Jonah: Big Fish, Bigger GodSample

The essence of our faith

Ready for a cliffhanger? Here’s how the book of Jonah ends: “But the Lord said, ‘You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?’” (Jonah 4:10,11). God said, “Jonah, you care about a little vine and some extra shade. Shouldn’t I care about a big city and saving souls?”

That question hangs unanswered at the end of Jonah. How will Jonah answer? How will we? Will we have the humility to celebrate God’s love for “those people”?

This story is not about a big fish but about the biggest issues of faith. It’s about a God who really does love the world: violent Assyrians, self-righteous Jews, me, and you. It’s about a God who calls people to repent, to be sorry for their sins, to show they are sorry for their sins. It’s about a God who saves and rescues pouty people who think they’re good and wicked men who know they’ve been bad. It’s about a God who would love the world so much that he would send his one and only Son so that whoever believes in him—whoever!—would not perish but have eternal life.

Never mind the fish. Jonah is about the essence of our faith.

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