OT: Jeremiah 32:36-42
36
"You are saying about this city, 'By the
sword, famine and plague it will be
handed over to the king of Babylon'; but
this is what the LORD, the God of
Israel, says: 37
I will surely gather them from all the
lands where I banish them in my furious
anger and great wrath; I will bring them
back to this place and let them live in
safety. 38
They will be my people, and I will be
their God. 39
I will give them singleness of heart and
action, so that they will always fear me
for their own good and the good of their
children after them.
40 I will
make an everlasting covenant with them:
I will never stop doing good to them,
and I will inspire them to fear me, so
that they will never turn away from me.
41 I will
rejoice in doing them good and will
assuredly plant them in this land with
all my heart and soul.
42 "This is
what the LORD says: As I have brought
all this great calamity on this people,
so I will give them all the prosperity I
have promised them.
Epistle: 1 Corinthians
15:30-45
30And
as for us, why do we endanger ourselves
every hour? 31I
die every day—I mean that, brothers—just
as surely as I glory over you in Christ
Jesus our Lord.
32If I fought wild beasts in
Ephesus for merely human reasons, what
have I gained? If the dead are not
raised, "Let us eat and drink, for
tomorrow we die." Do not be misled: "Bad
company corrupts good character."
34Come back
to your senses as you ought, and stop
sinning; for there are some who are
ignorant of God—I say this to your
shame.
35But
someone may ask, "How are the dead
raised? With what kind of body will they
come?" 36How
foolish! What you sow does not come to
life unless it dies.
37When you
sow, you do not plant the body that will
be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or
of something else.
38But God
gives it a body as he has determined,
and to each kind of seed he gives its
own body. 39All
flesh is not the same: Men have one kind
of flesh, animals have another, birds
another and fish another.
40There are
also heavenly bodies and there are
earthly bodies; but the splendor of the
heavenly bodies is one kind, and the
splendor of the earthly bodies is
another. 41The
sun has one kind of splendor, the moon
another and the stars another; and star
differs from star in splendor.
42So will
it be with the resurrection of the dead.
The body that is sown is perishable, it
is raised imperishable;
43it is
sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory;
it is sown in weakness, it is raised in
power; 44it
is sown a natural body, it is raised a
spiritual body. If there is a natural
body, there is also a spiritual body.
45So it is
written: "The first man Adam became a
living being"; the last Adam, a
life-giving spirit.
Gospel: St. Luke 4:31-36
31Then
he went down to Capernaum, a town in
Galilee, and on the Sabbath began to
teach the people.
32They were amazed at his
teaching, because his message had
authority. 33In
the synagogue there was a man possessed
by a demon, an evil spirit.
He cried out at the top of his voice,
34"Ha! What
do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth?
Have you come to destroy us? I know who
you are—the Holy One of God!"
35"Be
quiet!" Jesus said sternly. "Come out of
him!" Then the demon threw the man down
before them all and came out without
injuring him. 36All
the people were amazed and said to each
other, "What is this teaching? With
authority and power he gives orders to
evil spirits and they come out!"
(all NIV, gospelcom.net)
Jeremiah 32:36-42, especially vs.
40: "I will make with them an
everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away
from doing good to them; and I will put the fear
of Me in their hearts, that they may not turn
from Me."
In reading this passage from Jeremiah, do not
overlook the little "turn of speech" which the
Lord uses to reveal His lovingkindness for His
People. Before declaring their return from exile
(vss. 37-42), God reminds Jeremiah of the
primary message which He Himself has given him
repeatedly, "concerning this city of
which you say, 'It is given into the hand of the
king of Babylon by sword, by famine, and by
pestilence'" (vs. 36).
Then, in the next sentence, He uses the
pronoun, them, as the object of the
verb: "behold, I will gather them from
all the countries to which I drove them...."
(vs. 37). We need not look back to discern whom
God has in mind in this pronoun; but it is
this city, by which He means the entire
People of God (see vs. 38). How little God cares
for human constructions - for cities and houses.
His love is for His People! When He speaks of
"this city," He is speaking of the People whom
He "will bring...back" (vs. 37).
Let every Orthodox Christian remember that we
are those People of whom the Lord is speaking.
There is an unbroken continuity between the
ancient People of God in Jerusalem and the One,
Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. Together,
we are one People. We are united in Christ Jesus
through time by our only true Lord, God, and
Savior. Our ancient history included exile to
Babylon and a return to Jerusalem. Literally,
our holy forefathers went through a specific
time of alienation "for our learning" (Rom.
15:4) and for their correction, as well.
Mystically, their exile, brought about by the
sin of "turning away from God" (see Jer. 32:40),
is the same alienating sin of everyone of God's
People, including all who name Christ as God and
King.
Therefore, it is not surprising that God
should use the historic moment of exile to speak
of His great, once-and-for-all, bringing back
and gathering of His People. For "all we like
sheep have gone astray" (Is. 53:6), and the
Shepherd of us all, anciently and to this very
day, is searching - in cities like Babylon and
in all those places we make waste by our sins -
to bring back "the one which is lost until He
finds it" (Lk. 15:4). God will always speak to
us of His "everlasting covenant" in Christ Jesus
in seasons of "sword, famine, and pestilence"
(vs. 36).
What is this wondrous covenant that is
"everlasting" but the "New Covenant in My Blood"
(Lk. 22:20) - the Covenant renewed at each
Divine Liturgy? Who gathers at the Holy Table?
Who cries out, "Save us, O Son of God, Who art
risen from the dead?" Who prays for "the
precious gifts now offered?" Who offers "the
Holy Oblation in peace?" Who dares to "call upon
the heavenly God, as Father, and to say, 'Our
Father'?" Is it not we who "with fear of God,
and faith and love, draw near"? To the Faithful
He declares, "I will be their God" (Jer. 32:38).
Our Lord has given us "one heart and one way"
(vs. 39), the Life in Christ. He has given us
His Holy and Life-giving Spirit to "put the fear
of [Him] in [our] hearts, that [we] may not turn
from [Him]" (vs. 40). No moment comes upon us in
which He ceases to "rejoice in doing [us] good"
and in planting us in His Kingdom "in
faithfulness" (vs. 41). In times of old, He
brought "great evil upon [His] people," but
according to His word given through His true
Prophet Jeremiah, He also has brought upon His
People through all time "all the good that [He]
promises them" (vs. 42).
Let our mouths be filled with Thy praise,
O Lord, that we may sing of Thy glory; for Thou
hast permitted us to partake of Thy holy,
divine, immortal and life-giving Mysteries.
Establish us in Thy Sanctification, that all the
day long we may meditate upon Thy righteousness.
Alleluia!
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