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Ps 51:12 298, 431; Ps 51:19 1428, 2100
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Reading 1
Jon 3:1-10
The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time:
“Set out for the great city of Nineveh,
and announce to it the message that I will tell you.”
So Jonah made ready and went to Nineveh,
according to the Lord’s bidding.
Now Nineveh was an enormously large city;
it took three days to go through it.
Jonah began his journey through the city,
and had gone but a single day’s walk announcing,
“Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed,”
when the people of Nineveh believed God;
they proclaimed a fast
and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth.
When the news reached the king of Nineveh,
he rose from his throne, laid aside his robe,
covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in the ashes.
Then he had this proclaimed throughout Nineveh,
by decree of the king and his nobles:
“Neither man nor beast, neither cattle nor sheep,
shall taste anything;
they shall not eat, nor shall they drink water.
Man and beast shall be covered with sackcloth and call loudly to God;
every man shall turn from his evil way
and from the violence he has in hand.
Who knows, God may relent and forgive, and withhold his blazing wrath,
so that we shall not perish.”
When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way,
he repented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them;
he did not carry it out.
Responsorial Psalm
51:3-4, 12-13, 18-19
R. (19b) A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me.
R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
For you are not pleased with sacrifices;
should I offer a burnt offering, you would not accept it.
My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit;
a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
Gospel
Lk 11:29-32
While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them,
“This generation is an evil generation;
it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it,
except the sign of Jonah.
Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites,
so will the Son of Man be to this generation.
At the judgment
the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation
and she will condemn them,
because she came from the ends of the earth
to hear the wisdom of Solomon,
and there is something greater than Solomon here.
At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation
and condemn it,
because at the preaching of Jonah they repented,
and there is something greater than Jonah here.”
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
First reading Jonah 3:1 – 10
The word of the Lord was addressed a second time to Jonah: ‘Up!’ he said ‘Go to Nineveh, the great city, and preach to them as I told you to.’ Jonah set out and went to Nineveh in obedience to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was a city great beyond compare: it took three days to cross it. Jonah went on into the city, making a day’s journey. He preached in these words, ‘Only forty days more and Nineveh is going to be destroyed’. And the people of Nineveh believed in God; they proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least. The news reached the king of Nineveh, who rose from his throne, took off his robe, put on sackcloth and sat down in ashes. A proclamation was then promulgated throughout Nineveh, by decree of the king and his ministers, as follows: ‘Men and beasts, herds and flocks, are to taste nothing; they must not eat, they must not drink water. All are to put on sackcloth and call on God with all their might; and let everyone renounce his evil behavior and the wicked things he has done. Who knows if God will not change his mind and relent, if he will not renounce his burning wrath, so that we do not perish?’ God saw their efforts to renounce their evil behavior, and God relented: he did not inflict on them the disaster which he had threatened.
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 50(51):3-4,12-13,18-19
A humbled, contrite heart, O God, you will not spurn.
Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness.
In your compassion blot out my offence.
O wash me more and more from my guilt
and cleanse me from my sin.
A humbled, contrite heart, O God, you will not spurn.
A pure heart create for me, O God,
put a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence,
nor deprive me of your holy spirit.
A humbled, contrite heart, O God, you will not spurn.
For in sacrifice you take no delight,
burnt offering from me you would refuse,
my sacrifice, a contrite spirit.
A humbled, contrite heart you will not spurn.
A humbled, contrite heart, O God, you will not spurn.
Gospel Luke 11:29 – 32
The crowds got even bigger and Jesus addressed them, ‘This is a wicked generation; it is asking for a sign The only sign it will be given is the sign of Jonah. For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. On Judgment day the Queen of the South will rise up with the men of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and there is something greater than Solomon here. On Judgment day the men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation and condemn it, because when Jonah preached they repented; and there is something greater than Jonah here.’
Readings and Commentary from the Navarre Bible
Wednesday of the 1st Week in Lent
From: Jonah 3:1-10
Jonah preaches repentance in Nineveh
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[1] Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, [2] "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you." [3] So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days' journey in breadth. [4] Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey. And he cried, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!"
The people of Nineveh do penance
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[5] And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.
[6] Then tidings reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, and covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. [7] And he made proclamation and published through Nineveh, "By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them not feed, or drink water, [8] but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them cry mightily to God; yea, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence which is in his hands. [9] Who knows, God may yet repent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we perish not?"
[10] When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God repented of the evil which he had said he would do to them; and he did not do it.
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Commentary:
3:1-4:11. The second part of the book has a similar structure to the first -- God and Jonah (3:1-3; cf. 1:1-3); Jonah and Gentiles (3:4-10; cf. 1:4-16); Jonah and God (4:1-11; cf. 1:17-2:10). However, the reader is now psychologically prepared for what will happen: Jonah's preaching will produce the desired result and the Ninevites will be converted. So, the story is geared to the last chapter which poses and solves the question that chapter 3 provokes. The episode described in this second part is therefore a practical illustration of the scope of God's mercy. It was used as such in the debate with the Gnostics who argued that there was a difference between the good God (the God revealed in the New Testament) and the God revealed in the Old Testament: "See how the stress is laid on the greatest name and quality of God, his Mercy; that is, God is patient with evildoers, and rich in mercy and compassion for those who recognize their faults and repent them, as the Ninevites did. If such a Being as he is so good, you […] have to admit that he can do no evil for, as Marcion himself once said, a good tree cannot bear bad fruit" (Tertullian, Adversus Marcionem, 2, 24).
3:1-4. God renews his command to Jonah. And this time Jonah obeys. Maybe the vows he promised to fulfil in 2:9 had to do with this -- going to preach in Nineveh. Anyway, the success of his mission is assured, because it depends not on Jonah but on the Lord: it would take three days to cross Nineveh (v. 3), but he has only gone one day in his journey and the people convert (cf. 3:5).
3:5-10. The account of the conversion of the Ninevites looks like a straight copy from other biblical passages, particularly from the prophet Jeremiah: Jeremiah is the "prophet to the nations" (Jer 1:5), and Jonah is sent to the archetypal Gentile city. There are many little things in this passage that are reminiscent of Jeremiah: in the book of Jeremiah, Jerusalem is called the "great city", which is what Nineveh is called here (1:2; 3:2; cf. Jer 22:8-9), and both books have similar turns of phrase such as "let every one turn from his evil way", and "man and beast", "from the greatest to the least" (3:5, 8; cf. Jer 6:14; 8:10; 36:3, 7), etc. This passage is particularly reminiscent of the call for a fast made by Jeremiah in the time of King Jehoiakim; in Jeremiah 36 we are told how the prophet warned of misfortunes to come and proclaimed a fast for conversion (Jer 36:9), but the king refused to listen. Jonah, too, announces the destruction of Nineveh, but it is the Ninevites themselves who proclaim a general fast, as if God were speaking through them. Their own king establishes what the fast will involve, and he issues a decree that sounds just like something a prophet would have said (vv. 7-9); cf. Joel 2:12-14). Furthermore, the king of the Ninevites seems to be quite familiar with biblical teaching, for he is well aware (cf. Jer 36:3, 9) that displays of penance will not automatically stay God's hand; the king has a genuine change of heart and is ready to submit to God (v. 9), and when God sees that these people are ready to mend their ways, he revokes his decision to punish them (v. 10). The episode bears out Jeremiah's teaching about repentance (cf. Jer 18:7-8).
The difference between the Ninevites and the Israelites can be seen in the use that Jesus makes of this passage when he compares his Jewish contemporaries with their ancestors: "The men of Nineveh will arise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here" (Mt 12:41). It is not surprising, then, that in Christian tradition, the Ninevites are referred to as a model of repentance: "Let us cast our minds back over the history of men, and see how the Lord, in one generation after another, granted a time of penance to those who desired to be converted to him. Noah preached salvation, and those who listened to him were saved. Jonah told the Ninevites that their city would be destroyed, and they repented of their sins and asked God for forgiveness and were saved by the power of their pleading, even though they were not part of the chosen people" (St Clement of Rome, "Ad Corinthios", 7, 5-7).
And another text by a great Father of the Eastern Church says: "Do not dwell on how little time you have, but on the love of the Master. The inhabitants of Nineveh cooled God's wrath in three days. They did not despair at how little time was left to them; their troubled souls won over the goodness of the Master, and he brought about their salvation" (St John Chrysostom, De incomprehensibile Dei natura, 6).
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From: Luke 11:29-32
The Sign of Jonah
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[29] When the crowds were increasing, He (Jesus) began to say, "This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of Jonah. [30] For as Jonah became a sign to the men of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation.[31] The queen of the South will arise at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. [32] The men of Nineveh will arise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here."
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Commentary:
29-32. Jonah was the prophet who led the Ninevites to do penance: his actions and preaching they saw as signifying that God had sent him (cf. note on Matthew 12:41-42).
[Note on Matthew 12:41-42 states:
41-42. Nineveh was a city in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) to which the prophet Jonah was sent. The Ninevites did penance (John 3:6-9) because they recognized the prophet and accepted his message; whereas Jerusalem does not wish to recognize Jesus, of whom Jonah was merely a figure. The queen of the South was the queen of Sheba in southwestern Arabia, who visited Solomon (1 Kings 10:1- 10) and was in awe of the wisdom with which God had endowed the King of Israel. Jesus is also prefigured in Solomon, whom Jewish tradition saw as the epitome of the wise man. Jesus' reproach is accentuated by the example of pagan converts, and gives us a glimpse of the universal scope of Christianity, which will take root among the Gentiles.
There is a certain irony in what Jesus says about "something greater" than Jonah or Solomon having come: really, He is infinitely greater, but Jesus prefers to tone down the difference between Himself and any figure, no matter how important, in the Old Testament.]
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.
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