Whale watching

 

Luke 11:29-32

Whales pop into our imagination when we first think of Jonah. The biblical text doesn't say it was a whale that swallowed the prophet, but a big or great fish. Our collective big fish knowledge limits us, perhaps. So, a whale it must've been. Of course, a man consumed by a sea creature is an interesting plot. But it is not the highlight of Jonah's story. It's a part of the absurdity of how far he was willing to go away from God's direction. The real intriguing part happens later. After Jonah washes up on the shore, he heads to Nineveh. That's where God told him to go in the first place. When he arrived, he offered an eight-word proclamation: Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown (Jonah 3:4)! After that, the most illogical thing happened. Every Ninevite repented, from the least to the greatest. Now, what God did wouldn't have surprised Jonah. His anger got the best of him when God acted like God and forgave the repentant people. But he knew that would happen. I wonder if he thought God would have had a chance to forgive Nineveh. To say the absolute least about the matter, Jonah was no fan of the great city. Wickedness filled Nineveh and the people, Jonah thought. So, how could they respond to God faithfully? But they did. That's the part to remember about Jonah. And Jesus drew his listeners back to that highlight of Jonah's story. Not the whale. But the repentance of Nineveh. When the people wanted a sign of what was important to his ministry, Jesus turned their attention to repentance. Doesn't that sound so basic? Couldn't he have talked about something more interesting to pique their interest? With Jesus, there were no whales to look for. There was simple repentance. But that was the intriguing and greater part of his story. Without it, how can we experience the transformation of God? Repentance is a changing of our minds and how we think. This change leads to new actions and, consequentially, to new life. Our repentance, then, not our swallowed-by-a-whale moments, is the most exciting part of our story with God. Stay blessed...john