My beloved Benevolent February 2025
Grace and peace, Wishing you all goodness and blessings!
I am pleased to congratulate you all on the fast of Jonah, which begins on Monday, February 10th and concludes with celebrating Jonah’s Feast on Thursday, February 13th.
I wish you all a blessed and an acceptable fast, especially since Jonah’s fast precedes the Great Lent by two weeks. Therefore, it is considered a prelude and preparation for the Great Lent since their rituals are similar to one another.
Jonah the prophet is a symbol of Christ in that even though the whale swallowed him, he came out alive. Therefore, in the fast of Jonah, we chant “Jonah in the belly of the whale as Christ was in the tomb for three days.” Jesus was buried in the tomb, but on the third day He arose alive and trampled death with death.
+ Jonah, on the other hand, represents humanity in terms of man’s inability to obey God. Jonah disobeyed God’s command to go to Nineveh, “Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying ‘Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.’ But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish” Jonah 1:1-2. Jonah repented while he was in the belly of the whale and prayed a deep prayer mentioned in the second chapter of the book of Jonah. God delivered him from the belly of the whale, “Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, ‘Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.'” Jonah 3:1-2. This time, Jonah obeyed, arose, and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord, Jonah 3:3.
Was Jonah’s obedience a true obedience? Outwardly, he obeyed and went, but internally, the reason why he did not go the first time was still there. Therefore, when the Ninevites offered great repentance, and the Lord forgave them, Jonah did not rejoice, but the book of Jonah mentions, “But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry. So he prayed to the Lord, and said, ‘Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm. Therefore now, O Lord, please my life from me, for it is better for me to died than to live!’ Jonah 4:1-3.
Jonah’s problem was not that God is a merciful and long-suffering God, because he benefited from the mercy of our Lord in that he sinned and repented, and the Lord accepted his repentance. His problem was that the Gentile people of Nineveh did not deserve God’s mercy. Therefore, God wanted to correct Jonah’s mind with the example of the plant; and the Lord said, “You have pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left and much livestock?” Jonah 4:10-11. The book of Jonah concludes with these verses without telling us whether Jonah responded or not.
This is how the condition of man became after the fall, lacking enlightenment and not knowing God’s will. Man tries to obey God, but is not able to do so completely, because man’s nature is corrupted and his mind is darkened because he was separated from God through disobedience. Man, whether Jew or Gentile, was unable to be justified; so, he needed Christ’s righteousness, “They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.” Romans 3:12. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23. Man could not be righteous and achieve perfect obedience except by the redemption of Jesus Christ, “Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed.” Romans 3:24-25. The Son of God was incarnate and took our human nature with a rational soul to offer complete obedience to God, which man was unable to achieve, “…but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” Philippians 2:7-8.
Jonah’s fast is an opportunity to repent and offer complete obedience to God by keeping His commandments, imitating our God and Savior Jesus Christ, Who gave us the new nature and His Holy Spirit to grant us spiritual enlightenment, “the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling” Ephesians 1: 18.
May the Lord bless your offerings to support Santa Verena charity programs.
Metropolitan Serapion
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