By Patrick Fitzgerald-Lombard O.Carm.

Are we allowed to laugh? Some things can seem so serious that we do not permit ourselves to laugh. Reading the Bible, especially the Old Testament, may seem like that. We usual think of God in the Old Testament as stern and angry. But there is a funny side as well – and there is a funny story, well worth a laugh, the Book of Jonah.

Jonah is one of the prophets, but the book of Jonah is not like the others. The books of the prophets are usually about the teachings of the prophets, the Book of Jonah is about Jonah himself. And in contrast to some of the other prophets it is a bit of light relief.

The funny side to the book of Jonah is that it is always the unexpected that happens. You decide to read the Book of Jonah. You tell yourself that Jonah is part of the Old Testament and so you know what to expect. Wrong! For a start it is Jonah himself who is rebellious while it is the sailors and the people of Nineveh who behave well. Not exactly what you expect from an old Testament prophet!

The story begins with Jonah being called by God to go to Nineveh, the big and wicked city of those days. What does he do? Does he do what he is told? Not likely! He tries to run away as far as he can go. Tarshish was probably in Spain, a mighty long way in those days. Next a mighty storm comes along. In spite of Jonah’s behaviour, the sailors come to believe in the God of Israel and with great reluctance they heave Jonah over the side. Jonah ends where? In the belly of a great fish of all things! This is the part everyone knows. There in the fish Jonah finally prays and surprisingly it is a psalm of thanksgiving. Jonah reluctantly acknowledges that that his true loyalty is to God his deliverer.

In the second part of the story God finally manages to get Jonah to Nineveh, the great city. And, surprise, surprise, in response to his preaching only a few words, everyone in Nineveh actually repents, from the king downwards. Even the animals wear sackcloth. Mission accomplished? Well, no. Jonah is far from pleased at the turn of events and a conversation follows between God and Jonah, with a plant that grows and withers at God’s command. And the punch line comes at the end: Jonah is concerned about the plant that gives him shelter, should God not be concerned about the inhabitants of Nineveh.

Jonah does everything a prophet shouldn’t do. Then even when everything works out well, he ends up displeased and bad tempered. He would in fact prefer to die than to live. He is a reluctant prophet who doesn’t want to do what he is told, runs away from the work he has been given and actually sulks when in spite of all that his hearers repent all the same.

The story of Jonah uses humour to get its message across. Yet we are suspicious of humour especially when it comes to religion. In the Middle Ages, laughter was seen as a threat to authority and was to be suppressed. Today though we accept that it is possible to criticise the Church with love. Humour can be a most effective instrument of love. We Christians are called to be a people of love and joy so let us be willing to laugh.

Self-criticism is good for the church, and that is the role of the prophet. It is not always easy to distinguish between true and false prophets. Yet we need our prophets if we are to remain true to Jesus. For many centuries people were reluctant to accept that the story of Jonah did not actually happen. Today we are better able to appreciate that stories bring us truths about life, that the story itself can be prophetic.

The message of Jonah is clear enough. Be ready for the unexpected, God works in unexpected ways. The people of Israel may be the people of God but their God is not an exclusive God. His concerns reach also to the sailors and to people of Nineveh as God himself says at the end of the book.

In the Gospel of Matthew, 12:38-41 Jesus refers to “the sign of Jonah”. Reading this episode, I often wonder if Jesus used Jonah as a way of gently deflecting the request of his opponents with a touch of humour. The Gospels may not record Jesus as laughing but it is only to be expected that Jesus had a lively sense of humour.

During Lent we are called to repentance and renewal. We need to look closely at ourselves and ask to what extent we are Jonahs ourselves, perverse, peevish, reluctant, angry. Humour has its place in our search for God and the story of Jonah helps us to laugh at ourselves and keep laughing. For Jonah as a comic book visit: www.staircasestudio.com