November 23, 2015

Scripture: Jeremiah 33:14-16
Part of the context which must be considered in reading this passage is that a new church year is beginning, and this reading is for the season of Advent where the focus is on the coming of Jesus; both as a baby in the incarnation and as a glorious judge in the second coming. Jeremiah’s prophecy points us to those events.
Most of Jeremiah’s ministry dealt with prophesying doom and punishment for God’s people because of their sin. It is largely a sad book, and Jeremiah is often referred to as, “The Weeping Prophet.” Chapters 30-33 stand in stark contrast to the rest of the book. Here God promises hope and salvation to His people. The verses appointed for this week point to days which are coming that will see God keeping His promises to His people as He raises of a righteous Branch which will spring up from David. It is a reference to the king that will sit on David’s throne forever, whom we know to be Jesus. The passage prepares us to receive this King and to watch for Him, reminding us that He won’t be like any earthly king for He will be our righteousness.
Teaching
“The days are coming,” says the Lord through His servant Jeremiah. This is not a phrase like people often use that, “someday,” they’ll do this or that thing they’ve put on some kind of bucket list. This is God’s way of saying that the time in imminent. Even so, imminent for God does not always seem so imminent to His people. It would still be almost six-hundred years until the righteous Branch would spring up.
This coming king would be different from any other that had yet been born. For one thing, this king would be righteous and just in a way that no other king had been before. Indeed, He would save God’s people and would be their righteousness.
Life
As followers of Jesus our language is often influenced by the way the Bible uses words. One of those words is righteous. In the 1980’s and ‘90’s we might have heard someone talking about an intense or incredible experience as being, “righteous,” but this is a word that doesn’t get much use today. The word itself actually means to be right with God, or to do what is right. It is somewhat synonymous with being holy. But here is what is so special about this passage. It does not say that we will do righteous things, or even become righteous. It says, “The Lord is our righteousness.” In other words, it is what God does that makes us righteous, and that is ultimately true in Jesus’ perfect life, death and resurrection.
Prayer
Lord God, You raised up the righteous Branch when Jesus was born. He is our righteousness.
Lord Jesus, thank You for removing the burden of trying to become righteous by our deeds and for giving Your life in such a way that You have become our righteousness.
Forgive us, O God, for trying to satisfy You with our righteousness and for imagining that we can somehow be good enough to satisfy Your justice.

O Holy Spirit, help us to comprehend and be amazed by the truth that the Father has kept His promises and given the Son to be our righteousness, and grant us faith to trust in Him so firmly that our faith changes the way we live and our lives testify to Christ’s righteousness which is available to all. Amen. 

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