Bible Tuesday for Sunday, October 26, 2014
Jeremiah 31:31-34
The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 32It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband,* says the Lord. 33But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, ‘Know the Lord’, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.
In this section of the prophecy of Jeremiah, God is giving a new prophecy of hope to Israel and Judah. God assures them that they will be released from captivity in Babylon and will return to the land given them in God’s covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But the covenant God made with the patriarchs which extends to all Israel has not endured because, which God was faithful to his end, the Israelites ignored God for the most part and did all kinds of monstrous things in the name of other gods. The prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah tell the Israelites that it is because of their betrayal of God that they are being conquered and captured by Babylon.
But this comes from a passage of great hope. God is making a new covenant with Israel and Judah. Actually, it is the same covenant: I, Yahweh, will be your God and will care for you. You, Israel and Judah, will be my people and show my love and faithfulness to yourselves, each other, and all people that pass through your lands. You will only worship Me and look to Me as your God.” What makes the covenant different this time around is not the content of the covenant but the way in which it will be learned. No one will have to teach the covenant. God will write it on everyone’s heart and mind so that all will know the covenant.
Psalm 46
God is our refuge and stronghold,
a very present[a] help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth reels,
though the mountains topple into the heart of the sea;
3 though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble with its tumult.
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of the city;[b] it shall not be toppled;
God will help it when the morning dawns.
6 The nations rage; kingdoms topple,
he utters his voice, the earth melts.
7 The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our haven.[c]Selah
8 Come, behold the works of the Lord;
see what desolations he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear;
he burns the shields with fire.
10 Desist! Know that I am God!
I dominate the nations,
I dominate the earth.”
11 The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our haven.
This psalm depicts God as the ultimate warrior/champion for Israel. So powerful is God that he can impose the end of war between nations, melting away the earth and the weapons of war.
For the Israelites, God is a haven, the ultimate storm shelter, as well as their military champion. The phrase, “The Lord of Hosts is with us,” should be understood as, “The Master of the heavenly army is on our side.”
Romans 3:19-28
Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20For ‘no human being will be justified in his sight’ by deeds prescribed by the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.
21 But now, irrespective of law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, 22the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ* for all who believe. For there is no distinction, 23since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; 24they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement* by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to show his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed; 26it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies the one who has faith in Jesus.*
27 Then what becomes of boasting? It is excluded. By what law? By that of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law.
Martin Luther, in his writings, tells of his great discovery of God’s Grace while preparing to teach at the new university of Wittenberg. Luther was studying Romans in preparation for lecturing when he came upon this chapter where he finally understood that everyone is indeed filthy with sin and condemned to hell but God justifies them through faith in Jesus which God grants through faith. This was absolutely HUGH to Martin Luther since he was taught that hell and damnation were the certain fate of everyone who didn’t earn God’s grace and Luther knew there was absolutely no way to earn this since we are so base and selfish. But here St. Paul describes with Luther comes to call the Happy Exchange: Jesus sets aside his perfection in Godhood, and takes on humanity and sinfulness. But Jesus is perfect even in humanity. On the cross Jesus trades his perfection for our imperfection, taking the fallenness of humanity to death with him and gifting to us eternal life with him.
This discovery of Luther’s in this third chapter of Romans launched Luther into writing the 95 Thesis, pounding in the nail heard ‘round the world.
John 8:31-36
Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, ‘If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; 32and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.’ 33They answered him, ‘We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, “You will be made free”?’
34 Jesus answered them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. 35The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. 36So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.
First, in the gospel of John, “Jews” always refers to Jewish authorities in Jerusalem. In John, “Disciples” is used both generally to refer to those who follow Jesus, and specifically to what Luke calls, “the twelve”, and to those with whom Jesus eats the Last Supper.
There are certain Jewish authorities who are following Jesus to hear him teach. Jesus turns to them and addresses them specifically in the above passage. Jesus draws a distinction between those who are “truly my disciples” and those who listen to him for amusement or mere edification. These “Jews” immediately display on which side they fall. How strange that they do not know the in-and-out-of-slavery history of their own people but instead incorrectly claim perpetual freedom for their ancient ancestors all the way up to themselves.
Jesus answers the preposterous statement of the Jews with an even more astounding statement. Jesus infers that the Jewish authorities, likely Sadducees or Pharisees from Jerusalem, are sinners! And they are only temporarily in this house of God, the temple in Jerusalem, and that only the son of God can remedy their situation, making their holy living situation permanent, AND that Jesus is God’s son! True freedom can only come through the actions of the Son, God’s son.