Most prophets in Scripture shine with courage, obedience, and clarity of mission.
Jonah does not.
He runs from God, he resists God's will, he complains even after witnessing miracles, he sulks when mercy is shown, and he never truly softens in the narrative.
Jonah stands out as the prophet who simply does not want to be one.
His story feels familiar because it mirrors our own reluctance, our own fears, and our own instinct to run when God calls us into something costly.
When we place Jonah beside Jesus, the contrast is startling. Jonah becomes almost a photographic negative of the Lord. The differences illuminate the heart of Christ more clearly. By looking at Jonah, we understand Jesus better. By seeing Jonah flee, we understand Jesus advancing. By watching Jonah resist mercy, we understand Jesus offering mercy. Jonah's story shows us what human nature tends to do. Jesus shows us what divine love always does.
Jonah Runs Away – Jesus Runs Toward
The Book of Jonah opens with a commission. "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it" (Jonah 1:2, RSV-CE). Jonah hears God's voice plainly enough, although he gets up and runs in the opposite direction. Fear plays a part, although pride might have played an even larger one. Nineveh was infamous for wickedness. Jonah did not want to be the prophet who preached repentance to Israel's enemies. He feared that God's mercy might triumph, leaving Jonah looking foolish.
Jesus, faced with His mission, does the opposite. Jesus turns His face toward the very place where He will be rejected, humiliated, and killed. Saint Luke writes that "He set His face to go to Jerusalem" (Luke 9:51, RSV-CE). The Lord does not run from the place where salvation will unfold. He moves deliberately toward it. Jonah flees a city that needs saving. Jesus walks straight into the city that will crucify Him in order to save it.
Jonah fears failure. Jesus embraces the Cross. Jonah runs to avoid the cost. Jesus accepts the cost entirely.
Jonah Sleeps Through the Storm – Jesus Calms the Storm
The storms in their stories are equally revealing. Jonah, running from God, falls asleep in the hold of a ship while the sailors above him panic for their lives. His sleep is the sleep of avoidance. He wants to escape the consequences of his disobedience, even if the world around him collapses.
Jesus sleeps through a storm as well, although the meaning is utterly different. His sleep reveals a divine serenity. The disciples wake Him, crying, "Master, Master, we are perishing!" He rises, rebukes the wind, and calm descends upon the waters (Luke 8:24, RSV-CE). Jonah sleeps out of indifference. Jesus sleeps out of trust. Jonah wakes to be confronted as the cause of the storm. Jesus wakes to show Himself as the Lord over the storm.
When Jonah is thrown into the sea, it is because his guilt has placed the sailors in danger. When Jesus calms the sea, it is because His innocence carries divine authority. Jonah's presence brings fear. Jesus' presence brings peace.
Jonah in the Belly of the Fish – Jesus in the Heart of the Earth
Many early Christians saw Jonah as a foreshadowing of Jesus' burial and Resurrection. Jesus Himself said, "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" (Matthew 12:40, RSV-CE). Yet even here the contrast remains striking.
Jonah is swallowed because of his own disobedience, although he eventually allows himself to be used by God despite his reluctance. Jesus enters the grave not because of His own sin but because He bears ours. Jonah is saved by God's intervention despite himself. Jesus is raised by the Father because He has perfectly fulfilled His will.
Jonah emerges to complete a task he never wanted. Jesus rises to complete the mission He always desired: to redeem the world.
Jonah Preaches Reluctantly – Jesus Preaches With Fire
When Jonah finally enters Nineveh, he preaches the shortest and most reluctant sermon in the Old Testament: "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" (Jonah 3:4, RSV-CE). There is no call to repentance, no compassion, no tenderness, no explanation. He does the bare minimum. He preaches because he has to, not because he loves the people.
Jesus preaches with a heart on fire. His words reach the broken, the forgotten, the oppressed, and the sinful. He speaks with a voice that heals as much as it instructs. He offers hope, mercy, truth, and invitation. He touches hearts because His message is rooted in love. Jonah drags his feet. Jesus lays down His life.
Jonah's message results in a miracle of repentance despite his reluctance. Jesus' message results in the opening of heaven itself. Jonah preaches judgement. Jesus preaches salvation.
Jonah Resents Mercy – Jesus Delights in Mercy
Perhaps the sharpest contrast lies in their responses to repentance. Nineveh listens, repents, and changes its ways. God relents from punishing them. Jonah becomes furious. He complains to God that mercy has ruined his credibility. His heart is narrow, wounded by pride, and hardened against compassion.
Jesus longs to forgive. His parables are filled with mercy: the Prodigal Son, the Good Shepherd, the Lost Coin. He delights in every return. He dies on the Cross with these words on His lips, "Father, forgive them" (Luke 23:34, RSV-CE). Where Jonah resents mercy, Jesus embodies it. Where Jonah folds his arms, Jesus stretches His arms wide upon the Cross.
Jonah cannot rejoice that sinners are saved. Jesus cannot rest until sinners are saved.
Jonah's Heart and Our Own
Before we shake our heads at Jonah, we should recognise ourselves in him. We all run from God's promptings. We all resist forgiveness for someone at times. We all fear that obedience will cost us more than we can bear. We all want justice for others and mercy for ourselves. Jonah exposes our human tendency to shrink from God's will when it stretches us.
Yet Jonah also reminds us that God works through imperfect hearts. God does not discard the reluctant. He pursues them. He calls again. He uses their efforts even when mixed with fear, pride, or confusion. The miracle of Nineveh's repentance happened through a man who barely wanted to be involved. God's grace is stronger than our weakness.
Jesus, though, shows us what a perfect response looks like. He embraces the Father's will, He moves toward sinners, He seeks the lost, He welcomes repentance, and He pours out mercy freely. His obedience is total and joyful. His love is without reserve. Jonah reveals our humanity. Jesus reveals God's heart.
A prayer for all who read this blog post
and for all who never will
Lord Jesus Christ, soften our hearts wherever they resemble Jonah. Replace reluctance with trust, fear with courage, pride with humility, and resentment with mercy. Teach us to walk in Your footsteps, to welcome Your will with love, and to rejoice when grace transforms the hearts of others. Draw us closer to You this week and guide every step we take. Amen.
Closing Reflection
Jonah shows us how easily human nature recoils from God's call. Jesus shows us how divine love responds.
By comparing the two, we are invited into a deeper conversion. We learn to recognise our resistance, surrender it to Christ, and follow His example more closely.
When we imitate Jesus rather than Jonah, our hearts become freer, our faith becomes stronger, and our lives become more radiant with the mercy that saves the world.
************
************
Visit Our Parish Website
ourladyoflourdes.co.uk
Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, New Milton
************Thank you for visiting this blog here at
the247catholic.blogspot.com************
View And / Download The Ordo
for the 2025 - 2026 Liturgical Year
For The Diocese Of Portsmouth
************
Click here for the very latest
and up-to-the-minute Catholic News
from The 247 Catholic
************
Let's stay prayerful, let's stay faithful, let's stay Catholic
– 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
************Please pray for me because I'm a sinner
************