The Cairo Debate — Page 41
"For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice. " (Hos. 6. : 6); -and Jesus : "" "Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice. ' For came not to call the righteous, but sinners. " (Mt. 9:13). . God desires desires mercy and love, not sacrifice. . Repentance is the sole means to absorb His mercy. . Jesus preached repentance-was concerned throughout his life to invite people to repent. Redemptive death is contradictory to God's plan and a disservice to the office of Jesus. (4) In the book of Matthew we read : "But he answered them, "An "An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign; but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. " (Mt. 12: 39-40). . To investigate whether prophet Jonah was alive in the belly of the whale, or dead, we have only to study the book of Jonah. We find : "And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah ; and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. . Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the belly of the fish,-" (Jon. 1: 17, 2:1). Jesus, to his generation, offered one mainstay 41