NOTES for Jon 4:1-2

Jonah's book is probably one of the most remarkable parable about the prophet of all times and all peoples. The prophet, who does not want to go where he is sent by God; who tries to run away and who God delivers with scandal to the place, where he has to witness; the prophet obtaining, in spite of his own expectations, an enormous success (is it a joke, to convert Nineveh; it was almost equivalent to the conversion of this Babylon, which is mentioned in the book of Revelation) and is very upset of his success. After such a thing, it won’t appear to anybody the thought than prophets, as people, are fundamentally better than the others. But all the same: of what Jonah is so upset?

Indeed, the city was converted, its inhabitants repented of all sins, and God forgave them and prevented from perdition those who, it seemed, were condemned. Did not the prophet reach the goal then, hasn’t he fulfill God's orders? And if he accomplished, then why the sadness, why Jonas is so upset and saddened? Obviously, just in particular the fact that his sermon has been so successful. He hoped completely, as we see, on another success, he would be satisfied to be made a harbinger and herald of the wrath of God, which falls on the head of the sinners.

He had probably seen already mentally how this anger falls on the head of the inhabitants of Nineveh. And suddenly all come to nothing! The people repented, thunders and lightning on the heads of the wicked are canceled. The prophet forgets in a way how himself, hardly would have become an apostate, whom only the efforts of God allowed him to become who he became – witness against the sins of a whole city. But it is not of course here only the desire to look at the punishment of the wicked.

Here there is completely a natural desire, profoundly and sincerely religious, but the fallen man sees punished not only the sin, but also the sinner. Only the breath of God, the breath of the Kingdom can make such that man continues to hate sin (equally his and the stranger’s), loving more again his sinful neighbor quite as he loves himself sinner. For Jonah it is still to come: God will make him feel, what is life without love, by the example of the desert burned by the sun, where there is no shred of shade. Well then, Jonah will understand everything. And will not be any more upset because the sinners did not die, but repented, converted and remained alive.

“Why did You make me travel so far? Could You not have done everything Yourself? Why did You send me there? You made me do completely pointless work...” This is the human reaction to one possible turn of events. If everything turns out differently, one leaves the city, watches it perish, and, wagging a finger, says, “I warned them! They should have listened,” or one keeps grumbling: “Why did You send me so far? Even that did not help them; they still did not stop...” But this merely means that we should not take ourselves too seriously. In a number of cases we are simply postmen. The postman who brings a message cannot and should not have his own opinion about the meaning of the letter, because his task is to deliver it, while someone else must read it and take note of it. Nor is it the postman's place to rebuke the Sender. For under postal law it is the Sender who pays for the postman's livelihood.