Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: Jeremiah 23,5-8. Populus Zion

Thursday, December 2, 2021

Jeremiah 23,5-8. Populus Zion

Jeremiah 23,5-8 0122

Populus Zion 1. Advent 01

Guenther, Bishop of Regensburg, Germany. ✠ 938

28. November 2021

1. ℣ Show me Your ways, O Yahweh:

℟ Teach me Your paths. (Psalm 25,4 tlh)

O Lord Jesus Christ, true God and true man; as we prepare our selves for Your advent, remind us once more that You stepped forth from Your Kingly hall to begin Your heroic course, doing so that You would save us. Amen. (lsb 332,4 Savior of the Nations, Come)

2. »„Behold, the days are coming, declares Yahweh, when I will raise up for David a Righteous Branch, and He shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘Yahweh is our righteousness.’ Therefore, behold, the days are coming, when they shall no longer say: ‘As Yahweh lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ but ‘As Yahweh lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where He had driven them.’ Then they shall dwell in their own land.”«

3. In Jeremiah’s day, Israel was beleaguered with false prophets who lead the people astray. They claimed to speak for Yahweh, but they did not. Yahweh accuses these false prophets of prophesying by Baal and going after things that do not profit (Jeremiah 2,8). Many in Israel approved of these prophets because they too had forsaken Yahweh for Baal (Jeremiah 2,13). Solomon wisely reminds us: there is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1,9). Even today people claim to speak for God, but what they say is contrary to the Holy Scriptures, yet people follow their every word.

4. Israel rejected Jeremiah because he spoke for Yahweh. 500 years later the scribes and Pharisees rejected Jesus who spoke for Yahweh. Both Jeremiah and Jesus called the people to repent. Likewise, we repent of our sins each Gottesdienst (Divine Service). Jesus preached: repent, for the reign of heaven is at hand (Matthew 4,17).

5. Advent is a season of both repentance and preparation. The Prophet Jeremiah tells us that Yahweh will raise up for David a Righteous Branch who would bring justice and righteousness. The Prophet Amos tells us that Yahweh declares justice to roll down like waters and righteousness like an overflowing stream (Amos 5,24). Yahweh’s Messiah would be the one to bring justice and righteousness to Israel and all the nations. This anointed one was referred to as a priest (Leviticus 4,3.5.16.17), a king (Psalms) and a savior (Daniel 9, 25-26). The apocalyptic approach of Daniel and the later prophets emphasizes that the only way to escape the catastrophic circumstances of the era was through direct Divine intervention, the sending of the Messiah, to save humanity from a chaotic world. In the mid-2. century bc the Messiah signaled the end of time, the day of judgment and the inauguration of the reign of God. This was the Jewish expectation when Jesus triumphantly entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.

6. Perhaps the pandemic furor we have lived through these past 2 years has reignited an apocalyptic viewpoint for people. We have been reminded again that there are things beyond our grasp to control. A pandemic virus that continues to mutate reminds us that even with all our scientific achievement we cannot completely eradicate some illnesses. There are still things in this fallen creation that thwart our attempts to bring order to its chaos. We need to rely on God and His providence to overcome the apocalyptic time we live in. We need Christ Jesus to triumph over those catastrophes that render us powerless.

7. The conventional wisdom of our age has ignored and diminished the very real spiritual catastrophes that effect human beings. Sin and its wicked consequences effect all humanity globally on a daily basis. The Bible reminds us again and again that we cannot resolve these spiritual catastrophes; we need God’s direct intervention in our world to be victorious. Israel could not rescue themselves from Egyptian slavery; God Himself redeemed them. Jesus arrived at His first advent to redeem us from sin, death and the Devil. He is the Righteous Branch who executed justice and righteousness in the world through His cross and resurrection.

8. Jesus has given His Church the Word and Sacraments to dispense this justice and righteousness to individual people. These Sacraments are signs of the New Testament, i.e., signs of propitiation and the remission of sins (Apology XII,42). Sacraments are signs of God’s will toward us and are signs of grace (Apology XXIV,69). Through the Word and Sacrament the gospel is proclaimed that Christ has been a victorious in His apocalyptic struggle against the spiritual forces that are arrayed against us, and that His mercy and grace are out upon us to declare us justified and righteous. This is most certainly true.

9. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippines 4,7). Amen.

10. Let us pray. Awaken us, O Lord God, with Your grace for the future. As You graciously forgive our sins, protect and strengthen us from all danger of future sins, so that we may serve You with a clear conscience and joyfully receive our Lord Jesus Christ when He returns in glory; He lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever forever. Amen. (The Pomeranian Church Order and Agenda 282.1 © 1854).

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 28. Revised Edition © 2012 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.

Grace Evangelical-Lutheran

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Thursday, December 2, 2021

Jeremiah 23,5-8. Populus Zion

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