25th November, 2007 [The Lord is our Savior ] - Jeremiah 23:1-10

1. Christmas and prophecies in the Old Testament

While awaiting Christmas we are reading from the Old Testament in order to contemplate the meaning of the Nativity. The word “Christmas” is composed of “Christ equals Messiah” and “Mass equals celebration”, which signifies a celebration for the arrival of the Messiah - a long expected event.
The Christ came to earth under the name of Jesus, which is an anglicized form of the Latin Lesus, which itself is derived from the Greek name Lesous. Lesous was the Greek transliterated form of the Hebrew name Yehoshua, meaning Lord as savior.
Thus Jesus is the very Messiah, the subject of ardent aspiration throughout the Old testament, and the Prophet Jeremiah describes how the Messiah will rule over a reunited Israel and judah. Just as God rescued the people from slavery in Egypt, so God will rescue them from “the land of the north,” the mythic place now embodied in history by Babylon.
Why was Jeremiah waiting for the Messiah, especially with such zeal? Because during this time, he and the Jewish people were living under very harsh conditions, historically known as The Babylonian captivity, or Babylonian exile. Jeremiah tell us with metaphors why and how it happened: “Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD. Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says to the shepherds who tend my people: “Because you have scattered my flock and driven them away and have not bestowed care on them, I will bestow punishment on you for the evil you have done,” declares the LORD ( Jer. 23:1-2).
This comment explains that the Kings or shepherds are to blame for the scattering of God’s flock in exile, but God will create a new future for the people. After the prosperity of David and Solomon their successors ruled the kingdom unfaithfully so much so, that God scattered the people and split the kingdom itself into two: Israel to the north and Judah in the south. Then Israel was attacked and defeated by Assyria, while Judah just survived through the threatening period.
But Babylonian power emerged, which took the hegemony from Assyria, and menaced Judah. Though Jehoiakim, the king of Judah then, resisted Babylonia and conquered Judah, the king was killed and Jerusalem was seized. Jehoiachin, Jehoiakim’s son, and many highly regarded people were exiled to Babylonia in B.C. 598, the first Babylonian captivity. However at that time Jerusalem was not destroyed. The new king of Judah nominated by the Babylonians was loyal to the Suzerain at the beginning but attempted a revolt supported by the Egyptians, which caused the second siege of Jerusalem by the Babylonian force.
Jeremiah’s lamentation in chapter 23 is said to be written under that siege, in which Jeremiah predicted Judah’s future by accusing kings and shepherds for scattering God’s flock. What Jeremiah prophesied came true in B.C. 586, the second siege of Jerusalem: “And he (King Zedkiah) was captured. He was taken to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where sentence was pronounced on him. They killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. Then they put out his eyes, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon. On the seventh day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard, an official of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. He set fire to the temple of the Lord, the royal palace and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every important building he burned down” (2 kings 25:6-9).
This biblical description recalls to us the scene in Hiroshima just after the bombardment by nuclear weapons. Jeremiah witnessed with his own eyes what happened to the people and lamented that it was a deserved punishment. However he understood already that there was a focal point behind the misery - God’s grace! Thus he prophesied again: “I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in number. I will place shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any be missing, declares the Lord” (Jeremiah 23:3-4 ).
The following verses reveal the future arrival of the new pastor, the real Messiah, with which Jeremiah expressed the hope: The days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord our righteousness (Jeremiah 23:5-6).

2. The Lord is our Savior

The following verses, Luke 1:30-33, represent the anouncement of the Virgin Mary’s Immaculate Conception, chosen for today’s invocation: But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.” This narrative does give witness to the view that Jesus shares in God’s identity.
Matthew 1:11-12 also explains a preceding passage which justifies that Jesus is the Messiah: “and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon. After the exile to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Salathiel . . . ”

3. To follow Lord Jesus as his believer

Jesus, the promised Savior, came to earth as the Messiah and started to preach with a reading from the book of Isaiah in Nazareth: “The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him(Jesus). Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19).
But many question what was changed by His arrival because there is always hatred and killing. The human being is unchanged, wars and massacres occur continuously. Where is the Savior’s peace? To that question we must answer by saying this: Here we are, Christians who do good to those who hate us, bless those who curse us, pray for those who mistreat us. If someone strikes us on one cheek, turn to him the other also. We must not try to take revenge, or respond to aggressive behaviors in the same way. Thus the peace of a Christian should be evident. We may find this difficult to do sometimes.
But, at least we can keep the hope which was written in Jeremiah’s lamentation: This is what the LORD says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you (Jeremiah 29:10-12).
The Jewish people endured the captivity for seventy years and eventually returned back to the home-land. Assyria and Babylonia who defeated Israel, exist no longer, neither Persia nor Greek and even Rome. From that era until now, Jewish people have maintained their religious identity - for some twenty five centuries. How? By hope! They have survived under severe circumstances and during harsh periods thanks to the hope given by God. That hope which is rooted in their faith was fortified by the sufferings of their people held captive in Babylonia. Through tough experiences, the weak become strong!
In our real life there are a lot of pains and problems, illness, poverty, death of loved ones, one after another, which seem without end. We should consider these sufferings as steps in God’s plan which leads us to a peaceful ending. The ancient Jewish people received the blessings of God after seemingly hopeless conditions. Even we can’t see the continuing acts of God. So we must learn from the Nativity that His promise will be kept. So, we can live with our hope by having faith. Christmas is the very time to recognize it once again.

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