see. He wants us to be the message, not just the messenger. As Apostle Paul said, we are to be “Living Epistles” of God.

Jonah went “down to Joppa,” “below deck” and fell into a “deep sleep,” and he even went “below the ocean.” His life trajectory was going down immediately following his decision to turn and run away from God and his calling. God had to resurrect him from the pit of death and nothingness to be able to use him again and send the notice to the Assyrian-Nineveh. Christ cited this as a picture of Christ’s future death and resurrection that qualified him to be the high priest and prophet for all the people. Jesus went down to be like us. He went down and low as He partook of our sins so that He can rise from the dead in victorious life. He now calls everyone to repent and return to the Father.

“Then they cried out to the Lord, ‘Please, Lord, do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, Lord, have done as you pleased.’ Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him.” (Jonah 1:14-16)

They knew Jonah as an innocent man because he did not do anything against them, but God knew that Jonah was not innocent with him. Jonah got what he deserved. We sometimes look at our situations separated from God. We think that things only happen to us without His knowledge and that God does not see what really is going on in our lives. We cry injustice when bad things happen to us, but we forget that God saw the evil things we could have done in secret or the evil intentions of our hearts that are hidden from everyone. God sees and judges that. Our troubles and sufferings and injustices can be the instrument for God’s purification process for us. The time where we can really allow the Holy Spirit to expose to us our innate folly and sins. A chance for us to really come back to God intimately, honestly and truthfully.