As Jesus set His face toward Jerusalem, He did so as a greater Jonah. Jonah went to wicked Nineveh as our Lord went to the city that kills the prophets, and it is instructive to highlight both the similarity and the difference.

The difference is that our Lord wanted God’s mercy to heal Jerusalem of its self-inflicted wounds. This would come through His death and resurrection, and the Spirit poured out at Pentecost. Jonah, on the other hand, didn’t want the Ninevites to receive God’s mercy. This is why he ran in the opposite direction at the outset and had to be redirected through the fish.

The similarity is striking. It is that Jonah and our Lord both knew the prophetic word would heal the rebel city, humble it, and bring the mercy of God to the inhabitants. Romans 1:16 says, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth.” As you set your face like flint, do so remembering that the gospel is harder than any hard heart you will encounter. Whether it be in your own breast or another’s, the Word of God is a fire and a hammer (Jeremiah 23:29). It melts the cold heart. It breaks the stony one.