Jonah 3 ­–Even the Cattle Repent!

Lesson Focus

God loves even the most wicked and evil.  We should love them too so that they might repent.

Lesson Outcomes:

Through this lessons students should:

1.     Understand the inhabitants of Nineveh as a proper model for repentance.

2.     Identify the inhabitants of Nineveh as creatures beloved by God.

3.     Comprehend that we too should love our enemies and those who have acted with great evil.

Catch up on the story: Jonah had been called to bring the message of repentance and grace to the people of Nineveh.  Nineveh represented for Jonah and Israel all that was evil and bad in the world.  The people of that great city and land were totally undeserving, in Jonah’s eyes anyway, of any kind of salvation that might come from God.  Jonah, knowing that God is a God of grace and mercy, refuses to go and proclaim the good news.  He runs away, buying passage on a ship bound for a distant land.  A storm crops up and threatens the lives of all on board.  The crew finally determines that the storm is Jonah’s fault.  Jonah admits the truth and tells them to throw him overboard and the storm will stop.  Jonah slowly drifts toward the bottom of the sea; his life is ebbing away from him.  Suddenly a great fish swallows him up.  While in the belly of this great fish Jonah sings a song of thanksgiving for God’s deliverance, declaring in the end that deliverance comes solely from God.  As the closing lines of his song are sung, Jonah is vomited back out onto dry land. 

The Text:

Jonah goes…

We aren’t given many specifics concerning Jonah’s trip from the beach to Nineveh.  Depending on where the fish spat him back on dry land, Jonah would have had a really long trip.  

I imagine that on a walk that long Jonah would have had some time to think about what had happened and what he was about to do.  Jonah wasn’t really thrilled about his task the first time God called him, but we find him at least willing to go this second time.  There is nothing in the text that makes us think that Jonah’s theological problem has been resolved.  His song of praise and thanksgiving in chapter 2 offer no plea for forgiveness for his fleeing.  Neither does it give us any indication that Jonah is now on the side of the city of Nineveh, i.e. that he wants them to repent. 

I can imagine that as Jonah is trudging across the hot desert he has a lot of time to formulate what he is going to say.  One might think that he would have composed a great oracle like the ones we find in the books of Amos, Hosea and Micah, detailing all that the inhabitants of Nineveh have done wrong.  Or he might have composed an impassioned plea informing the people how much God loves them and wants to be their God. 

But we don’t find that.  In Hebrew Jonah’s message is only five words long.  In English, it is: “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”  Nothing in this phrase indicates that Jonah wants the people to repent.  Rather, it seems like he is making it as hard as possible for the people of Nineveh to experience God’s grace.  Chapter 4 reveals for us that Jonah still really wants Nineveh to be brought to destruction (more on that next week!).  Not only are Jonah’s words short and ambiguous, he only spends one day in the city, which according to the narrator, would take three days to cross!  Jonah has only taken God’s message to one third of the population. 

Nineveh responds…

In spite of Jonah’s continued obstinate ways, God is working.  One has to think that God had been preparing the people’s hearts to receive Jonah’s call to repentance long before Jonah ever got there.  God’s grace goes before Jonah.  As Christians and as Wesleyans we believe this is how God works.  Long before any of us take the message of Christ’s salvation to anyone, God has gone before us, drawing that person to himself.  We call it prevenient grace.  

Nineveh repents; by order of the king everyone fasts. Even the cows and the chickens put on clothes of mourning.  At this point it is best to keep in mind for whom this book was intended.  Jonah was intended for God’s people who were found living in Judah after the period of exile is over.  God’s people returned from exile to begin to eke out an existence in a land that had been ravaged by war, a land that was not truly their own anymore.  The idea of God saving such an evil people like those in Nineveh would have been very disturbing for them, as it was for Jonah.  They might have been asking, “What’s so special about Nineveh that they deserved being spared God’s judgment, when we, who are God’s people, weren’t?” 

Maybe Nineveh’s response models for them, and for us today, how it is that we are to respond when we are called to repent for our wrongdoing and sin. Nineveh now aware of their sin, takes no chances.  Their repentance and begging for forgiveness is so great that even the livestock take part!  They threw themselves at the mercy of a God whose nature is exactly that, merciful and loving, and God did not turn away from them.  How often, when we have sinned, or are confronted by another about our sin, do we throw ourselves into the arms of our merciful God?  Or do we act with a sense of arrogance as Israel had at times, thinking, “Surly God won’t punish us, we are God’s people!” 

God relents…

The phrase, “Who knows? God may relent and change his mind; he may turn from his fierce anger, so that we do not perish,” is found on the lips of the king of Nineveh.  For him and the people of Nineveh, nothing was certain.  Perhaps we need to have a bit of the same attitude toward our own salvation.  Yet as Wesleyans, we have the doctrine of assurance: we can be confident of our salvation through the inner witness of the Holy Spirit.  What the people recognize is that salvation depends on God. They do not trust in themselves or their own virtue for salvation.  We are not as good as we think we are. In fact, we are evil and broken. Thus, we trust only in God’s mercy.

I don’t want this to come across as though we need to be in constant fear of losing our salvation.  Rather, I am questioning our smug attitude towards what we think we deserve from God.  In reality, what we need to always be doing is evaluating where we are in relationship with Christ.  Asking ourselves questions like, “How have I sinned?”  “How can I make things right with my neighbor?” We need to be constantly confessing the difference between who we are and who Christ is.  Perhaps the only way to true spiritual vitality is a naked honesty about who we are in relationship to Christ.  Israel was not honest with herself about her relationship to God, but Nineveh was.  For those who choose to truly repent of their sins, and realizing that they are completely dependent on God’s grace, grace will be given.    

So What?

The main question that is on the mind of Jonah and his Israelite audience is why would God care for Nineveh?  The direct answer to that question comes at the very end of the book, which will we look at next week.  Simply put, because they exist.  The underlying theme behind the question is a little more sinister.  Behind the question stands the notion that we should not care about the inhabitants of Nineveh.

In Jonah’s mind, Nineveh was a city of great evil and as such, should be destroyed as God said that he might do.  This does not change the fact that in God’s mind the people of Nineveh are his beloved creation, too.  God is saddened by their wickedness and desires that they turn to him.  So, God offers them a chance to repent. 

We often fall into this same trap that Jonah and his audience had found themselves in, the trap that says we should not care about our enemies.  As Christians, and most certainly as Americans, we sometimes take up a stance that dehumanizes our enemies, labeling them wicked or evil and well beyond the scope of anyone’s forgiveness, let alone God’s.  One has only to view the threads of social media to see this clearly.  Every time an individual or a group perpetrates some form of evil there are calls from all different types of people for the most heinous of retributions.

It is sad when the church gets caught up in this trap as well.  We have a tendency to demonize our enemies, whites, blacks, protestors, cops, homosexuals, sexual predators, ISIS and the like.  When our discourse shows a lack of concern for those who have committed great evil we are exposed as being exactly like poor Jonah who wants nothing other than to see his enemies destroyed.  

God has different plans.  God desires us, as his sometimes reluctant prophets and preachers, to declare that he is “a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing.” (Jonah 4:2)  God cares for the vilest offender, and so should we.

Critical Discussion Questions:

1.     How does this text reveal to us the nature and character of God/What is God doing in this text?

a.     God looks compassionately to those who truly repent, even if they seem undeserving of God’s grace in the eyes of the world.  God also looks to be constantly going before his messengers to draw people to himself.  God works in spite of human unwillingness to respond to the call upon our lives to spread his good news.  This should give us hope.  Hope to believe that at the end of time God will ultimately win the battle over death, sin and evil in this world.  Our hope is not on the ability of Christians to convert the world, but on the great drawing power of Christ to bring the entire world back to him.     

2.     What does holiness/salvation look like in this text?

a.     Salvation comes to those who truly repent.  Regardless of what has happened before, of whom a person or group of people is, they can experience God’s saving grace through true repentance.  Nineveh relented from the violence it had been doing, they fasted and mourned for their sins.

b.     It also means that we value and care for those who have perpetrated evil crimes against others and us.    

3.     How does an encounter with this story shape who we are and who we should become?

a.     We are to begin to examine how we view and talk about our enemies.  We must resist the urge to demonize or dehumanize those who have done unspeakable things so that we might care for them and about them in the same way that God does.   

Specific Discussion Questions:

Read the text aloud. Then, read the text to yourself quietly.  Read it slowly, as if you were very unfamiliar with the story.

1.     At first, Jonah refuses to go to Nineveh but runs the opposite direction.  Why does he now turn and obey God’s call?

2.     What do you make of Jonah’s sermon?  Why does he only offer one short sentence?  Why does Jonah only go “one day’s walk” into a city that took three days to cross?

3.     The people of Nineveh respond and repent despite Jonah’s lackadaisical effort.  Why do they respond so positively? 

4.     What does the holistic nature of Nineveh’s repentance say about how we should approach our own repentance?

5.     In the king’s decree we hear this line in verse 9, “Who knows?  God may relent and change his mind; he may turn from his fierce anger, so that we do not perish.”  What was the salvation of the people of Nineveh based on?

6.     The people of Nineveh were great enemies of Jonah and his people.  Why does God care for them?  What does God’s care for the wicked have to teach us about how we should think, speak, and act toward our own enemies?   

Matthew 18:21-35 -The Merciful King, The Unmerciful Servant

Lesson Focus:
Receiving great and immeasurable grace requires the giving of great and immeasurable grace.

Catch up on the story: 
Jesus has just been speaking about the importance of the unity of the community of faith by way of a parable concerned with going after those who have strayed from the church. He punctuated the segment with a small teaching on the way to go about reconciliation. It is the will of God that none, specifically those belonging to the church at one time or another, be lost. Additionally, those who belong to the community of the faith would do well to remember that they are constantly accountable to the community. Now the narrative moves from unity through reconciliation and the unrelenting chasing after our brothers and sisters to forgiveness.

Critical Questions: 

1. How does this text reveal to us the nature and character of God/What is God doing in this text?
2. What does holiness/salvation look like in this text? 
3. How does an encounter with this story shape who we are and who we should become?

The Text:
Our passage begins with a question that Peter puts to Jesus. If we are honest with ourselves, we have probably asked the same question of others or ourselves at times when we have faced people or groups of people who have repeatedly hurt us. So, it seems that the question may be a natural one, “How often should I forgive? As many as seven times?”

At the heart of the question is the notion that there is a limit to forgiveness. Peter is trying to discover what that limit is. Peter offers up the number seven. In the Bible, the number seven is the number of completeness, and perhaps Peter thought that if he had reached that number his responsibility in regards to forgiveness had been met. I don’t think we should be too hard on Peter. How many of us want to forgive after the second or third infraction let alone the seventh? I believe Peter is trying to be generous.

Jesus, however, blows Peter out of the water by suggesting that forgiveness should extend to the seventy-seventh time. John Chrysostom remarks that Jesus’ response is “not setting a number here, but what is infinite and perpetual and forever.”[1] In other words, forgiveness should be unlimited. Jesus could leave this saying here and move on to another subject. A command from Christ should be enough to stir us on toward offering an unlimited forgiveness.

Jesus, however, offers a story that helps us see just why it is that we should be so extravagant in our offering of forgiveness. The story begins with the familiar phrase, “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to…” Jesus here, as he has and will do in other places, is comparing a known world and rule to living in the reign of God. In other words, Jesus is painting a picture of life as it should and will be when Jesus’ kingdom is fully established. In other places, in Mark and Luke’s Gospel, Jesus will use the phrase “the kingdom of God.” The two phrases are mostly interchangeable.

What is the kingdom of heaven like? It is like a king or ruler who wished to go through the books to determine the state of his kingdom. This audit reveals that one of the king’s servants owes him a very large amount of money. It’s to be noted here that the word “servant” does not always denote someone of very lowly status. Rather, it points to a worker in the administration of the king. Judging by the size of his debt, he is rather high up in the governmental organization.

The amount of money the servant owes is ten thousand talents. This was an exceedingly large sum. One talent was equal to six thousand denarii. If we do the math, ten thousand talents were equal to 60 million denarri.[2] To put this into perspective, the normal wage for a day laborer was around one denarri. Translating the amount into terms we can get our mind around, after all we hear of transactions in our business world that are in the billions, diminishes from the force of the amount Jesus is specifying. The idea that Jesus is trying to convey is that the amount that the servant owes is infinitely large, it is well beyond his or anyone else’s ability to pay back. Blomburg states that, “The ‘talent’ was the highest known denomination of currency in the ancient Roman Empire, and ten thousand was the highest number for which the Greek language had a particular word (myrias; cf. our myriad).[3]” Greek speaking persons could not conceive of a number larger than ten thousand talents.

The king brings the servant into his chamber to discuss with him his debt. The servant finds himself in a rough spot; he and his entire family will be sold into slavery until the debt could be paid. At this point, both the servant and the hearers of this story realize that neither the man nor his family will ever be free again. There is just no way they will ever pay back the debt. So, the servant begins to call on the mercy of the king. He offers to pay back everything, if only the king would have some patience.

Here’s where we get a picture of the kingdom of heaven, as God would have it. The king is moved to pity. The Greek word translated “pity” (splagchnizomai) here is more intense. The word itself has to do with the “inward parts” of the person or animal, namely the stomach and intestines as well as the heart, kidneys and liver. Matthew uses splagchnizomai in three of his parables to talk about the divine compassion that God has toward creation.[4] So, the NRSV’s pity could be conveyed as such, “And out of bowel shaking feelings of compassion and mercy for the servant, the lord of that slave released him and forgave his debt.”

The first act of the parable is now complete. The servant, who had a great, immeasurable, incomprehensible debt, was forgiven his debt because of the unfathomable grace and mercy of the king. Now, we could stop right there and go on for days about the nature of the “kingdom of heaven.” The kingdom that Jesus has brought and is bringing is one characterized by immense and outlandish levels of love and forgiveness. Peter’s question seems silly when we compare it to the response of the king toward great debt. The temptation to stop here and soak in this great grace is profound, but this is not where Jesus ends the story.

Act two begins with the newly pardoned servant roaming the streets of his city. Keep in mind that he is a person of standing in the community and kingdom and has persons that are under him. He sees a man who owes him a debt. It is not an insignificant amount, 100 denarri, but it would take some time to repay. The servant seizes the man by the throat and demands that the man pay what is owed.

Obviously the grace that the servant has been shown has had little or no affect on him. The words of the second debtor are almost word for word the same as the servant’s when he spoke to the king. The second man pleads for patience and mercy. The servant refuses and throws the man into prison until he could pay back the debt. A group of the servant’s coworkers witness the whole incident and report back to the king. The NRSV says the servants were “greatly distressed” while the NIV records that the servants were “outraged.” Both translations miss the point a bit. The Greek word translated as “distressed” and “outraged” carries with it more of a feeling of “sorrow” and “grief”. The servants, who perhaps have heard about the king’s great mercy toward the servant, are saddened and brought to great sorrow and grief because of the servant’s actions. This too, should be our response when we see a brother or sister who has received great saving grace from God but refuses to pass on that grace and mercy to others.

The king responds by summoning the servant. The king’s response is one of unbelief, calling the servant wicked for his actions. The payoff line comes in verses 32-33, “I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?” In anger the king hands over the servant to be tortured until he pays his entire un-payable debt. Jesus ends the parable with a warning. This is what will happen to you if you do not forgive your brother or sister.

So What?
What are we to make of this story? What is the kingdom of heaven like? You and I are obviously in great debt to the God of the universe. That’s why we pray the Lord’s Prayer and seek for forgiveness of our debts. Indeed, we are the servant in the parable who has been forgiven an immeasurable debt because we have sought the mercy of Christ our King. The God of the Universe has been moved to provide for us grace, mercy and forgiveness through the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. Our debt has been paid. We have been forgiven.

As I said earlier, it would be a mistake to merely settle in and enjoy our own freedom and forgiveness. Those who have been forgiven much must extend forgiveness as well. This forgiveness should be extended, not out of some moral obligation, or even out of fear that we might be handed over to be tortured until we pay the last penny! No, this forgiveness should be extended because we have allowed the grace and forgiveness we have received to transform our lives. How do we allow this grace to transform us? By routinely acknowledging and recalling our own great debt of sin. If we forget that we are sinners saved by grace, we will have little compassion on those who sin against us. A warning is in order. It does no good to dwell on our sins both past and present. Doing so will only drag us down, but to healthfully consider that we have been forgiven a great debt, that in many cases we are still in need of great forgiveness, causes us to be more indulgent of the sins of others. For the sins of others are our [humanity’s] same sins coming from different faces and names.

Saint John Chrysostom begins to bring his homily on this passage to a close with these words, “Two things therefore doth He here require, both to condemn ourselves for our sins, and to forgive others; and the former for the sake of the latter, that this may become more easy (for he who considers his own sins is more indulgent to his fellow-servant); and not merely to forgive with the lips, but from the heart.”[5] This is the heart of the matter; we forgive because we have been forgiven. How much do we forgive? The same amount we have been forgiven, which happens to be an insurmountable amount.

Critical Questions: 
 How does this text reveal to us the nature and character of God/What is God doing in this text?

• God is forgiving. That is both what God is doing and the nature and character of God. God’s forgiveness is brought about by the gut wrenching feelings of compassion and pity God has for us, who have racked up such a great debt. At the same time, God brings judgment on those who refuse to pass on the great forgiveness and grace they have received. God is as just and righteous as he is graceful and forgiving.

What does salvation/holiness look like in this text?

• Our salvation is in the hands of a great and gracious God. We grow in grace and holiness when we allow the Holy Spirit to work in us so that we might extend great grace and forgiveness to others.

How does an encounter with this story shape who we are and who we should become?

• We are obliged, in light of the forgiveness we have received, to go and offer forgiveness. It is the proper response to the grace of God.

Specific Discussion Questions:
Read the text aloud. Then, read the text to yourself quietly. Read it slowly, as if you were very unfamiliar with the story.

1. Why do you think Peter asks his question in the way that he asks it? Do you think Peter is being generous with his plan to forgive seven times? Or do you think he is trying to go the easy route? Why?
2. Why do you think Jesus recommends forgiving seventy-seven times?
3. As a group, determine who each character is in Jesus’ parable. What is each character doing? What might their motivations be? How could they have acted differently?
4. The king in the story is physically moved to compassion toward the servant. Has there ever been a time where you have been physically moved to compassion for another person? What did that feel like? What was the situation that resulted in your being moved toward compassion?
5. Why do you think the servant didn’t pass on the forgiveness he had received?
6. The king in the parable is full of mercy and grace. Why do you think, at the end of the story, he did not give the servant a second chance but punished him?

Ways to Forgive as God has Forgiven Us…

1.  As you begin each day this week, spend some time gratefully reflecting on the sins for which you have been forgiven.  Express your thankfulness to God for the forgiveness you have received. 
2. Spend some time each day reflecting on the hurt and pain you have received from others.  How have you hurt or inflicted pain on others in similar ways?  Seek forgiveness from God and others for those sins. 

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^[1] John Chrysostom, “Homilies of St. John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople on the Gospel According to St. Matthew,” in Saint Chrysostom: Homilies on the Gospel of Saint Matthew, ed. Philip Schaff, trans. George Prevost and M. B. Riddle, vol. 10, A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, First Series (New York: Christian Literature Company, 1888), 375.

[2] Frederick Dale Bruner, Matthew: A Commentary: The Churchbook, Matthew 13-28, Revised & enlarged edition (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2004), 237.

^[3] Craig Blomberg, Matthew, vol. 22, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992), 283.

^[4] Gerhard Kittel, Geoffrey W. Bromiley, and Gerhard Friedrich, eds., Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1964–), 553–554.

^[5] Chrysostom, 380.