Word to the Wise
Wednesday, February 28, 2007 - Wednesday of the First Week in Lent
[Jonah 3:1-10 and Luke 11:29-32]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.
One of Jesus' constant frustrations concerned the demand for "signs" that would validate his preaching. In this particular passage from the Gospel of Luke, his frustration begins to show. He points to a character that most of his audience would know about from the Old Testament: the prophet, Jonah! Jonah has the singular characteristic that his preaching was heard by the ruler and people of Nineveh and they DID repent. They didn't ask for a sign from Jonah. They just reformed their lives in response to his preaching. The audience to which Jesus is speaking are acting like Herod in the musical, JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, when he sings sarcastically: "Prove to me that you're no fool. Walk across my swimming pool." There is a common problem with identifying the gospel with the signs that accompany the preaching. All the attention can be diverted to the particular occurrence and the message is completely lost. The sign is divorced from the person who performs it as well. The audience will do everything it can to learn HOW this is done, or else they become afraid of the person who does it. In a skeptical and secular and scientific world, "signs" are not necessarily respected but merely seen as temporary mysteries that will soon be unraveled by experts. The sign of a sincere believer is not subject to that kind of science but it can be a powerful witness to even an atheist or social agnostic. Jonah's sincerity carried the day. Jesus' is frustrated by the irony that he is far greater than Jonah but his audience will not take him at his word. Perhaps we might ask ourselves what appeals to US in reinforcing our faith? Can we take Jesus at his word and not insist that he "prove himself" to us? AMEN
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