What do Wonder Woman and Jonah
have in common?
Not much, actually. The two
characters could hardly be more different. The former so enthusiastic to
accomplish her mission that she refuses her mother’s wishes to stay put, and the
latter a reluctant schmuck. One matures in her understanding of divine justice,
while the other pouts over the ethic of mercy. Yet both stories explore the
themes of salvation and human nature with surprisingly similar conclusions.
Normally,
I am not prone to viewing super hero flicks in theaters, but a friend asked me
to see Wonder Woman with him, and I
was pleasantly delighted by the film. (Thanks Mario!) Not surprisingly, the movie integrates moral and religious concepts. Such is typical of the super hero
genre, which grapples with questions about justice, goodness, evil, and love. What!? A secular work of fiction that plays
on theological truths!? Sure. “There’s nothing new under the sun”
(Ecclesiastes 1:9). See my post on Truth, Mystery, the Bible, and... Harry Potter.
In
one scene of the film, Diana’s ragtag companions drunkenly toast, “May we get
what we want; may we get what we need; and may we never get what we deserve!”
Clearly, the posse either doesn’t deserve much, or, for some reason or other,
they deserve punishment for their transgressions – at least in their minds. But
who of us can say that we’re blameless, anyway? Without giving away too much of
the movie – nobody likes spoilers – Diana learns an important lesson about who
is worthy of salvation. Ultimately, everyone shares in the responsibility of
the ills of this world. No one is entirely blameless, and humanity probably
does not deserve a hero or savior.
But that is precisely why we need one; we’re helpless. And rather than getting
our just desserts, we are offered love and mercy instead – even those thought
least deserving of it.
Jonah
is taught a similar lesson, although his character sharply contrasts to that of
Diana’s. The Book of Jonah is a unique text of the Hebrew Bible– one of my
favorites, in fact. It’s short, funny, easy to read, yet deceptively deep and
profound. With only four brief chapters, you can easily pick it up after
reading this post and enjoy it for yourself. Or better yet, you can read it now
by clicking on the link here. As for Wonder
Woman, well, you’ll just have to see it theaters or wait until it comes out
on DVD or Blu-Ray.
Jonah
may seem like an endearing story to us today, and we probably relish the
message of God’s abundant mercy. But this narrative was likely a hard pill to
swallow for many in its original audience – as much as it would be today if,
say, the U.N. pardoned ISIS of all human rights abuses (assuming
its members repented in sackcloth and ashes like the Ninevites). The ending of the story is as startling as it would be if the Boston Red Sox came back from a 10 point deficit in the ninth inning and
won the World Series against the Yankees… at Yankee Stadium. I mean, if you’re a Yankees fan or
just really hate the Red Sox.
Jonah
was written after the Babylonian Exile, which up until that point was probably
the most devastating experience in Israelite history. The Babylonians were
merciless to the people of Judah, deporting most of Jerusalem’s population to
Babylon and destroying their sacred Temple. Nearly a century and a half before
that, the Assyrians had conquered the northern kingdom of Israel, scattering
many of its peoples. After the fall of the north, the Assyrians laid an excruciating, but
ultimately unsuccessful, siege on Jerusalem in the southern kingdom. The
suffering they had inflicted, however, would never be forgotten.
Naturally,
Assyria, Babylon, and their allies were venomously hated for their ruthlessness toward Israel and Judah. The returnees from the
Exile had nothing but spite for their enemies, even the memory of those who no
longer existed. A lot of biblical ink was spilled in order to hurl curses at these
nations. As tends to happen after a country experiences unspeakable trauma, a
gross, exclusive sort of nationalism developed among returnees trying to
reestablish their religious and political identity in Judah. This party was
unforgiving toward foreigners and disdained those who had remained
behind after the deportations and inter-mixed with
their conquerors. They had a narrow concept of YHWH’s favor, believing that
only the pure race of God’s chosen people, Israel, was worthy.
To
critique this mentality, Jonah is presented as a satirical figure, a kind of
mirror to be held up to the faces of those who subscribed to the postexilic ideology
of exclusivity. Yet for all of Jonah’s zealous contempt for the Ninevite pagans,
he proves to have only passive faith in YHWH. When God charges him to preach against Nineveh, Assyria's capital, he goes AWOL, wanting nothing to do with the mission. Twice in the same verse the
author stresses that Jonah was getting “away from the LORD.” He sets sail for what might as
well have been the farthest corner of the world, and later falls
asleep in the depths of the ship. Jonah may be a believer in YHWH, but his
actions show that he prefers death over engaging his God with whom he seems at
odds. So desperate to get away from the LORD, he apathetically volunteers to
be thrown into the sea, an ancient symbol of chaos and death.
This
action only highlights his hypocrisy even more, for even though he just
confessed that the LORD
is “the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land” (1:9), he doesn’t
seem to realize that the deep isn’t going to hide him from the creator of the seas.
By contrast, the pagan crew shows amazing faith in YHWH, begging for his
forgiveness, offering sacrifice, and making vows to him.
The
fish episode, like the sea itself, conjures up more imagery of primordial chaos
and death. Jonah wants to get as far away from the LORD as possible, and God takes him
to the brink. There is no farther place from God than death and the
netherworld. Yet even there God’s saving power cannot be held at bay. There in
the belly of the fish Jonah represents perhaps all of Israel, who knew that
they had sinned against the LORD in the past and, as a result, had been brought to the edge of
death in the experience of exile – almost total alienation from
their God. Yet their time of exile came to an end, as would Jonah’s time in the
sea creature. Jonah’s prayer of thanksgiving is ironic, though. “Deliverance is
from the LORD,” he says, but as we see in the end of the story, he’s infuriated
that God extends that deliverance to the Ninevites too.
So
Jonah is spewed out on shore, and he preaches throughout Nineveh that they will
be destroyed, and, in a shocking twist of events, evil Nineveh repents of their sins in an extravagant display of penance, from the king on high right down to
the animals. God relents of the violence he was going to inflict, but this only pisses
Jonah off. At first the reader might guess that he’s angry because his
prophecy of calamity didn’t come true – a dilemma that might have labeled him a
false prophet and cost him his life. But no! He’s mad because God is merciful,
and he even admits that that was the
real reason why he fled in the first place. Nineveh doesn’t deserve God’s
forgiveness! So blinded by his vindictive nationalism is Jonah, that he goes off to brood
over the unscathed city.
But
God teaches him a lesson. He provides a plant to grow over Jonah’s head to give
him shade, and this makes Jonah happy. But then God sends a worm to kill the
plant, and Jonah, being just a tad over-dramatic, becomes so outraged at this
point that he prays for death! And with that the LORD nails him with a rhetorical
question: You didn’t do anything to merit that plant you liked so much, yet you’re
so upset that it died. So why shouldn’t I be concerned about these thousands of
pitiful people? Oh and let’s not forget their animals too.
Now, put that in your pipe and
smoke it, Jonah!
Though
different in their approaches, it seems that both Wonder Woman and Jonah must
grapple with this issue of divine justice. Maybe Nineveh didn’t deserve God’s
mercy, and perhaps humanity didn’t merit Diana’s heroic assistance – at least,
not in the eyes of Jonah or Diana’s adversary. But, thankfully, this isn’t the
way God’s justice seems to work. God's love is universal. The "God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land" extends his care and concern for all of his children, even the seemingly least deserving. This isn’t to say that we are excused from
having remorse and contrition for our sins. Salvation is as difficult for those
who think they can attain it by their own righteousness as it is for those who
cannot humble themselves to ask for mercy with contrite hearts. We can never
earn God’s mercy, though. That is what makes it so abundant and free. We can,
therefore, only receive it.
This
is the kind of good news we like to hear, but sometimes, like Jonah, we’re
faced with applying this ethic of mercy to those persons or groups of people we
don’t like. It’s all warm and fuzzy until we realize that God cares as much for
our enemies as he does us. God loves those we think, for whatever reason,
deserve God’s wrath. Maybe we secretly hope that one day they’ll get their comeuppance,
just like Jonah wanted the Assyrians punished. These so-called just desserts
may or may not come, but in the meantime, who’s really suffering – your enemies,
or you who are brooding over your resentments?
My reading recommendation this week is, of course, the Book of Jonah. As
you read it, though, think of a person or a group of people you might have some
bitterness towards. It could be a political figure or party, a co-worker or
boss, maybe it’s a national, cultural, or religious group. Or maybe it's the Red Sox. Read the Book of Jonah, and when
you get to the last question posed by God, insert that entity you’re thinking
of in place of the Ninevites. Pray for that person or group, and open your
heart to loving them too. Remember, God loves them as well, and they are as
worthy of God’s mercy and protection as you.
Until next time,
Peace and all good!
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