Author: Administrador

As I write (the date is July 8, 2016), it is three days since the fatal shooting of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, two days since the fatal shooting of Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, one day since the fatal shooting of five police officers during a subsequent protest in Dallas, Texas. Our … Continue reading “Jeremiah 8:18-9:1 Commentary by Anathea Portier-Young”

Many preachers avoid topics like divine judgment. One can understand why. The stereotypical “doom and gloom” rant has done much to harm peoples’ perception of God’s nature and character in relation to humankind. Moreover, the underlying assumption behind this type of sermon provides an unbalanced view of our nature–that it is primarily sinful and always … Continue reading “Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28 Commentary by Frank M. Yamada”

It’s bad enough when one knows one has a problem. It’s even worse when everyone else knows it too. With these verses, Jeremiah takes Israel’s troubles to a whole new level. Nature and the entire cosmos are not only aware but also affected by the nation and its failures. Jeremiah knew what many today are … Continue reading “Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28 Commentary by Alphonetta Wines”

The preacher who chooses to preach this passage has no easy task. Walter Brueggemann calls it a “dangerous poem,” and rightly so.1 It portrays a people without sense and a world without order, overcome by human evil and the anger of God. But if we hold at arms’ length its powerful vision of de-creation, we … Continue reading “Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28 Commentary by Anathea Portier-Young”

The first step in preparation for worship on August 29 is choosing the lector for this passage. Can anyone read this passage without being moved to tears? On the one hand, there are the multiple layers of God’s sadness, hurt, and anger at the people’s unfathomable betrayal. What will God’s voice sound like in the … Continue reading “Jeremiah 2:4-13 Commentary by Henry Langknecht”

No one likes to be the bearer of bad news. Yet, bearing bad news is an integral part of the prophetic task. It is the focal point of the disparaging task to which God calls the prophet Jeremiah. Although restoration is the ultimate goal, the path toward restoration entails the devastating announcement that Israel’s world … Continue reading “Jeremiah 2:4-13 Commentary by Alphonetta Wines”

“For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and dug out cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that can hold no water” (Jeremiah 2:13 NRSV). Living water rains, runs, flows, and swirls. It washes away impurity, transports nutrients, constitutes leaf and stem, blood and bone. Where water flows, … Continue reading “Jeremiah 2:4-13 Commentary by Anathea Portier-Young”

“I have put my words in your mouth” (Jeremiah 1:9). God sends forth God’s hand and “touches” Jeremiah’s mouth (cf. Isaiah 6:7; Daniel 10:16). Perhaps it sounds intimate, but we should not imagine that it was a gentle or comforting touch. The same verb, ng’, can also mean “strike” (e.g. Job 19:21) or harm (e.g. … Continue reading “Jeremiah 1:4-10 Commentary by Anathea Portier-Young”

In one way, we have here a typical prophetic call story. God calls, the prophet objects, God assures (often through a specific action–here, the touching of Jeremiah’s mouth) and then commissions. A distinctive element of Jeremiah’s call story, though, is God’s opening claim of omniscient authorial control over Jeremiah’s life. “Before I formed you …I … Continue reading “Jeremiah 1:4-10 Commentary by Henry Langknecht”

Most prophetic books provide little or no information about the life of the prophet. In contrast, stories about the life of Jeremiah comprise one of the signature features of the book that bears his name. Narratives of imprisonment, commitment to God’s command not to marry or have children, persecution, false accusations of treason, forced exile … Continue reading “Jeremiah 1:4-10 Commentary by Alphonetta Wines”