Wednesday, April 14, 2004
Christ is Risen!
Wednesday of Bright Week
4th of the Paschal Vigil: Jonah 1 Apostle: Acts 2:38-43 Gospel: St. John 1:35-51
Jonah 1:1-17 LXX, especially vs. 3: "But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the
Lord." The Prophet Jonah ministered during the reign of Jeroboam II, one of the most powerful kings of the separated
northern state of Israel (793-753 BC). Scripture reports that Jeroboam "...made war, and...recaptured for Israel, from
Damascus and Hamath, what had belonged to Judah," a considerable territory in Syria, formerly a part of the kingdom of
the monarch and Prophet, David (2 Kngs. 14:28 RSV). However, Jeroboam's restoration was not a matter of chance, but
"according to the word of the Lord God of Israel, which He had spoken through His servant Jonah the son of Amittai..." (2
Kngs. 14:25 RSV).
The book Jonah surprises us by portraying a reluctant Prophet. When God directed Jonah, "Rise and go to Nineveh, the
great city, and preach in it" (Jon. 1:2), he was loathe to carry out such a mission, seemingly because he did not wish to see
the Ninevites repent and escape certain Divine judgment because of "wickedness" (vs. 2). He struck upon a plan to flee
"from the presence of the Lord" (vs. 3, twice) and to go far away to Tarshish (in Spain).
The reluctant Jonah, like so many today, desperately sought tangible ways to escape from God. Oh, the devices men
employ to escape the Lord's claim on their lives are many and varied: the pleasures of this present life; great, reasoned
ideologies; invented religions with designer gods who assure devotees of a care-free life; amassing wealth; gaining power;
and on and on. However, God's hand has fashioned us, so that the wise man admits with the Prophet David, "Whither shall
I go from Thy Spirit? And from Thy presence whither shall I flee? If I go up into heaven, Thou art there; if I go down into
hades, Thou art present there" (Ps. 138:6,7 LXX).
Poor Jonah would have done well to heed king David's humble admission: "If I take up my wings toward the dawn, and
make mine abode in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall Thy hand guide me, and Thy right hand shall hold me"
(Ps. 138:8,9 LXX). Since Adam our forefather, it seems that every man, at one time or another, seeks to hide from God. It
does not work, for "my bone is not hid from Thee, which Thou madest in secret" (Ps. 138:14 LXX).
Truly, the prophecy of Jonah is more a testimony to the invincible will of God than an account of a man seeking to escape
the Lord and His will. Faced with menacing waves and the plight of the innocent sailors whom he had caught in the web of
his personal fantasy of escape from God, Jonah freely admitted that he was the cause of their problem. Thus "the men
knew that he was fleeing from the face of the Lord, because he had told them" (Jon. 1:10).
Note: the sailors were better prepared to admit the mercy and forgiveness of God than was Jonah. He had fled from God in
the first place because he did not want to see God's mercy and forgiveness extended to the Ninevites as a result of his
preaching. The gracious sailors, on the other hand, tried desperately to save Jonah by returning "to the land, and were not
able; for the sea rose and grew more and more tempestuous against them" (vs. 13).
Finally, observe a man extricating himself from the webs which we humans weave in our efforts to flee from God.
Although Jonah was the cause of the problem, yet, as a Prophet, he also knew the solution: death to one's self. He told the
sailors frankly, "Take me up, and cast me into the sea, and the sea shall be calm to you: for I know that for my sake this
great tempest is upon you" (vs. 12). Following his example, as they cast him overboard, the sailors likewise submitted their
lives to God: "Forbid it, Lord...and bring not righteous blood upon us" (vs. 14).
In every hour of the day, reveal Thy will to me. Teach me to treat all that comes to me throughout the day with the firm
conviction that Thy will governs all.