God sent Jonah to Nineveh, the capital of Assyria to pronounce a message of judgement over it. After he preached the message reluctantly, God forgave the people of Nineveh and never destroyed their city because they repented before Him. Apart from the fact that God made him look like a false prophet, Jonah detested the idea of a ‘God of unlimited grace’. Why should grace be extended to the Assyrians, who were the worst enemies of Israel? He preferred a God who gave people what they deserved.

During the time Jesus ministered, He found that the Jewish religious leaders had introduced new rules apart from the six hundred and thirteen Old Testament laws, which required money to carry out the ritualistic demands. The Pharisees and the Sadducees, who had enough wealth, could fulfill them while the poor were heavily burdened.

This was the reason why Jesus said, ’Come to Me all who labour, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest’. It was an invitation to the poor and needy to take His yoke upon themselves because His yoke was easy and His burden was light. He assured them, that this gospel of grace and forgiveness that He offered through repentance would truly enable them to find rest for their souls (Matthew 11:28 - 30).

Jesus came to destroy religion and in its place establish a relationship by extending mercy and forgiveness to all men through repentance.  For this reason, John the Baptist was sent as a forerunner, to preach the message of repentance.

No matter how many times Jesus invited the religious leaders to accept this gospel, they constantly rejected it (Matthew 11: 16, 17).

Thought for the day: The Jewish leaders wanted to satisfy God only by their works but God offered grace and forgiveness through Jesus Christ.