his pronouncement that this is an evil generation seeking a sign, Jesus had cast a mute demon out of a man. Even though many people marvelled at what he had done, a few others claimed that he cast out demons by the power of the devil (Lk 11:15), while still others demanded more signs from heaven (11: 16). Jesus denounces those who say his power is from the devil with the argument that a divided house will fall, and so the devil cannot cast out his own. But it’s obvious that the bigger problem isn’t the people who foolishly think his power is demonic. The bigger problem is those who just can’t bring themselves to believe.

Two things about Jesus’ reference to Jonah are interesting. The first is that he says no sign will be given except the sign of Jonah (11:29). But that already isn’t true. All Jonah does is walk into the city of Nineveh and tell the people that it will be destroyed (Jon 3:4). The people believe him, knowing it is a threat from God, and they repent; in the end, God does not destroy Nineveh because they turn from their evil ways. God repents of what He meant to do, and turns away from His anger.

Yet in Jesus’ case, the people have received more than words. Jesus has been doing deeds of power, and had in fact just cast out another demon. They have already seen a greater signs than the people of Nineveh, and yet refuse to believe. You can just see Jesus banging his head against the nearest wall in frustration. In this sense, Jesus’ pronouncement about Jonah’s sign is a condemnation of people’s unbelief; Jesus knows that these people, like those of Nineveh, will be judged and must repent while there’s time.

The other interesting thing about Jesus’ reference to Jonah is that Jesus is, in fact, nothing like Jonah at all. Jonah is an unwilling prophet who runs away to the other side of the world to get away from God, and ends up swallowed by a fish. When God hears his pleas and saves him, Jonah finally goes to Nineveh like God asked in the first place. He preaches about how they’ll be destroyed. Then, the people of Nineveh repent, and God saves them.

And Jonah is really, really mad about it.

Can’t you just hear him? “God, you jerk, this is exactly what I said would happen back when I was comfortable in my own house. That’s why I ditched you; you’re so freaking gracious and merciful, full of love and slow to anger, I just knew it would come to this. But noooooo! You made me come all the way here, you got me eaten by a damn fish, to do your dirty work and deliver your stupid meaningless threats. I’d rather just be dead. Stupid God.” Then Jonah stamps off to sit in a proverbial corner.

Jesus isn’t the reluctant prophet: Jesus wants to deliver God’s message. Unlike Jonah, Jesus doesn’t fail to get that the point is leading people to repentance, rather than to consume them in a fiery rage. Jesus is not mad about God’s desire to save us (though he seems a little put out by our unwillingness to listen). Jesus is like God in the story of Jonah, while the people who refuse to believe are more like the Jonah who listened to God without being willing to understand.

After Jonah goes off in his little corner, God grows him a lovely plant to give him shade, and Jonah’s happy for it. The next day, God kills the plant, and Jonah grows faint from the heat. God asks Jonah if he’s right to be angry for the plant, and Jonah replies that he is, mad enough to die. “Stupid God, you killed my plant. I liked it, and now I’m miserable. Why’d you have to kill it?”

God replies, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labour, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night, and perished in a night. And should I not pity Nineveh” (Jon 4:10-11)? Silly Jonah: it was never your plant to begin with, it was mine.

Jesus, like the Lord, is hoping that we will see the signs he sends so that he can save us; after all, we are the fruit of his labour and he does not want us to be destroyed. We must strive to see Jesus so we can turn to him; we must strive to be like the Ninevites, and not like Jonah who refuses to see the good God is working because it doesn’t match what he wants.