Relentless Love: Reflections on the Book of JonahSample

Coming to Terms with God’s Radical Grace

This final chapter of the book of Jonah returns to God’s patient care and investment in Jonah as an individual. Jonah 4 brings us face-to-face with a surprising truth: sometimes, we’re more upset by God’s mercy than by injustice itself. Jonah isn’t just angry—he’s furious that God would forgive people whom he thinks deserve destruction. He cares more for a plant than for a city of 120,000 souls.

Yet God doesn’t shame him. God patiently teaches Jonah through a vine, a worm, and a question: “Is it right for you to be angry?” (v. 4). In comparison to the Ninevites, the gourd is of minor worth. God exposes the ridiculous fact that Jonah has furiously argued for the worth of a one-day-old plant. God is revealing a heart, not just for Nineveh but for Jonah, too.

We’re left with an invitation: will we share in God's compassion, even when it challenges our sense of what is just? God cares deeply for people we may struggle to love. Will we let God soften our hearts, too?

Response Questions

1. How does this chapter affect how you think about God, yourself, or others?
2. How might the extent of God’s compassion change your response to violence and injustice?
3. How does the message of justice tempered by mercy apply to the mission of the people of God in the world? Where does peacemaking fit into this mission?

Prayer

Lord God, give us hearts of compassion for those whom we consider enemies or undeserving of your mercy. Help us to be obedient to your call to love you and to love our neighbor. Empower us by your Holy Spirit to obey your call to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.

Reach Your Neighbor

Peacemaking is at the heart of what it means to join God's mission. It is an integral expression of our relationship with Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Today, ask God how you can be a peacemaker at home, at work, or in your community.