The Pouting Preacher: A Guide to Jonah

Sometimes the most stubborn practitioners of grace are those called to proclaim it.

The Book of Jonah tends to be hijacked by a certain marine mammal. But this story has more to do with grace and the gospel than with a giant fish. What if we have been too hard on Jonah? If God asked us to evangelize Middle Eastern terrorists, we might want to go to the other side of the world as well.

This whale of a tale—arguably the most well-known of the Minor Prophets—reminds us that God loves even ancient terrorists guilty of war crimes. The story's greatest miracle is the fact that mighty, wicked Nineveh threw herself at God's mercy, and the Lord forgave her. Jonah, however, preferred to pout. His example proves that we respond to evil with anger, bitterness, and hate only because we haven't seen the power of grace in our own lives.