Author: Administrador

Prophets preach. Perhaps this sounds obvious. Actually, it is not. Some prophets model the moral life. Some prophets heal. Some prophets impress crowds with miracles. Jeremiah preached. Jeremiah’s job was to speak. Indeed, in Jeremiah 15, we have access to Jeremiah’s call to speak. Speech Today Speech permeates our lives. Presidents, provosts, professors, and pastors … Continue reading “Jeremiah 15:15-21 Commentary by Ingrid Lilly”

As I write this commentary, I am only 2 weeks removed from the events of June 5, 2014.  On that day a gunman with a history of mental illness, stepped onto the campus of the university where I teach, and began a shooting spree that left one student dead and two students injured. Were it … Continue reading “Jeremiah 15:15-21 Commentary by Bo Lim”

In 2003, cartoonist Bruce Eric Kaplan published a cartoon in The New Yorker that depicts God standing on a cloud, saying to a man standing in front of him, “I am big. It’s the questions that got smaller.” That single frame in many ways captures the book of Jeremiah as a whole and how it … Continue reading “Jeremiah 14:7-10, 19-22 Commentary by Sara Koenig”

Jeremiah 14 drives us into the darkness.  There is no easy gospel in this chapter. The people make a confession of sins that seems thorough: “our iniquities testify against us” (7), “our apostasies…are many” (7), and “we have sinned against you” (7). The response, however, is not the expected announcement of forgiveness. The relationship between … Continue reading “Jeremiah 14:7-10, 19-22 Commentary by Richard W. Nysse”

It is hard to read Jeremiah in our contemporary context; it is such an alien text. The passages in the lectionary this week are excerpts from a longer passage about a severe drought that rocked Judah. It must have been particularly devastating, because the beginning of the chapter assumes that the audience knows which drought … Continue reading “Jeremiah 14:7-10, 19-22 Commentary by Corrine Carvalho”

How are the faithful to respond in times of pressing difficulty? The Hebrew Bible contains many rich traditions to address such questions. In this passage, the prophet Jeremiah offers a lament or complaint to God. His prayer addresses the conflict that is intrinsic to his calling to proclaim the word of the LORD to Judah, … Continue reading “Jeremiah 11:18-20 Commentary by Frank M. Yamada”

The book of Jeremiah is filled with tears. The devastating events relating to the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem in 587 BCE are the fundamental backdrop of this weeping and mourning. Jeremiah 11-20 consists basically of a series of interwoven laments on the part of God, prophet, and people. God voices laments (12:7-13; 13:15-17, 20-27; 14:2-6, … Continue reading “Jeremiah 11:18-20 Commentary by Terence E. Fretheim”

According to tradition, Jeremiah is “the weeping prophet.” It is an apt nickname for this figure whose preaching is always filled with emotion. In an oracle that appears two chapters before this passage, the prophet, speaking for God, says, “O that my head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears, … Continue reading “Jeremiah 11:18-20 Commentary by Amy Merrill Willis”

Self-righteous judgment among humans, while all too common in today’s religious landscape, is inconsistent with biblical thinking for at least two reasons. First, final judgment in the Bible is always reserved for God. Second, God’s response in judgment is not simply justified anger or divine satisfaction for being in the right; but Israel’s God experiences … Continue reading “Jeremiah 8:18-9:1 Commentary by Frank M. Yamada”

Jeremiah demonstrates to us the confidence of the Israelite. This is a strange way to start a reflection on a difficult lament, but we must understand the lament’s power. Too often as Christians, we edit our prayers to God. We speak frankly to friends, advisors, and paid professionals, but we don’t speak frankly to God. … Continue reading “Jeremiah 8:18-9:1 Commentary by Garrett Galvin”