Jonah
Violence, Forgiveness, and the God Who Refuses Both
Jonah 3:1-4:5
Jonah names two sources of violence: Nineveh's brutal paganism and Jonah's moralistic religion. God refuses both. He does not excuse Nineveh, and he does not excuse Jonah's anger. The way forward is forgiveness that has already dealt with hate before it confronts injustice. The ultimate answer is a gospel identity formed by the cross: humbled enough to lose the right to hate, secure enough to lose the need.