The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation and shall condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and behold, a greater than Jonas is here. Matthew 12:41
Not even Jonah could have predicted the impact of his preaching in Nineveh. His was a simple message of impending destruction of the city. And he used a simple approach; he stood and shouted from the street corners. There were no fancy presentations or great revival campaigns, or special musical accompaniment, just one simple message by one plain preacher, a recent graduate from Whale Seminary. The response was immediate and overwhelming. All city business halted, all events cancelled, all interest in other issues laid aside, and the people took drastic action to display their concern and their willingness to repent. And God accepted their repentance, sparing their city. In our text, Jesus is speaking to a generation that was also facing destruction but showed no evidence of even thinking about repentance. He might well have been speaking about the generation in the 21st century.
The repentance of the Ninevites was an amazing event. One lone preacher convinced them of the truth, and they responded with a uniform humility and submission, and a full recognition of what they had to do to save themselves and their city. How different the people of today. Despite hearing from many preachers, and having the Word of God readily available everywhere, and of all of the evidence from previous ages of the need for repentance and submission to the truth, they refuse to hear and obey. In fact, they seek to resist and destroy the truth. They reject the Gospel and mock the preachers. They deny the existence of God and reject the record of His Son. Repentance is far from their thoughts. And the Ninevites will stand in judgment against them.
The Word of God has much to teach us in this day. The repentance of the Ninevites is just one of Scripture’s great messages as a powerful lesson for the unsaved. The Teachings of Christ and the doctrines of the epistles are filled with great lessons for the Christians, as we learn what we need to do as faithful servants, ambassadors, and messengers for Christ. All of the word of God is a witness for us, as we find God’s will for this world in the midst of a sinful race. If we read and obey, we will do well; if not, the Ninevites stand in judgment against us.
Do we accept the record of Scripture? If so, we must accept our responsibility to heed its messages for us or be judged for failing to do so. -Jim MacIntosh