The Worst Prophet
Feb. 21: Wednesday of the First Week in Lent
When people suffer, we often turn to the book of Job, which seems to be the Bible’s answer to “why do bad things happen to good people?”
The thing is, Job is a very good person, blameless and upright.1 What if that’s not us?
A few years ago, before we found out about Amelia’s neurological condition, our priest gave a homily about God bringing good out of suffering. He talked about a family with a disabled child, and how they took care of him. He believed that their example would lead their other child, who was healthy, to learn compassion and do great things.
And all I could think was, “Yeah, but what about the disabled kid?”
A year or so later, Amelia was diagnosed with a fatal, incurable disease. Over the last couple of years, people at our church (and other places) have noticed Amelia’s decline. They come up to us after mass and say how inspired they are by the way we take care of her, and how blessed they are to witness us.
But I don’t want to be an “inspiration.” I want my daughter to be healthy.2
That’s not the reaction of Job; that’s Jonah (from whose book we get today’s first reading). Jonah doesn’t want to be a prophet, which is why he flees to Tarshish and gets eaten by a whale.
Eventually, Jonah does as he’s told. Sort of. He goes to Nineveh and prophesies doom for the city, but he doesn’t call for repentance. And yet, God takes even Jonah’s half-assed attempt at prophesy and makes good use of it. The people do repent, and they become an example that Jesus points to in today’s Gospel.
Jonah doesn’t know any of this, and neither do we know what good will come of our sufferings or reactions to them. But we do know that responding with faith to God’s call is the surest way to find out.
Reading 1
Jon 3:1-10
The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: “Set out for the great city of Nineveh, and announce to it the message that I will tell you.”
So Jonah made ready and went to Nineveh, according to the LORD's bidding. Now Nineveh was an enormously large city; it took three days to go through it. Jonah began his journey through the city, and had gone but a single day's walk announcing, “Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed,” when the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth.
When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in the ashes. Then he had this proclaimed throughout Nineveh, by decree of the king and his nobles: “Neither man nor beast, neither cattle nor sheep, shall taste anything; they shall not eat, nor shall they drink water. Man and beast shall be covered with sackcloth and call loudly to God; every man shall turn from his evil way and from the violence he has in hand. Who knows, God may relent and forgive, and withhold his blazing wrath, so that we shall not perish.”
When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way, he repented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them; he did not carry it out.
Jonah’s a short book, and this is the beginning of the second half. Jonah’s already fled across the sea, gotten eaten by a whale,3 and spat out again.
He finally goes to Nineveh, as God instructed a couple chapters ago, to preach repentance. At this point in the story, though, we don’t actually know why he doesn’t want to preach. Jonah was already a prophet, so what’s his problem?
Nineveh is the capital of Assyria, Israel’s mortal and ancient enemy. Jonah doesn’t want them to repent, he wants God to destroy them! Notice when he preaches, he doesn’t technically tell anyone to repent. He just says Nineveh will be destroyed in 40 days.
Still, the Ninevites, from the lowliest peasant to the king himself, hear the message and repent. God sees their repentance and, being merciful, forgives them. (In the next chapter, Jonah’s mad at God for forgiving them.)
So Jonah is pretty much the worst prophet ever. And yet, God finds a way to work through him and save a people who were otherwise hopeless and horrible.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 51:3-4, 12-13, 18-19
R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me.
R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
For you are not pleased with sacrifices;
should I offer a burnt offering, you would not accept it.
My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit;
a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
The “Old Testament God” has a reputation for being wrathful, and ready to smite people at the drop of a hat, but that’s a really incomplete picture. Even before Jesus, Jews acknowledged the possibility of forgiveness (contingent on genuine repentance).
God even forgave Nineveh. So don’t think Lent is all about feeling guilty. Acknowledging our guilt is only the first step; the next comes when God forgives us.
Verse Before the Gospel
Jl 2:12-13
Even now, says the LORD,
return to me with your whole heart
for I am gracious and merciful.
At this point in Joel, the prophet is warning Israel of an invading hoard. An army so large, “Before them the earth trembles; the heavens shake; Sun and moon are darkened, and the stars withhold their brightness.”4
And yet, it’s not too late for Israel to repent! It’s probably not too late for us, either.
Gospel
Lk 11:29-32
While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them, "This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah. Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. At the judgment the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation and she will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and there is something greater than Solomon here. At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because at the preaching of Jonah they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah here."
This passage is parallel to a scene found in Mark.5 There, Jesus said no sign will satisfy the Pharisees, because they already believe he’s from the Devil.
Here, however, Jesus compares the current generation to those in the past. The Ninevites got the worst prophet ever, and they still repented. The Queen of the South, i.e. the Queen of Sheba, heard about Solomon’s wisdom and traveled across the known world to see him and worship God.6
Jonah was in the belly of the whale7 for three days; likewise, Jesus will be in the grave for three days. Yet, even then, some people won't believe, and turn their hearts to repentance.
Unlike them, we can read Kings and Jonah and the Gospels. What excuse do we have not to repent?
Which is not to say I don’t appreciate the kind words. It’s just that Amelia is my priority.
I know it’s not “a whale,” but it’s funnier to say it this way.
Still know it’s not a whale; still don’t care.