The first patristic sermon on repentance – the way of repentance (St. Ambrose)

• Make me repent, so I repent

Let us wash ourselves with tears so that God hears us when we mourn. He also heard Ephraim when he wept, as it is written: “I have surely heard Ephraim moaning” (Jeremiah 31:18). He deliberately repeated what Ephraim uttered in his mourning: “You disciplined me like an unruly calf, and I have been disciplined” (Jeremiah 31:18), as the calf cannot tame itself, but flees from its tamer. This is how Ephraim left the tamer, following Jeroboam and worshiping the calf.

That is how Ephraim repents saying: “Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth” (Jeremiah 31:19).

So let us submit ourselves to God and not to sin. As we meditate on remembering our sins, we are ashamed of them, not as a matter of pride. Until the Lord is moved by these conversations of ours and answers us, saying: “Is Ephraim My dear son? Is he a pleasant child? … I will surely have mercy upon him” (Jeremiah 31:20).

“And what kind of mercy did God promise us? He says: ‘For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul’” (Jeremiah 31:25–26). We therefore notice God’s promises to sinners as we return back to Him.

• Remember my sins without despair

We have a good Lord who wants the salvation of all. He says: “I am the One who removes your sins, and I do not remember them again—so do you remember them?” I do not remember them because of My grace, but do you remember them so as to turn away from them?

If you remember them, they will be forgiven; but if you are proud of them, you will increase them. Confess them and you will be justified, because confessing sins in shame loosens their bonds.

Be careful not to resist His commandments, lest you fall as the disobedient Jews fell, to whom He said: “We played the pipe for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not cry” (Luke 7:32).

This refers not to worldly dances, but to the spiritual dance—like David dancing before the Ark of the Covenant— where man rises above bodily lusts and earthly pleasures (Philippians 2:13–14).

“We wept for you, and you did not weep,” meaning you did not repent when John came calling for repentance through the grace of Christ.

Grace is the gift of the Lord, and repentance—also His gift—is the remedy for the sinner.

• Repentance as a remedy for sinners

Jeremiah understood repentance as a great remedy and used it in his lamentations for Jerusalem: “She weepeth sore in the night… The ways of Zion do mourn” (Lamentations 1:2, 4).

True repentance shakes the inner depths of the heart, as the prophet says: “My bowels are troubled; my heart is turned within me” (Lamentations 1:20).

Likewise, the people of Nineveh repented and escaped destruction (Jonah 3:5). How powerful is repentance, that it appears even to change God’s intention.

The Lord Himself wept over Jerusalem and said: “Weep not for Me, but weep for yourselves” (Luke 23:28).

“Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh” (Luke 6:21).

A sermon by Saint John Chrysostom about Nineveh and Jonah

God’s love surpasses all human love. He does not merely provide for us; He loves us intensely and without weakness. To teach us this, He uses human examples—not to equate His love with ours, but to show that it far exceeds it.

“Can a woman forget her nursing child? … Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you” (Isaiah 49:14–15).

“As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him” (Psalm 103:13).

God’s goodness exceeds even this image, as Christ said: “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” (Luke 11:13).

Jonah himself learned this lesson when God spared Nineveh: “Should I not pity Nineveh, that great city?” (Jonah 4:10–11).

God provides for His children even before they ask, yet He still desires that they ask—because the benefit is greater for those who do.

Glory be to our Lord.

Jonah’s fast – a sermon to HH Pope Tawadros II

The Church lives the events of the Book of Jonah through a three-day fast with prayer and hymns. Because of its importance, it is considered a preparation for the Great Lent, which begins two weeks later and continues until the glorious Resurrection.

Jonah the Prophet: He lived nearly 100 years in the eighth century BC, including 73 years of service.

Book of Jonah: It differs from the other prophetic books, as it speaks about the prophet himself rather than a prophecy.

Sections of the Book: Chapters 1–2: Jonah flees from his service. Chapters 3–4: Jonah completes his service.

There are three stories in this fast:

The first: God and man — God’s concern for man, man’s stubbornness, faulty thinking, and loss.

The second: God and the sailors — idol worshipers ignorant of the true God.

The third: God and the people of Nineveh — living in darkness, error, and sin.

At the same time, we see three great divine attributes:

• God of mercy and forgiveness — He has mercy on peoples, communities, and individuals (Jonah).
• God of the second chance — Jonah, the sailors, and the people of Nineveh.
• God of goodness and victory — Jonah becomes the bearer of one of the most successful preaching missions.

Four lessons:

1. From the sailors: preparedness and justice — they feared God more than Jonah did (1:10).
2. From the fish: silent prayer and obedience — it obeyed God more than Jonah did (2:10).
3. From Nineveh: decisive repentance — they understood repentance better than Jonah (3:10).
4. From nature (the gourd): man’s grumbling against God’s mercy extended to all.

St. John Chrysostom says: “How beautiful is the icon of Christ drawn in the tear of a repentant person!”

And also: “We must first do what we can, so God will do in us what we cannot.”

Jonah’s prayer

Book of Jonah, chapter 2 — the prophecy read on the second day of the Nineveh fast.

The whole book contrasts God’s longing for man with man’s stubborn resistance toward God.

General features of this prayer:

1. It contains no direct requests: “Out of the depths I cry out to You, Lord” (Psalm 130).
2. It begins with sorrow and ends with thanksgiving, praise, and vows.
3. Jonah flees from God in abundance, yet in distress finds refuge in Him.

Three features shaping the feelings of a repentant person:

1. Shame: awareness of sin, disobedience, and flight from God (Psalm 51:3–4).
2. Trust: hope in God’s love — He forgives, forgets, and renews.
3. Trial: through tribulation he learns obedience and humility.

Those who cling to falsehood abandon grace — self-deception, pride, money, and sin.

“With the voice of praise I sacrifice to You… Salvation belongs to the Lord” — proclaimed centuries before Christ, echoed later by the Virgin Mary: “My soul rejoices in God my Savior.”

How is the human being described?

Four phrases in the Book of Jonah reveal human nature:

1. He slept deeply (1:5) — recklessness, laziness, and escape.
2. The men feared greatly (1:10) — awareness of divine presence.
3. Jonah was deeply distressed (4:1) — selfishness and lack of love.
4. Jonah rejoiced greatly (4:6) — naivety and narrow perspective.

The whale — the unexpected hero — was a divine blessing:

• A school of prayer in hardship — driving Jonah to heartfelt repentance.
• A model of obedience — fulfilling God’s command without resistance.
• A means of deliverance — God does not abandon His servant, even when he flees.

Mar Ephrem the Syrian says: “Blessed is the one filled with spiritual joy and faithful in carrying the good yoke of the Lord, for he shall be crowned with glory.”

The Five Elements of the Book of Jonah:

1. A complaining prophet — fleeing, sleeping, arguing, and resisting God’s will.
2. Reasonable sailors — thoughtful, prayerful, reverent, and responsive.
3. An obedient whale — timely, submissive, fasting three days, fulfilling God’s command.
4. An accepting people — hearing, repenting, fasting, and turning from evil.
5. A loving God — gracious, merciful, slow to anger, and long-suffering.

The prophet Jonah represents spiritual dullness, which appears in the following ways:

• Disobedience — not obeying God.
• Lack of compassion — a limited heart toward sinners.
• Failure to grasp basic truths of faith — God is present everywhere.
• Pride and arrogance — preferring personal dignity over the salvation of others.
• Intolerance and anger — saying, “My death is better than my life.”

The miracle of Jonah the Prophet – by the late Anba Epiphanius

The books of the Old Testament are full of prophecies about the Lord Jesus Christ, from His birth to His ascension, and even His second coming. Every prophet, whether from Israel or among the Gentiles, contributed to revealing aspects of Christ’s coming. Even Balaam, though a Gentile prophet, foretold Him, saying: “I see Him, but not now… A star shall come out of Jacob” (Numbers 24:17).

Jonah is distinguished among the prophets because he did not only foretell Christ’s coming, but his life itself became a sign of the Lord’s death and resurrection.

The Lord Jesus explained this when the scribes and Pharisees asked for a sign: “No sign shall be given except the sign of the prophet Jonah” (Matthew 12:39–40; Luke 11:30).

Historical overview

Jonah son of Amittai, whose name means “dove,” was born in Gath-hepher, about five kilometers northeast of Nazareth (Joshua 19:13). St. Jerome mentions visiting what was believed to be Jonah’s tomb.

Outside the Book of Jonah, he is mentioned only once in the Old Testament (2 Kings 14:25), where he prophesied during the reign of Jeroboam II of Israel (793–735 BC).

Jonah lived during one of Israel’s darkest periods. Though the kings were wicked, God showed mercy through Jonah’s warnings, not because of Israel’s repentance, but because of God’s compassion (2 Kings 14:26–27).

Despite Jonah’s call, King Jeroboam did not repent, yet God still delivered Israel according to Jonah’s prophecy (2 Kings 14:23–25).

Contemporary Assyrian kings included Adad-Nirari III, Shalmaneser IV, Ashur-dan III, and Ashur-nirari V. Some historians associate a religious reform during this era with Jonah’s mission to Nineveh.

Nineveh was notorious for evil, and several prophets foretold its destruction, including Nahum (Nahum 3:1,19) and Zephaniah (Zephaniah 2:13,15).

The message of Jonah the Prophet

To understand Jonah’s message, we must read the book bearing his name. It reveals the mystery Paul describes in Ephesians — that salvation is offered to Gentiles as well as Jews (Ephesians 3:2–6).

Jonah struggled with this truth because Israel traditionally viewed the Gentiles with hostility, expecting punishment rather than salvation for them.

Though prophets like Isaiah hinted at the inclusion of the Gentiles (Isaiah 40:3; 2:2), Jonah was chosen to teach this truth through lived experience.

Jonah fled to Tarshish to avoid preaching to the Gentiles, but God intervened. After being cast into the sea and preserved in the belly of the whale, Jonah obeyed God and preached in Nineveh.

The people of Nineveh repented through fasting and humility, and God forgave them (Jonah 3:10).

Through Jonah’s story, God teaches that He desires repentance, not destruction, and that He is the God of all people (1 Timothy 2:4; Acts 10:35).

The book also emphasizes repentance: the sailors repented (Jonah 1:16), Nineveh repented (Jonah 3), and Jonah himself acknowledged his failure.

Sign of the Prophet Jonah

How did Jonah become a sign?

Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale for three days and three nights, so the Son of Man would be in the heart of the earth (Matthew 12:40; Luke 11:30).

The people of Nineveh repented without demanding a sign, unlike the Pharisees who demanded proof.

Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection became the ultimate sign, raising believers with Him to new life (Ephesians 2:6).

Jonah’s descent into the whale prefigured Christ’s burial, and Jonah’s deliverance prefigured the Resurrection (Jonah 2:5; Acts 2:26–27; Psalm 16:9–10).

Just as Jonah emerged after three days and preached repentance, Christ rose on the third day and proclaimed salvation to all creation.

Jonah’s sign brought life to Nineveh; Christ’s resurrection brings eternal life: “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:21–22).