and did Jesus
preach it ?
Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: ‘Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.’
Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it. Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, ‘Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.’ The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth......When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.
This week's texts exemplify Epiphany, the season after Christmas which began with the visit of the Wise Men, the season where our focus is on Jesus, light to all people. The story of Jonah is relatively well known, even to people who no longer or never have had an interest in the Scriptures. In the week ahead, I invite you to read all of Jonah's 48 verses without being swallowed up by the tale's fishiness. Instead, focus on God's abundant love for all people.