A Reflection for Monday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time
Find today’s readings here.
While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them, “This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah. Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. At the judgment the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation and she will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and there is something greater than Solomon here. At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because at the preaching of Jonah they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah here.” (Lk 11:29-32)
When God sent Jonah to preach repentance to the people of Nineveh, Jonah didn’t want to go. Why not? Because the Ninevites were Assyrians, hated enemies of Israel and some of their worst tormentors historically. Why would God want Jonah to try to convince them to mend their evil ways, when what God should really do is destroy them? But the Ninevites really did accept the message, really did repent. Their contrition was surely unexpected by Jonah; perhaps it was even unwanted.
When the Queen of Sheba visited Jerusalem with caravans full of gold and spices and jewels, she was likely far richer and more powerful than King Solomon; perhaps too the news that she came to ask “hard questions” of the king sounded more like a threat than a friendly visit. What did Solomon’s court think of her, a stranger and unbeliever from far, far away? Did they just hope she would leave, sooner rather than later? And yet Sheba is convinced by Solomon’s wisdom—rather than proving to be an antagonist or an enemy, she accepts the truth of his words.
Jesus uses both these stories when speaking to his own people—and apparently with reference to himself. “There is something greater than Solomon here” and “there is something greater than Jonah here” are pretty bold statements to make. But is he really speaking about Jonah or about Solomon, or about himself? Or is the real point he was trying to make to his audience—and to us today—to focus on the Ninevites and the queen of the south?
It is of a piece with so much else of his preaching and teaching: Don’t sleep on the outsider, the other, the different. They might not share the same background as us, might not know what it means to be “true believers,” might even seem like our enemy. But often enough in the Bible, it is the outsider, the other, who actually hears God’s call, who actually proves more able to understand a message seemingly alien to him or her. There is a profound message there for us today, especially in a season where (in the United States) a fraught political election is upon us and (in Rome) a worldwide synod is gathering for its second month-long meeting. I want good news from both outcomes, naturally, but am I willing and able to listen to outside or different voices that might understand God’s will better than I might? Can I even admit the possibility that the Ninevites on the other side might not just be deserving of destruction, that just because the queen of the south asks hard questions of us, only a war of words will do? Jesus seems to suggest that sometimes it’s the only way to see clearly.
