Jeremiah has a reputation for being a miserable so-and-so. An Old Testament version of Victor Meldrew. An impression which is continued in the Book of Lamentations, which he is traditionally credited with writing. He isn’t often known for bringing for bringing hope and comfort.
But Jeremiah just told it like it was. He saw issues and he voiced them. Not because he was negative – but because he had a talent for finding problems that needed solving.
And Jeremiah lived during one of the most terrifying periods for the Jewish people in biblical times. The destruction of the Temple of Solomon and of Jerusalem, followed by the start of the exile into Babylon, meant everything was turned upside down, all certainties were gone. Jeremiah struggles to understand the implications of these tragic events. We see his anguish at the suffering of his people, his outrage at God for forcing him to speak such terrible words of judgement – but also his firm belief that the people of Israel will return to their land and rebuild Jerusalem.
Alas
In Jeremiah’s other book, the Book of Lamentations, we have a collection of 5 laments. These are expressions of sadness and grief and disappointment. This is poetry which reflects the suffering and dislocation that the people felt by all that had happened as their homes were destroyed and they were forced to move. The Hebrew name for the book translates as ‘Alas’, the first word of the first verse. And the book has come to be used as a lament for all Jewish catastrophes – past, present and future. It’s hard, difficult reading – but then it should be. These poems are about life, death and survival.
It’s a sobering thought that if that book was being written today it would more likely be written by a Palestinian in Gaza City, than a Jew in Jerusalem. But those pictures of devastation and deprivation that we see on the news are the kind of mental image to hold onto as a back-drop for this passage.
Optimism
What happened then and what’s happening now are difficult to rationalise and we need to grapple and engage with these texts to understand human grief. A modern-day Jeremiah would have plenty of material to write about.
Yet despite all that, in the midst of all his anguish, Jeremiah was able to write chapters full of optimism, of comfort and hope. Chapters 30 and 31 of Jeremiah are called by some his Book of Consolation, his Little Book of Comfort. And that’s where our four verses come from today. They overflow with faith for the future. “I will make a new covenant”, “I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more”.
Essential upgrade
Because this passage is re-used in the Epistle to the Hebrews, we often see it through a Christian lens, that this new covenant means Jesus. But in its original context it meant something else. It may be a ‘new’ covenant but it’s more of an essential upgrade than a complete replacement.
It’s still about the law – and Yahweh remains the God of his people Israel. In the previous covenant the law was written on tablets of stone or written and placed on door frames or foreheads or arms, or memorised and fixed by people in their hearts and minds. But now, in this new and improved version, God himself will write it on their hearts. They shall no longer teach other, as they were told to do before, because now all shall know him, from greatest to least. They are fully attuned to God’s intention.
Set free
So, it’s an astounding set of words in the midst of such darkness. A healing, forgiving, restoring relationship giving hope for an apparently not too far-off future. A people set free to be glad and full and joyous.
For a people in exile, it gave comfort amidst the despair. Words that we too can cling to. The Book of Jeremiah was written with a particular time and place in mind. But, just as with Lamentations, it transcends all that and becomes timeless. Giving hope for all who suffer, now and in the past. Hope for us here and hope for places of conflict such as the Middle East and Ukraine. And we should always have hope, because hopelessness denies the fact that God is with us.
Jesus
And yet, if we’re brutally honest with ourselves, of whom can it truly be said that the law of God is written on their hearts? Where can anywhere really claim that no teaching is required because everyone knows him perfectly from the least of them to the greatest?
The Book of Jeremiah doesn’t answer that dilemma. It points beyond itself to another response. It’s not to the church, or to you and me. It’s to Jesus. Now that is someone that we can look to as having God’s Law written on his heart. A life of perfect love and obedience. In him, God took up the cross that is central to bringing all people, everyone everywhere to the point where they know him and love him, from the greatest to the least. It’s why the Greeks, in the Gospel story, wished to see Jesus.
What happens next
But to ‘come and see’ Jesus isn’t enough. Our Gospel reading is set just after the raising of Lazarus – and the authorities are busy plotting to kill Jesus. You can sense the tension building, the ‘what happens next’ after our story today.
And in the passage, Jesus says we have to ‘follow’ and ‘serve’ – and not just ‘see’. Follow him to the cross. If we do follow Christ, then we will see him in places of poverty and hunger – both here and abroad, in place of sickness and war, of destruction and exile.
We need to have our eyes opened to see Christ already at work, through ordinary people like you and me. Through charities like Comic Relief who were on TV in the Friday just gone, through food banks like Porch Box and help with asylum seekers from local groups like The Eagles Wing. You can come up with your own list.
What are we known for?
And just like Jeremiah in Jerusalem, as we follow and serve, we should look for where we can be bringers of optimism, hope and comfort: to people far away and to those that we encounter every day in the communities in which we live and to the people that are sat around you in the church here today.
As we draw nearer to Easter, perhaps that’s our challenge. What are we known for? Are we known for moaning and for doing people down? Or are we known as people who bring joy and optimism, who are full of hope and bringing God’s comfort to those that we meet? Let’s pray to God that we’re the latter and not the former. Amen
‘Hope and comfort’ was delivered by Ian Banks on Sunday 17th March 2024 at St John with St Mark’s, Bury. It’s based on Jeremiah 31:31-34 and John 12:20-33.
References:
- Berlin & Brettler. (2004). Jewish Study Bible.Oxford: University Press.
- Knight, G. M. (2011). Frameworks, cries and imagery in Lamentations 1-5: Working towards a cross-cultural hermeneutic. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Liverpool, United Kingdom.
- Emmerson, G. (1994). Prophets & Poets. Oxford: Bible Reading Fellowship.
- Brueggemann, W. (1993). Texts Under Negotiation. Fortress Press.