Scripture Text (NRSV)
11:18 It was the LORD who made it known to me, and I knew; then you
showed me their evil deeds.
11:19 But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter. And I did not
know it was against me that they devised schemes, saying, "Let us
destroy the tree with its fruit, let us cut him off from the land of
the living, so that his name will no longer be remembered!"
11:20 But you, O LORD of hosts, who judge righteously, who try the
heart and the mind, let me see your retribution upon them, for to you
I have committed my cause.
Comments:
Anyone focusing on Jeremiah? It's a challenge. Like a lamb led to the
slaughter. The lamb is cared for, fed, groomed, and then-- executed! A
complete betrayal. Jeremiah found out that he could trust no one,
except God. No one was reliable, except God. And Jeremiah wasn't even
sure about that.
Often we find that people let us down, betray us, wound us. We can
identify with that lamb. But then the Lamb comes who willingly submits
and everything changes.
Well those are some opening thoughts! Look forward to hearing from
others.
Peace, T S-B in Ephrata, PA
Today's reading tells of the suffering of a just man, the prophet
Jeremiah, who announced God's message of impending doom only to
receive opposition. The common idea of the just sufferer seems to have
influenced the early Christians as they sought to understand the
suffering and death of Jesus.
T S-B in Ephrata, PA, you have expressed what is so often in my
thinking. We tell people that God loves them, but as soon as we tell
them that God wants something from them, they put the barrier up. Ask
them to do some not very onerous task - and listen to their negative
response. Does it make me feel like Jeremiah? I have a situation in
which I also feel let down by God. My organist is very unwell, and has
to step down. Recently it seemed that God had answered the prayer, and
someone exceptionally suitable was on the horizon, but quite
unexpectedly family reasons have prevented that person from coming to
us, at least for a year or so. Does it make me feel like Jeremiah? Rev
Marion in Scotland
