Author: Administrador

Leadership is a buzzword in many disciplines these days: business, law, medicine, education, politics, and congregational life. The study of leadership has become a sub-discipline in many academic and professional fields, and in the past ten years it has become a major component of various Master of Divinity curricula. As we enter into a new … Continue reading “Jeremiah 23:1-6 Commentary by David G. Garber Jr.”

Many readers of these comments will have multiple definitions and images of leadership circulating in their imaginations. They will have experienced leadership in diverse ways. We blame many others for a lack of leadership even as we are uncertain of what constitutes leadership. While the multiplicity of terms for leadership and books about leadership may … Continue reading “Jeremiah 23:1-6 Commentary by Richard W. Nysse”

Just as sheep need a shepherd to guide and protect them, the people of Israel need responsible leaders to provide for them. Wise leadership matters. Jeremiah 23:1-6, which concerns shepherds and their sheep, was chosen for this Sunday in July because of the thematic connection to the Gospel reading, Mark 6:30-34, 53-56, which includes a … Continue reading “Jeremiah 23:1-6 Commentary by Tyler Mayfield”

Reading through this text brings to mind what Professor John Bright once wrote about these “confessions” of Jeremiah: Here, indeed, we learn what faith really is: not that smug faith which is untroubled by questions because it has never asked any; but that true faith which has asked all the questions and received very few … Continue reading “Jeremiah 20:7-13 Commentary by James Limburg”

Jeremiah’s ministry extended for some forty years (about 625-585 BC). At the mid-point of his ministry, the Babylonian empire under Nebuchadnezzar began expanding in the Middle East and Israel’s existence was threatened. Jeremiah warned Israel about this threat, believing that he had received such warning words from God.   But the people denounced him (see … Continue reading “Jeremiah 20:7-13 Commentary by Terence E. Fretheim”

The call of Jeremiah used six verbs to characterize his prophetic activity: “pluck up,” “pull down,” “destroy,” “overthrow,” “build” and “plant” (1:10, New Revised Standard Version). More than Jeremiah’s activity, these verbs characterize God’s activity in Judah in the late 600s and early 500s BCE. Jeremiah is appointed to do God’s work through his prophetic … Continue reading “Jeremiah 18:1-11 Commentary by Richard W. Nysse”

The story of Jeremiah’s visit to the potter’s house and God’s use of the potter’s process as a metaphor for God’s own work is wonderfully and frustratingly straightforward. We get it. But it immediately raises questions. The hermeneutical question is, “what relationship or analogy shall we suppose between Jeremiah’s audience and our own communities?” In … Continue reading “Jeremiah 18:1-11 Commentary by Henry Langknecht”

Anyone who reads Jeremiah 18:1-11 and expects that words from God are always words of comfort and reassurance will have to stop and think again. This familiar passage about “The Potter and the Clay” turns the idea of a loving God on its head. It is a vivid reminder that depending on human response, God … Continue reading “Jeremiah 18:1-11 Commentary by Alphonetta Wines”

In this week’s Old Testament lection, God invites Jeremiah to enter a potter’s shed and there observe the potter working with clay, so that Jeremiah may better hear God’s words (Jeremiah 18:1), understand God’s way with Israel (18:6), and summon God’s people to conversion (18:11). Jeremiah must leave his own familiar spaces, step away from … Continue reading “Jeremiah 18:1-11 Commentary by Anathea Portier-Young”

One difficulty that preachers will face with this text is sorting out the individual and communal import of Jeremiah. An initial reading of the text tips heavily in the direction of individual concerns. The first person singular pronoun occurs repeatedly. Jeremiah is, in his own telling, beset by persecutors (15:15). Jeremiah argues to God that … Continue reading “Jeremiah 15:15-21 Commentary by Richard W. Nysse”