Title Go and Declare! (Jon 3:1-10)
Contents
One of the paintings by the medieval painter Matthias Gr newald shows John the Baptist pointing his hand at the crucified Jesus Christ. Theologian Karl Barth is said to have put the painting in front of his desk while he was writing 『The Dogmatics of the Church』, which can be said to be the greatest work of his life. So that you can always see the hand of John the Baptist pointing to Jesus on the cross...
Of course, since John the Baptist was arrested and died before the crucifixion of Jesus, it was practically impossible for him to point his hand at the crucified Jesus. However, in the image of Jesus coming to him from the beginning, John the Baptist saw the image of the Lamb of God taking up the cross. Did he not testify clearly? This is John 1:29. “The next day John saw Jesus coming to him and said, Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world.”
Perhaps the theologian Karl Barth saw Jesus throughout the Bible. And over the past two thousand years, many people have seen the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and preached it. Countless people of God lived their lives devoting all their heart to pointing and preaching Jesus, who became flesh and dwells among us, rather than revealing themselves. As the Apostle Paul said, they all lived and died as “workers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God” (1 Corinthians 4:1).
God's people have always been clinging to the Word. They also lived as people who revealed the will of God and its mysteries. However, there are people who did not live that way even though they should have lived like that. Jonah, who can be said to be the protagonist of today's story, is the author. However, the Bible does not introduce much detail about this Jonah. For this reason, it is true that many people treat this story as a fable or a legend. However, if we look at 2 Kings 14:25, we can see that he recorded the fulfillment of the prophesied words. Also, Jesus said earlier that the only sign that would be shown to the wicked and adulterous generation was the sign of Jonah (see Matthew 12:39-41, Luke 11:29-32). Therefore, today we accept this story of Jonah as a historical fact. It would be right to believe.
God commanded this Jonah. “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before me.” (Jon 1:2) But who are the people of Nineveh? As God Himself had said, their wickedness was known even to heaven. Nineveh was the center city of the Assyrian Empire that conquered the Near East at that time. After conquering the neighboring countries, the Assyrian Empire ruled viciously. They were like enemies, which Jonah could not tolerate. Going to such a crowd and preaching the word of God was something I hated more than death. Even if it says that after forty days there will be a terrible judgment of God...
As Jonah, he would have wanted to avoid it if possible. The wicked people of Nineveh thought they deserved judgment according to God's original plan. But if they turn and repent, God must forgive them, and then they too will be saved. It was unbearable for him. Because of that, he would have been more reluctant to go to them.
But God's command was very clear. “You go! Go and proclaim the word!” It was a strict command that could not be refused. But he did not want to obey the order. He didn't want to obey God's Word, which was different from his own, because he thought his own thoughts were more right.
Faith always requires us to make these decisions. I have to decide whether to do what I like or to follow the good will of God. In fact, you have no choice. It means obedience. God is looking for people who acknowledge God's sovereignty and fully obey His Word. It means that God is looking for people who live by the word of God like a person struck by lightning today. We must not forget that the reason the early church members were so courageous even in the face of death was because they thoroughly obeyed God's Word.
But Jonah did not obey God's word. They rejected God's will. He went down to Joppa to flee, not to Nineveh, but to Tarshish. There he met a ship going to Tarshish. It seemed to be going smoothly so far. But what happened then? Wasn't his ship nearly wrecked by a great storm? That was God's way. Just as it was his freedom not to go where God directed it, so it was also God's freedom to cause a storm in his path. Belatedly, he realized that everything about him had to be shaken in the face of God's way.
God completely shook Jonah's life of disobedience. Finally, in the storm, he experienced a change. His view of life has changed. He also changed his mind about the enemy he hated. He was finally ready to hear and obey God's Word. Jonah realized that even the hardships he was going through were good for him. And he also realized that he deserved punishment. Being completely transformed through God's way, he was able to adopt an altruistic attitude to life, even bearing the sufferings of others. What did he say in the storm? This is Jonah 1:12. “Pick me up and throw me into the sea, and the sea will be calm for you, I know that it is because of me that you have met this great storm.”
God caught Jonah, who was running away from God's face, and put it into the work of saving lives again. God told him to cry out to the people of Nineveh. Regarding the imminent judgment of God... Completely transformed, he obeyed the word. Now it is known that a terrible judgment will come upon the people of Nineveh. The hour of judgment was approaching minute by minute.
But here something truly amazing happened. The people of Nineveh, who were in their sins without knowing God, or who did not even want to know God, heard the word of God that Jonah cried out and believed in that God. What does it mean to declare a fast and put on sackcloth, high and low, alike? It means that they repented of their sins and returned to God. It was only through the power of God's Word that the unthinkable happened. Even the king of that city, when he heard the word, got up from his throne, took off his robe, put on sackcloth, and sat on ashes, didn't he say that he repented?
Dear saints, After all, aren't we like Jonah? How many times have we disobeyed God's Word by putting our own thoughts ahead of us rather than believing and relying on the power of God's Word? However, the worker God is looking for is not someone like disobedient Jonah, but someone who believes and obeys. And God uses His methods to make us obedient workers. God's way like a raging storm and a great storm...
Now we must obey that word! Even if our thoughts are different, we must obey God's Word completely! Let us not forget that God never takes pleasure in sinners perishing in their sins! I sincerely hope that by obeying the words of “Go and proclaim!”, we will be able to become all of you who are truly blessed today, experiencing vividly the mysteries of God who saves all the peoples of the world and creates them anew by the Holy Spirit! (Rev. Seok-Gong Kang)