Jesus is the Storm

In reference to the Biblical story of Jonah...

God’s mercy is massive. This storm tells us that God spares no expense in going after those who run away.

God could easily have raised up someone else to do the work Jonah refused. It’s not like the Lord’s hands were tied or that after sending the storm he kept his fingers crossed, hoping his unruly servant would at last respond. God is never in such weakness. He’s always in the position of authority and control, whether or not we realize it.

The supreme example of this massive mercy is Jesus. The incarnation of Christ tells us most emphatically how God spares nothing in going after those who run away. God’s becoming man is anything but a quiet and subtle response from God to our running from him. It’s a huge and loud statement. It shouts to us that God confronts human flight in the most outspoken, powerful way.

Of all the world’s religions, only in Christianity does God become one of his creatures. God becoming human? That’s mas- sive, deafening—anything but subtle. Jesus is really God’s “great wind,” his “mighty tempest” in response to human running and rebellion. Jesus is the storm. Jesus is God’s gracious intervention for those who are enslaved to themselves. He comes loudly, not subtly, with an aggressive affection to pursue fugitives like you and me.

- Tullian Tchividjian, Surprised by Grace: God's Relentless Pursuit of Rebels, 51, 52