He said to them, "Take me up, and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will be calm for you; for I know that because of me this great tempest is on you."
This is the very heart of one of the most wonderful events that ever took place.  Until that hour, Jonah had hated "foreigners"; but in the agony of that great storm, they found their common humanity, and Jonah's heart went out to them; and his soul was touched because of their unfortunate plight, a situation to which he himself had so effectively contributed.  Indeed, he had brought it all upon them.  "All that he had fled to avoid happens before his eyes; and through his own mediation, he sees the heathen turn to the fear of the Lord."[32]  Nothing any more wonderful than this ever happened to one of God's servants!