A Call to Repentance

Old Testament events admonish us with their implications. The account about Jonah the prophet is a case in point. When he preached to the people in Nineveh, they believed him and acted on his warning by fasting, putting on sackcloth, and sitting in ashes. Their stricken conscience responded to Jonah’s forthright proclamation, “In forty days Nineveh will be destroyed” (Jonah 3:4). This lone foreign figure didn’t perform any miracles in their streets to confirm his claim.

We have more reason to believe that Jesus laid down his life for our sins Friday than the Ninevites had to believe Jonah’s claim some 2800 years ago. The sensitivity of their pagan consciences serves as a wake-up call to us like it did to Jesus’ generation. We have his resurrection this morning to back up his claim Thursday evening.

Since this observance pictures his dying for sins, we need to heed our conscience. We would not want 120,000 ancient Assyrians to be better off at the Judgment than we are. As Jesus put it, by implication they would condemn us for not doing what they had less reason to do than we have. This custom is a call to repentance this morning.