24 January 2021

The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, ‘Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.’ So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord.
Jonah 3:1-5, 10, NRSV.

The story of Jonah is perhaps one of the best known in the Bible. The section we hear in today’s reading follows on from Jonah’s miraculous survival from being thrown overboard from a boat in a storm. Jonah had been trying to escape from God’s injunction that he go to the people of Nineveh to warn them of their impending doom. Jonah’s desire to run away was perfectly understandable – he was an Israelite prophet and was being asked to take a most unwelcome message the capital city of the dreaded Assyrian Empire. He could well have expected to have been killed. Jonah’s attempt to escape resulted in his being swallowed by a large fish where he was held safe for three days before being spat out intact in the place he had tried to escape from. God then repeated his injunction and this time Jonah complied. He went to Nineveh and warned them that they were to be destroyed in forty days. Their response was completely unexpected – they listened, renounced their evil behaviour and did penance. God saw their efforts and they were spared the disaster that had been threatened.

• • Did the people of Nineveh deserve God’s mercy? 
  • Have you ever been surprised at how God can help to bring about the unexpected?

Pray today for those who feel called by God to deliver difficult messages.