Are we missing the point: Lessons from Jonah and Jesus
Looking at Jonah
What's Wrong with This Guy
If your Bible is divided with category headings like some digital Bibles, you will likely find the heading Jonah's Anger and God's Kindness written above Jonah 4. This is a very appropriate title considering the chapter begins with Jonah complaining to God because He showed mercy to the people of Nineveh who repented of their evil ways. Jonah actually says to God "for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm. Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live" (Jonah 4:2b-3). Even though I am familiar with this portion of Jonah's life, I still have to stop and wonder at Jonah's reaction. As a Christian reading these words, I find it simply inconceivable that one who walked with God and spoke with God on a regular basis could be so angry that God chose to pardon the sins of the Ninevites. And Jonah's unbelievable behavior does not end there. In verses 5-9, Jonah shows his indignation further when God brings up a plant to shade Jonah's head and then prepared a worm to destroy it. Of course Jonah was grateful for the plant but when the plant died he became "angry even to death," as he told God. Now as you and I read this, we are probably thinking "what's wrong with this guy" or "why does he care more about a stupid plant than the people of Nineveh." And then we see God's response in verses 10 and 11 "But the Lord said, “You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left—and much livestock?”
Modern Jonah's
I think we all can agree with God's assessment of the situation. Jonah is showing more love (or pity) for a plant, that he did not make himself, than he expects God to show for an entire city of people whom God did create. Unbelievable, right? But wait, if we are all honest, this part of Jonah's life strikes a cord with most of us for reasons than we may not like to admit. It is because, if I may dare to say, in many ways we are like our friend Jonah.
Now, I know some of you are saying "I'm not anything like Jonah, I love that God shows kindness and mercy to everyone" and though on a normal basis this may be true, we all have to admit there are times when we become angry because God did not provide the "justice" we believe He should have. To provide a recent example of this. On social media, I often see "Christian" sites talking about how Muslims are evil and they deserve to die or at least be chased from the United States altogether, as if every single one of them is responsible for the evil of a few members of their society. Now some may believe they are righteous in these statements because Muslims do not believe as we believe, because their culture has committed horrific acts, etc. Some may also say "But the people of Nineveh repented, the Muslims haven't and probably won't!" Some even believe that they are protecting our nation from a horrible menace and wonder why God has not stepped in to stop the Muslims. And in all these thoughts we see Jonah creeping about. And to prove my point, I'd like to start with the last thought processes.
Many people believe that we are protecting our country by demanding Muslims be forced out but here we are showing more love for a mass of land than for a people who occupy it. Before everyone gets angry with me and starts removing me from their friends lists on Facebook, let me explain myself. I was raised to be patriotic and I love the United States, but I did not build this country and neither did anyone who lives in this time. We may help it continue to function but this country was "built" on the backs of those who lived hundreds of years before us. God did create the Muslim people just as He created you and I and have no doubt, though He abhors their actions, He still loves them. And only God knows who will turn toward Him and who will continue to deny Him. As for the statement that they are all evil, this is a mute point because all men are evil (Romans 3:9-20). Just as Jonah had no right to judge the people of Nineveh for their wrongs, we have no right to judge the Muslim nation...that is God's job.
Thinking Like Jesus
I think we can all agree that we would never find someone more opposite than Jonah than Jesus. As God, He knows exactly the evil acts each of us has committed and He chose to die for our sins anyway. This extreme act of love is far beyond our finite abilities to express and we cannot begin to understand this limitless affection. Jesus love and forgave where Jonah hated and condemned. Though I could provide a thousand examples of Jesus' and Jonah's opposite natures, I would like to focus on Jesus' interaction with the woman at the well.
A Well at Noon (John 4:1-26)
Again this is a story that many Christians are familiar with. It is noon on a hot day in Samaria and Jesus is tired from his journey back to Galilee from Judea. Jesus rests under a tree and before long a woman approaches the well to retrieve some water. Jesus asked the woman for a drink and what follows is a pinnacle moment in Christ's preaching, the revelation of living water, eternal life.
Unusual in So Many Ways
The meeting and exchange between Jesus and the Samaritan woman is no "normal" interaction between God and one of His children. First, Jesus was a Jewish man traveling through Samaria. Jewish people did not trust Samaritans and considered them dishonest and uncouth. Though we know that Jesus taking this route was no coincidence, his disciples must have thought it was an unusual choice. Second, Jesus addressed a lone woman, generally considered a social no-no in that day. Third, this woman was no "normal" Samaritan woman. She was an "outcast" among her own people as she had been married five times and currently lived with her boyfriend. Put quite frankly, she was an adultress.
Jesus Response
Even though everything in the culture at the time tells us that the Samaritans were viewed in almost the same light as Jonah viewed the Ninevites and this woman likely viewed by her own people to be the worst of the worst, Jesus response hinted at none of that. Jesus' first action is to tell her of the water of eternal life. It was not until after He made this statement of mercy and love that He spoke to her about her husbands and current boyfriend and even then His actions toward her were not judging. He simply states what is true and then continues to tell her about true worship. There is no sign of indignation or hate in his tone but only a desire to have her come to Him. And the Samaritan woman is not the only example of this display of love and mercy. We find Jesus showing the same mercy to the harlot in John 8:10-12.
As you can see, Jonah and Jesus, related to "evil" people in vastly different ways. Where Jonah chose to desire their condemnation and destruction, Jesus chose to show them mercy and love. Jesus could simply have allowed the Samaritan woman to continue in her sinful life and chose someone more "worthy" to hear the news about eternal life, He could even have destroyed her right where she stood. He also could have allowed the people to stone the harlot to death, as was the law in that day, but He interceded on her behalf. If Jonah were put in the same situation, he likely would have not intervened and I dare say many of us, even though we are told to live by Jesus' example, would have the same reaction. Don't think so? Next time you see a person and are tempted to make a "snap" judgement based on their appearance or religious affiliation, think about Jonah reaction toward the Ninevites, then think about Jesus' reactions toward the Samaritan woman. Or the next time you say "I hate people who are_____________" whatever may fit, think about how Jonah behaved, then think about how Jesus behaved. Then after you've taken a moment to think, make a choice; do you want to live like Jonah, wanting to die because God doesn't serve your idea of justice or do you want to live like Jesus, showing love and mercy despite the choices people make. As Christians, the answer should be simple enough, after all Jesus did say “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[c] There is no commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:29).
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