You are concerned over the plant which cost you no labor. Should I not be concerned over Nineveh, the great city and its inhabitants? The repentance of the Ninevites was something about which Jonah the prophet had not given much thought. His reluctance to go preach to the Ninevites was not only hinged on his “foreknowledge” that the Ninevites wouldn’t change but also on his understanding that he was a prophet of the nation of Israel only. He made his feelings known to the Lord, but the Lord prevailed upon him and he was forced to carry out the Lord’s command. But since Jonah was convinced that the Ninevites were beyond any redemption, he utilized the three days of his preaching to prepare the city for the annihilation that he was very much sure would come. But the Ninevites pulled a fast one on Jonah and they hearkened to his sermons. They became remorseful of their wicked ways and repented. And while God was more than pleased with the turn of events, Jonah was not. He got upset that the “show” had been cancelled. He got angry at God because God was gracious and merciful. He begged God to let him die. He reasoned that he was better off dead than live to see the Ninevites prospering.
Jonah was a man of his time (Assyria was not only an enemy of Israel, it was one of the nations that constantly harassed the tiny nation). As a member of a nation that had suffered immeasurably at the hands of other nations, Jonah would have been delighted at the prospect of Nineveh being destroyed to its last bits. To him, it was payback time. Had not the law prescribed an eye for an eye? God’s move to spare the Nineveh and her inhabitants was a big disappointment for Jonah and he made sure to let God know how he felt: Please take my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.
Jonah was angry that God had extended his favorable treatment of Israel to the Ninevites (I knew that you are a gracious God, slow to anger, rich in clemency, loathe to punish). How could God do this? Wasn’t Israel - and no one else – the Lord’s favorite? Had God not said that any enemy of Israel is God’s enemy? (cf. Exodus 23:22) In his answer, God reminded Jonah that he was the Creator and Father of the Ninevites. It had pained God to see the Ninevites lose their way by choosing to walk in darkness. But they were still his sons and daughters, and as a loving Father, he wanted to give them a chance to mend their ways. He did not approve of their wicked way of life, but he still cared for them from the depths of his heart (should I not be concerned about the more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who reside in the city?). Moreover, as today’s Responsorial Psalm has put it, it was time the nations learnt about the loving kindness of God in order to worship and glorify the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.