At the time of Jonah's arrival in Nineveh, proclaiming the
anger of the Lord against the city and its inhabitants, there had already been
several signs that pointed in that direction.
There had recently been a total eclipse of the sun and this was seen as
some sort of omen against not only the inhabitants of the place but also the
animal life, hence the odd statement "and also much cattle." They had also recently lost some territory to
a rising power in the region. There was
also a recent earthquake. A visiting prophet
of doom like Jonah might well have received a hearing and the forty days
warning would be welcomed as a final opportunity to repent as the people do,
much to Jonah's dismay. His desire is
that they continue in their wicked ways and the Lord's wrath be spent upon them
and so he watches to see if the Lord will do what He said, overthrow the great
city. Jonah believes he deserves mercy
but that this great city, which represents all he hates, deserves judgment. We don't know who was the author of the book
but my thoughts are that it may well have been Jonah if we take the story
seriously as real rather than fiction. I
would like to believe that Jonah reflects on his experience with sadness but is
brutally honest. Check out where Jonah's
tomb was located here
for a real surprise.
We were just told that this question, who is Jesus, was on the
lips and mind of Herod and now Jesus, at Caesarea, asks the disciples their
opinion on the matter. Peter, God bless
him, gets it right. What He says next,
however, makes no sense of their messianic expectations and understanding, that
He will suffer and be rejected, that He will die and be resurrected on the
third day. There was not a single person
who thought such things were going to occur.
The disciples must have been completely puzzled by Jesus' lack of
knowledge concerning Messiah. When He
then says that those who come after Him have to take up their own crosses and
die daily it would have been one of the most incomprehensible statements ever
made. Remember that the cross was in the
future, at the time it would have been completely insane to talk about a cross
and suggest that anyone would take up such, if you did, you were considered
anathema, accursed. What in the world
was Jesus talking about?
Things have changed on board the ship. Now, it is Paul's word that is most important.
People are praying for day to come, believing what Paul is telling them about the
future. Fear does that, causes you to
believe what would ordinarily seem silly.
In times of trial you grasp at what otherwise would look like
straws. Paul had some history with being
right with these folks though. He told
them in advance this wasn't going to go well.
Paul was keeping his head in the midst of the storm breaking bread,
praying, eating, communion with God. In the
end, all get safely to land, frightened, perhaps sea sick, a little worse for
wear, but alive. The Lord cared so for
Paul and his mission that all were saved.
Paul's obedience contrasts quite well with Jonah's disobedience doesn't
it? What would have happened on Jonah's
ship if he had simply told the Lord he would do as he was told?
No comments:
Post a Comment