From: Luke 11:29-32
The Sign of Jonah
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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 recog-
nized 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.
| First reading | Jonah 3:1-10 © |
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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 behaviour 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 behaviour, and God relented: he did not inflict on them the disaster which he had threatened.
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| Psalm or canticle: Psalm 50:3-4,12-13,18-19 |
| Gospel | Luke 11:29-32 © |
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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 Judgement 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 Judgement 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.’
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