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Last Sunday we focused on the person of Jonah and how he just didn’t seem to get that God was doing for Nineveh the exact same thing that he had done for Jonah already. God withheld His immediate judgment and punishment from both of them despite their sin. We saw Jonah talk about God’s grace, mercy, love, and patience like they were bad things. Jonah, having delivered the message of repentance to the Ninevites, seeing them repent wholeheartedly, and seeing God withhold His punishment from them, became angry. He was angry that God could even consider not smiting a people like Nineveh immediately, much less actually withhold punishment altogether. When we ended last week, we saw the Lord ask Jonah the seemingly rhetorical question, “Do you do well to be angry?” We noted that this was God making sure that Jonah didn’t miss the similarities that existed between his own being spared and Nineveh being spared. However, it doesn’t seem to end things as much as we thought that it might have. Jonah still seems to have not gotten the message.
Our text for today opens with Jonah going outside of the city and finding a spot where he could see the entirety of Nineveh from above. It’s as if Jonah convinces himself that there’s absolutely no way that God could ever really forgive those people. He refuses to believe that God could do such a thing. Our text says that Jonah sat under a booth, or a shaded area, that he made for himself, “till he should see what would become of the city.” In other words, Jonah was making himself comfortable, waiting for the fireworks to begin. Think about all of the work that you go through to get ready for a movie: popcorn, remotes, drinks, lights, blankets, bathroom, etc. You get everything ready so that you have the least amount of reasons to get distracted from what you’re about to watch. Jonah was making himself as comfortable as he could because he didn’t want to miss the destruction that God was going to bring upon Nineveh, or so he thought. It’s as if everything we talked about last Sunday was completely lost upon Jonah, like he slept through it. Maybe some of you can relate, kidding.
And it wasn’t as if this was the pinnacle of Jonah’s comfort. It’s not as if God looked down at Jonah getting himself ready for the destruction of Nineveh and got angry. Our text continues, “Now the Lord appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant.” So, God, in an effort to make Jonah even more comfortable and protect him, caused this plant (or gourd in some translations) to grow from the ground and cover Jonah. This was a very pleasing thing to Jonah because even though he had some shade from the booth he constructed, it probably wasn’t adequate shade. The region where all of this took place was very dry and the hot Near Eastern sun was most likely scorching. The type of plant that is commonly suggested here by way of the original Greek and knowledge of the area is a castor oil plant, which grows quickly to a height of 15 feet. You see, God was meeting a very real need that Jonah had at that particular time. Regardless of what type of plant it might have been (which people have focused way too much on in the past), it cannot be lost upon us that God was not punishing Jonah for not understanding immediately what was going to take place. Instead, He was continuing to care for Jonah as He always had.
Did you catch the phrase, “the Lord appointed” there at the beginning of verse 6? This is the third time that we’ve seen God appoint or cause something specific in this account, and we will see a few more things appointed by God in just a moment. God appointed the great tempest (windstorm) and the great fish earlier, and now this plant. Never doubt for one second that God is in complete control of everything that is going on. We’ve talked throughout this series about the sovereignty of God being on full display. This list of God appointed events continues on in the very next verses. “But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint.” So, here’s the final God appointed events (at least the specific ones we’re told about) in the account of Jonah and Nineveh. After God had helped Jonah to become completely comfortable with the shade from the plant, it was gone. We don’t know immediately why God allowed Jonah to have this plant only to remove it from him so quickly, although the end of our text does tell us what God was teaching Jonah through the destruction of this plant.
Now, it cannot be lost that throughout this small sample of five divinely appointed events, that there is a mixture of those that were for Jonah’s benefit and those that were (at least in the immediate moment) not for his benefit. Also, it ought to go without saying that all of these events, both the positive and negative, were ultimately for the good of Jonah. Even the “bad” things were getting Jonah to where God wanted him, so they were for his good. That is the central message behind a popular New Testament text like Romans 8:28. Some people like to think that God is simply a judge, punishing people for the bad things that they’ve done. Some people like to think that God is simply a genie, rewarding people for their good behavior by granting their every wish and desire. The truth of the matter is that God is simply God, unfolding His eternal plan. I know that that is a bit of a copout, but there really is no other way to put it. God is unlike anything that we can imagine. His plans are not motivated by selfish, personal desires, but are carried out for our good. What’s good for God is good for us. There is absolutely no one or nothing in this world that we can without hesitation, in every situation, say that what benefits them benefits us to the uttermost as well, except for God.
Now, I mentioned a moment ago about the ending of our text telling us why God would allow this plant to grow over Jonah, only to have it eaten and destroyed in a short timeframe. And to see that reasoning, I want to look at the flow of the conversation that God and Jonah have at the conclusion of the book of Jonah. “And he (Jonah) asked that he might die and said, ‘It is better for me to die than to live.’ But God said to Jonah, ‘Do you do well to be angry for the plant?’” Notice that there is a repetition of two things that happened already in this account. In fact, both of these things happened in our text from last Sunday, the beginning of this final chapter. First, Jonah says that it would be better for him to die than to live in his current situation. When we saw Jonah say that statement before, God immediately followed it up with a question, the same question that he follows it up with again. God asks Jonah again, “’Do you do well to be angry for the plant?’ And he said, ‘Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.’ And the Lord said, ‘You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?’” Whereas last time God asked this question almost rhetorically, this time it is anything but rhetorical.
God makes it very plain that if Jonah felt even the slightest bit of empathy for the plant that he enjoyed for only a matter of hours, then he (and we) ought to understand why God would not want to destroy the Ninevites, whom, despite their wickedness, were still God’s creation. If you’ve ever had something that you’ve raised or nurtured: plants, animals, furniture, crafts, and most obviously children, then you understand the thinking here. What means more to you, some random animal or that dog that you’ve raised since he had puppy breath? What means more to you, the furniture that you bought, or that wobbly shelf that you made yourself? Who means more to you, a stranger or the person that you have raised and nurtured since day one? Now, I’m well aware that we are to care for every one of God’s creatures the same regardless of our relationship to them. We have to realize that as far as God is concerned, we are all equal. We are all His creation, none of us any more deserving of favor than any other. God cares equally for us all. The varying degrees to which we attach our affection are characteristics of fallen, finite human beings. God’s care and compassion for each and every one of us is the same. That’s what’s on full display throughout the book of Jonah, God’s compassion. God showed His compassion for Jonah, as well as His compassion for Nineveh. God showed His compassion for those who were counted among His chosen people, as well as those who were not.
As I mentioned earlier, we talked last Sunday about God’s mercy, love, patience, and grace. We could say that all of those attributes of God lead to God’s compassion for us. Compassion is defined as sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others. Because God is merciful, He has compassion for us. Because God is patient, He has compassion for us. Because God loves us, He has compassion for us. Because God is gracious, He has compassion for us. Matthew’s gospel account speaks of Jesus’ compassion. Matthew 9:36 reads, “When Jesus saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” The words of Matthew here are a brief summation of the early stages of Jesus ministry after the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus saw that the people were completely lost and in need, so he had compassion for them and cared for them and their needs. In fact, it is because of God’s compassion for us that Jesus came in the first place. It’s because of God’s compassion for us that we have this season in the life of the Church known as Lent in which we celebrate the coming of the Messiah, the life-to-perfection, the crucifixion, the atonement, and the resurrection. It’s because of God’s compassion that the elements on the table before us represent the body and blood of Jesus Christ.
You see, while the book of Jonah is a real historical account that teaches us many things about God, it is also a foreshadowing of Christ himself. Our call to worship from Matthew’s gospel focused on that fact. One greater than Jonah has now come and accomplished his work faithfully and obediently, completely in line with the Father’s will. That is what we celebrate during this Lenten and Easter season. As Jonah looked over the city of Nineveh in disgust and anger, Jesus looked over Jonah’s city of Jerusalem and wept. However, Jesus’ reason for sadness is the exact opposite of Jonah’s. Luke 13:34-35 records Jesus’ words, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’” Jonah grieved that a repentant city should be spared. Jesus grieved that an unrepentant city must be judged. Jonah lamented the prospect of loss for his people that could be brought about by the salvation of heathen sinners. Jesus lamented that even the surrendering of his own lifeblood would not bring salvation to Jerusalem.
Jonah, even though he was a prophet and a devout man of God, was not above sin’s self-centeredness. Jonah, a prophet, was actually angry that God would spare someone, whereas Jesus mourned the fact that not everyone was to be saved. That’s one of the most difficult things to preach and teach in the Christian faith, that salvation is not for everyone, it’s not universal. I don’t have the time this morning to get into it, but I would be glad to take the time to walk through it with someone if there are questions. However, please just take my word this morning that Scripture clearly and repeatedly teaches that salvation is for a group known as the elect, and not for everyone. People so often hear this term elect and think that Christianity is this elitist group and don’t like the sound of it. While I don’t think that there should be any negative thoughts along this line, I will acknowledge that there is an eliteness to the Christian faith, but that makes it special. It makes it special because, after all, who are we that God would choose to have a relationship with us? As we said last week, we don’t deserve God’s forgiveness any more than anyone else.
That’s what God was teaching Jonah here. He was teaching Jonah that even though Nineveh was wicked and rightly deserved to be judged, it was still a mournful thing that they had to be punished. He was teaching Jonah that He wasn’t doing anything for Nineveh that He wouldn’t and doesn’t do for everyone else, even Jonah. God loves all of His creations, even those who don’t love Him back in return. God causes the sun to rise and set over the unbeliever as we as the believer. It’s a principle in theology known as common grace. There are certain things that everyone enjoys of God even if they don’t believe. However, it is a precious gift that we have, as Christians, to have an even greater knowledge of God. We are able to understand why God doesn’t want to destroy Nineveh because we know Him as being patient, loving, merciful, and gracious, not just as a harsh judge. We know God to be righteous and not prone to fleeting emotions. We know that God works all things according to His divine plan and not for selfish reasons. Friends, this table is proof that God doesn’t work for selfish means. This table reminds us that God gave up His one and only Son for us. This season of Lent is a time in which we remember the death and resurrection of God’s Son. Ultimately, who are we to say who God is calling into a relationship with Himself? And so as we prepare ourselves to come to this table, I want to remind all of us in this room of the precious gift that we have in Christ Jesus, the relationship that we have with the Father through the work of the Son.
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