The Explanation

Jonah sat outside the city of Nineveh, angry. He wanted God to destroy it. Instead, God had forgiven the people there. Jonah was so upset he built a little shelter and sat down to sulk, watching to see what would happen.

God made a plant grow up over Jonah, big leaves giving cool shade over his head. Jonah was glad, really glad, for that plant. But the next morning God sent a worm. It chewed the plant until it withered and died. Then God sent a hot, blasting wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah's head until he felt faint. "It is better for me to die than to live," Jonah said again.

Then God asked him a question. "Is it right for you to be angry about the vine?" Jonah answered, "I am right to be angry, even to death." He was furious over one dead plant.

So God said something Jonah needed to hear. "You have been concerned for the vine, for which you have not labored, neither made it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night. Shouldn't I be concerned for Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred twenty thousand persons who can't discern between their right hand and their left hand, and also much livestock?"

What Does This Mean?

Jonah cried over a plant he did not plant and did not grow. It just came up, gave him shade one day, and was gone the next. Yet Jonah cared more about that one plant than about a whole city full of people.

God is pointing something out gently, almost like asking, "Do you see what you are doing?" Nineveh was full of real people, more than one hundred twenty thousand of them, so many that some could not even tell their right hand from their left. Little children, maybe. Ordinary people who did not know better yet. And animals too, God mentions the livestock. God cared about every single one.

Jonah wanted judgment. God wanted mercy. That is the whole point of this story: God's heart is bigger than Jonah's heart. God cares about people, even people Jonah did not think deserved kindness.

The Common Thread

This is exactly who God has always been. Jonah said it himself earlier: God is "gracious, and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness." That is not just true in Jonah's story. It is true everywhere in the Bible.

Jesus shows us this same heart. He ate with people others looked down on. He forgave people who did not deserve it. He died on a cross for enemies of God, so they could become friends of God. Nineveh got a second chance. Because of Jesus, so do we.

For You

Think of someone you find hard to like. Maybe a kid at school who is annoying, or someone who was mean to you. Jonah wanted that kind of person to be punished. But God asks us to care about people, even people who are hard to love.

You cannot make people be sorry, but you can pray for them. You can choose one hard person this week and ask God to be kind to them, just like He was kind to Nineveh.

Talk About It

Why do you think Jonah cared more about the plant than about all the people in Nineveh?

Is there someone you find hard to be kind to? What could you do this week?

Praying Together

Dear God, thank You that You care about every person, even people who do wrong. Thank You for sending Jesus to save us. Help me to care about the people I find hard to love. Amen.