The verb “repent!” occurs in two of the Lectionary readings. The word suggests that we are doing something wrong, we should stop at once and say we’re sorry. That misunderstands “repentance,” however. The readings tell us what “repentance” actually means.
Jonah is unique among the prophets, for his story is told with humor, and he is uncooperative, to say the least. God calls him to preach to the people of Nineveh, the capital of the most destructive empire Israel ever faced. But when Jonah heard God’s command to summon the Assyrians to repent and accept God’s forgiveness, he ran away wanting no part in saving Israel’s cruel enemy. God sent a storm on Jonah’s boat causing the sailors to throw him overboard; a gigantic fish swallowed him and disgorged him up on a beach.
When God called him a second time, Jonah goes at once, having learned his lesson, though still hoping the Assyrians will not repent. But they do repent and God turns from his wrath. “Repentance” in this case meant that the Assyrians will end their violent ways and respect other nations.
“Repent” on Jesus’ lips does not mean the same as it does on Jonah’s lips. Jonah preached to a people that did not know God and were cruel and unjust. They had to stop their cruelty to enjoy God’s future blessings. But Jesus is preaching at a new stage in God’s relationship to the nation and to the world. Repentance in this case does not mean “you’re doing something wrong,” but rather “prepare your mind to receive a new way of looking at God and looking at yourself and your world.” The Greek word for Jesus’s kind of repentance is metanoia, literally “change your mind,” or, more colloquially, “wrap your mind around this.” When Jesus says “repent and believe in the gospel,” he is telling them they must change their way of thinking before you can make a proper act of faith in him.
The Gospel illustrates the meaning of “repent.”
“As [Jesus] he passed by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea; they were fishermen. Jesus said to them, ‘Come after me, and I will make you fishers of people.’ Then they abandoned their nets and followed him. He walked along a little farther and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They too were in a boat mending their nets. Then he called them. So, they left their father Zebedee in the boat along with the hired men and followed him.”
These fishermen were devout Jews and presumably living good lives. But they accepted that something new had happened when Jesus came into their lives. They “repented,” that is, made themselves ready to embark on a new way of life. And that is what we are called to do – recognize the newness of Jesus’s, accept it, and live according to it.