Jonah’s Tree

There are a number of people who think that the New Testament (NT) God is the cooler, more loving version of the God in the Old Testament (OT).

That the NT God who “so loved the world, that He gave His only Son” is different from the OT God who seemed to speak the language of fire and brimstone judgment alone: a God incapable of loving anyone who didn’t have the blood of Abraham flowing in their veins.

This group of people would probably find a patron saint in the person of Prophet Jonah. It took a non-consensual deep ocean dive and a not-so-exotic cruise in the fetid innards of a sea monster to convince Jonah that God really meant business about saving the Ninevites.

Jonah probably didn’t see why God wanted him to go preach repentance to a people who were doomed to destruction by virtue of not being the seed of Abraham. His frustration after seeing the wholesale repentance which occurred in the city probably stemmed from the fact that he felt scammed by God.

He’d probably thought his mission to Nineveh was to give God a reason to wipe them off the face of the earth. Apparently, God really and truly wanted to save the people of Nineveh from their sins.

Jonah possibly thought this way because He didn’t know God as much as he thought he did, which is understandable because the indwelling spirit of God wasn’t a thing then.

“For what person knows the thoughts and motives of a man except the man’s spirit within him? So also no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.”

(1 Corinthians 2:11, AMP)

God’s response to Jonah’s griping is proof that God has always “so loved the world” and will continue to do so.

“Then the Lord said, “You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow… Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 (innocent) persons, who do not know the difference between their right and left hand… as well as many (blameless) animals?”

(Jonah 4:10-11, AMP Paraphrased)

God’s mercy and love has always yearned to reconcile humanity back to Himself, even while the grand plan of salvation was still being cooked to perfection.

Every human that has ever taken root in the sands of time, shed leaves of memories, and extended branches into the winds of passing times have weighed heavily on the heart of God the same way – and even much more – than Jonah’s tree weighed on Jonah’s heart.

God’s compassion for humanity is what fueled the sacrifice of Jesus; it’s what bore Him through the lashes, mockery, the anguish of sin’s separation and the sting of death. God did all He did with YOU in mind; you, a tree He worked on and caused to grow.

It doesn’t matter what you’ve done and where you’ve been. God has made a way for reconciliation with Him, now and for eternity. And He prepared it with you in mind. Reflect on His love for you this Holy Week, and accept it today if you haven’t.