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Jeremiah 23 (ESV)
5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’
7 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ 8 but ‘As the Lord lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’ Then they shall dwell in their own land.”
REFLECTION:
In this passage, Jeremiah compares the coming Messiah with the corrupted leaders at that time, forming a sharp contrast. The coming Messiah is the king from the tribe of David. This perfect king will rule all of Israel and all nations. Because he continued the life of the root of David, he was called “the righteous branch” (cf. Isa. 11:1). This branch is full of righteousness and fairness like the creator, and when he grows up, he is full of God’s attributes. This is the image of the incarnated Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ. Jeremiah’s beautiful prophecy about the righteous branch and the coming Messiah was a ray of light in the darkness, and it brought infinite hope to those who could not change the reality at that time but were still seeking God. Today, this prophecy has become a reality, the precious salvation has long been accomplished, and the power of resurrection has long been manifested. However, we still seem to be living in a dark world. We often lament our weakness and the evil of the world, and seem to be unable to change many things in reality. Let us not forget that when the Lord Jesus was resurrected and ascended to heaven, he left us with a newer and more beautiful hope: He will come again to execute a righteous judgment and justice for the oppressed. May this hope be the light in your life and bring you infinite comfort.
PRAYER:
Use Niebuhr’s “The Serenity Prayer” as your prayer today: ask God to give you serenity to accept the things you cannot change; ask God to give you the courage to change things you can change; ask God to give you wisdom so that you can distinguish the difference between the two.
HYMN:
The Serenity Prayer – youtu.be/1cyWipTrNV4
