Scripture Reading: Jonah 3:1-10
Reflections: God’s prophet, who has spent considerable energy opposing God’s
purpose, proclaims God’s message to a very ungodly people. He tells his enemy
in verse 4, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.” Nineveh and
its king listen, fast with sackcloth and ashes, and repent. God exercises
His mercy and spares the city.
It reminds me of another text, Matthew 5: 1-12, commonly referred to as the
beatitudes. In verse 4, Christ states, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they
shall be comforted.” What does it mean to mourn? It is to have a sorrow which
begins in the heart and takes possession of the whole person. We generally
think of mourning in the context of grieving over one who has died, but if
we look at the surrounding verses, we see that it refers to a sorrow over spiritual
failure. Mourning is a natural progression of the soul when one understands
what it is to be “poor in spirit”. As we contrast ourselves with the purity
of Christ, we take on a sense of our spiritual poverty. Jesus chose this word
“mourn” to convey the idea that those who have a sense of deep sorrow about
their spiritual poverty are blessed. This is not a popular concept nor has
it ever been so. That one should mourn over his or her own sin is an uncomfortable
if not an embarrassing idea for many. People have other ways to take care of
that - alcohol,
drug abuse, promiscuity, and addictions of all sorts. But if people are not
able to see their sin as a problem that goes to the heart of the soul, then
there cannot be any permanent solution. For Christians there is a way to successfully
work through the process. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
That is what happened in Nineveh.
I. Questions over the biblical passage: Jonah 3:1-10
1. What did the Lord instruct Jonah to do? (1-2)
2. What did Jonah proclaim to the people of Nineveh? (4)
3. How did the people of Nineveh respond? (5)
4. What did the king of Nineveh proclaim? (6-9)
II. Application:
1. How do you think Jonah’s message would be received in our time?
2. If the heart of the gospel is that Christ died for our sins (I Cor. 15:1-4),
can a person who refuses to deal with sin be a Christian?