Bible Red Thread 9: An Announced Rescue (Jeremiah 11, Jeremiah 31 and Isaiah 53)

sermon Jeremiah 31 : Patrice Berger, 2022_12_26, AB Lausanne church

title : Bible Red Thread 9: An Announced Rescue (Jeremiah 11, Jeremiah 31 and Isaiah 53)

Bible Red Thread 9: An Announced Rescue (Jeremiah 11, Jeremiah 31 and Isaiah 53)

Messengers raised to warn: Unfortunately, there arose new generations of leaders who were more obsessed with power, money, and sex, than with their allegiance to God and their mission to lead His people. These evil leaders turned God’s people away, who quickly forgot their commitments and then repeatedly violated the terms of the covenant. Then God raised messengers as “reminders” for his people.

A broken covenant: Through the mouth of the messenger Jeremiah, God reminds His people that they have violated the covenant, by their refusal to obey, and that they are increasingly distancing themselves from him. While God remains constant and faithful (He made Abraham’s descendants numerous and gave them a territory), the people deny their Creator to put their trust in idols of stone, gold and iron, and offer them incense in the hope that these gods will protect them against the wrath of God!

Listen, listen, listen: However, God still and always uses patience and pedagogy towards these people whom he loves. Three times, through the mouth of Jeremiah, God asks his people to listen to him! They were told to listen to a reminder of:

What God has done for his people, especially their miraculous release from slavery.
The clauses of the covenant contracted between God and his people and the consequences of disobedience.
God’s plan for his people – one people, one territory, under his authority (it has not changed since the beginning – Genesis 1)

Despite this relational rupture, God is committed to reconciling humanity with him and he will keep his word because he is faithful.

A miraculous solution: It is therefore not thanks to the clauses of the covenant made with his people (p. 16) that God continues to maintain a relationship, but thanks to the unconditional promise he made to Abraham in Genesis 15 ( p.10). In Jeremiah chapter 31, we discover the miraculous solution that God envisions to reconcile the creature and the Creator. He promises a new covenant with his people, an indelible covenant, written in the hearts of those who desire it! Phew! Humanity escapes the impasse of the rescue plan, not because of the creature, but because of the Creator. How is God going to do it? It is the messenger Isaiah who reveals it in chapter 53.

Need of a faithful servant: Delivering the creature from this impasse of rebellion requires outward action, and it will be through the true servant of the living God! Let’s dwell for a moment on the composite portrait of this character. He will be a servant who will work for God in a devoted way to the point of being called “the arm of the Lord”. He will be a winner who will succeed in carrying out God’s plan for humanity. He will be so powerful that “before him, kings will shut their mouths!” However, his advent will also be a period of “trouble”. He will be of the most common people – without beauty or splendour capable of attracting our eyes. Moreover, this man will be ignored by his generation. Nobody in his generation will worry about the disappearance of a man of such calibre! This man will be a “man of pain”, “punished”, “stricken”, “humiliated”, “wounded”, “broken”, and “mistreated” to carry out his mission. Yet, he opened not his mouth as He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; this apparent weakness will make him a misunderstood man. Besides, who will believe in the preaching of his message?

A mission completed: Despite everything, this minion will accomplish his mission! Isiah says, “He was wounded because of our transgressions, broken because of our faults: the chastisement of our peace has fallen on him, and it is by his wounds that we are healed…” By offering his perfect life as “a sacrifice of guilt”, the will of the Eternal will be accomplished through him. He reconciles the Creator with his creature, by satisfying both the justice of God, and his love, and does it for free! This is the man that all of humanity is waiting for. The Messiah, the bailout solution.

Bible Red Thread 9: An Announced Rescue (Jeremiah 11, Jeremiah 31 and Isaiah 53)

Bible Red Thread 9: An Announced Rescue (Jeremiah 11, Jeremiah 31 and Isaiah 53)

Related Links / Notes