Jonah 1:1-17; 3:1-10 [4:1-11], Jonah & God's Mercy

Sunday, November 8, 2020
12:00 AM 11:59 PM 00:00 23:59

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Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today

“Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying, ‘Go at once to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before me.’ But Jonah set out to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid his fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.”

— Jonah 1:1-3

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NL Daily Devotion for Sunday, November 8, 2020

by Dr. Kimberly Leetch, Clergy Stuff

Main Idea: God’s mercy gushed all over this story, even though Jonah was too wrapped up in himself to see it.

The parable of Jonah is a delightful tale of disobedience and obedience, sin and redemption, all wrapped in a cloak of secrecy, hiding, games of chance (casting lots), and sea creatures. It is vivid in its imagery and clear on its message.

God called upon Jonah to travel to a land Jonah despised and proclaim God’s impending punishment on them for their sin. Jonah, of course, refused and tried to run from God by boarding a ship in the opposite direction. Once discovered, Jonah was thrown overboard to save the uninvolved members of the crew. Jonah was tossed into the sea—the realm of the creatures of darkness. If he was trying to flee from God, there would be no further place on earth than the domain of the evil ones. But even there, God did not forget Jonah. God sent a sea creature to hold him there while he thought about what he had done.

Once turned around, Jonah continued on to Nineveh, where he proclaimed the destruction God intended upon the city. Unlike many other hearers of God’s impending doom, Nineveh actually listened. From the king to the common folk, all of Nineveh repented, and God changed God’s mind about destroying them. This change of heart irritated Jonah, who hadn’t wanted to go in the first place. All this upheaval, and God ultimately didn’t do what God said God would do.

The irony is that Jonah couldn’t see that the repentance (turning around) of Nineveh was not so different from his own repentance in the belly of the sea creature. God had saved not only Jonah, but the sea merchants, and now Nineveh. God’s mercy drooled all over this story, but Jonah was too wrapped up in his own misery to see it. If he had stopped looking inward and opened his eyes to what was going on around him, he might have seen how glorious and magnificent God’s grace really

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