St Paul – the more faithful Jonah
You will remember that St. Paul is another Jonah and he takes the Gospel to the Gentiles. He forsakes the Jews and, in fact, at the end of Acts 28, he really casts them off and says judgment has come upon them to the uttermost. Of course, a few years later it does—in the destruction of Jerusalem. Yet Paul says, if it were possible, I wish that I could be damned for my brethren in Israel.
Paul had the same attitude as Jonah had, of wanting to see his own people saved. But unlike Jonah, Paul is willing to obey God… he sees that God has compassion on the Gentiles in and of themselves. Jonah, however, has to be persuaded of this. Jonah is so concerned about his own congregation back home that he doesn’t want to take the Gospel elsewhere for fear that it will have bad results in Israel.
James B. Jordan, The Book of Jonah lectures www.wordmp3.com
