I love the little book of Jonah, and my favorite chapter might be the third one. The story of Jonah is about God, Jonah, and the city of Nineveh. In the story of Jonah, it’s important to remember that God’s chosen people are to be a blessing to the nations. It’s also important to recall that God so often subverts our expectations.
Jonah is given the job of calling the city of Nineveh to repentance, but he resists his own calling at the beginning of this story. He doesn’t want to set foot in this den of evil and be subjected to ridicule and rejection. He doesn’t want what’s best for Nineveh. Jonah wants what Jonah believes is best for Jonah.
God’s plan is to bring Nineveh to repentance, and He chose Jonah as His instrument for bringing His salvation message to those people. At the end of this story, Nineveh does repent, but their change of heart only happens after Jonah first listens to and repents of his own wrongdoing. Chapter 3 is about Jonah’s own repentance. To fulfill his own calling and the calling of God’s people more generally to be a blessing to the nations requires a changed heart and a willingness for self-sacrifice. The blessing comes through that process not our own prowess.
Unlike Jonah, Jesus was obedient to God’s calling right from the start. Like Jonah, Jesus also spent three days in the dark dank suffering of sacrifice. His obedience even to death on a cross is what makes it possible for us to be gratefully obedient. As part of the chosen people of God, we too are sent out to be a blessing to the nations. Like Jonah, that blessing flows from God through our sacrificial obedience to God’s gracious redemption plan.