The final chapter of Jonah’s story is simultaneously strange and beautiful. It’s strange both because Jonah seems to end as he began – trying to distance himself from God – and because it ends with a question to which we never get to hear Jonah’s answer. It’s beautiful because it shows us a glimpse of the depths of God’s compassion, that He is, as Jonah attests, “a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.” The final question is meant, then, not merely for Jonah, but for all who will read his book. And it asks us to consider the extent to which our own hearts reflect the heart of God.