Sunday next before Advent

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With only a cursory glance at today’s Epistle Lesson from the prophet Jeremiah, one might think salvation history is divided into distinct periods of benevolence; each different from the other in purpose and meaning; viz., the time in Egypt, the era of the Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem, exile in the north country of Babylon, the era of the Second Temple in JESUS’ day, and the age of the Church since Pentecost in Act 2. Yet, each of these periods in Israel’s history reveals the consistency, not the incongruity, of God’s covenantal promise of salvation to Abraham, his Seed, and all who believe with Abraham’s faith.

In Genesis 22.18, we read: “In your Seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.” GOD’s Covenant of Grace, given to Abraham, becomes the archetype of how the LORD GOD deals with His people throughout all of recorded biblical history, even until the Day the LORD JESUS returns. Yet, for ‘all the nations of the earth to be blessed,’ the story of GOD’s salvation is full of challenges and set-backs for His chosen people – the Remnant of Israel: sold into slavery in Egypt; overrun by the Assyrians and Babylonians who destroyed Solomon’s Temple; dominance by the Medes, Persians, and the Greeks; and finally, occupation by the Romans, and again, the Temple destroyed in Jerusalem in A.D. 70. — And yet, St. Peter says: “The LORD is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all, [with the faith of Abraham], should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3.9).

GOD fulfills His covenantal promise of Grace, perfectly, in every way and in His perfect time to the Remnant of Abraham. And yet, there are some days, weeks, and even years when life seems in direct conflict with ‘grace’ and GOD’s promise of it. There is no particular rhyme or reason to it – one day we awake, and where there was sun yesterday, there are clouds today – where there was peace last week, there is war this week – where there was health last year, this year only pestilence and gloom. Like Abraham and the ancient Remnant of Israel, the twenty-first century Church must also look for the promises of GOD’s grace, found only in Abraham’s Seed – the One the Bible calls ‘The LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.’ (cf. Jer. 23.5-6)

The sons and daughters of Abraham were often beset by enemies – both those within and those outside the community. Much like the Church over her history, the people of GOD strain backward to look forward into the texts of Holy Scripture, hoping to understand the shadows of the glorious promises of GOD’s Grace. As they did then, we must do now: hope and pray, by faith, that GOD will act righteously today, as He did yesterday, by His promise.

The prophet Jeremiah paints a picture of a time when the LORD will lead His people Himself as their Master Shepherd. He says that there will be a time when true Israel will no longer need to look back in hope of GOD’s grace through those signposts of His certain deliverance – instead, she will be led by Him in the present as the Good Shepherd. That is, Abraham’s Israel will no longer need to recollect GOD’s rescue from Egypt or Babylon as a means of grasping the promise of GOD’s Grace. Nor will she need to hope for the return of the Ark of the Covenant with its contents of the tablets given at Mt. Sinai, the budding staff of Aaron, or the jar of manna, all of which were certain signs of GOD’s promise of Grace. Jeremiah says, “They will say no more, ‘The ark of the covenant of the Lord.’ — It shall not come to mind, nor shall they remember it, nor shall they visit it, nor shall it be made anymore.” (Jeremiah 3.16b) … “They shall no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,’ nor, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country [of Babylon] and from all the countries where He had driven them … [Instead], GOD will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth … and this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS” (Jeremiah 23.7-8 & 5-6).

GOD has promised to faithful Israel (to those that love Him and believe in Him with the faith of Abraham), that He will supply a King, an anointed Savior, the Messiah, who will lead His people. — This Person is hinted at in many places throughout Holy Scripture, but none could be more arresting than how Moses described Him in Deuteronomy 18:15ff. In that text, YHWH GOD says: “The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like [Moses] from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear … [Indeed], I will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak all that I command Him. And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him” (Deuteronomy 18.15, 18b-19). — In other words, GOD promised to one day raise up a prophet able to do the things Moses did by the power of GOD’s Spirit, and yet even greater than Moses. And, if anyone disregards the Words that GOD would give Him, they would be cut off from Israel, being avenged of GOD for their disbelief and incredulity.

“Jesus’ contemporaries freely identified the Person of Deuteronomy 18 (the Prophet), as the second Moses … And with the expectation of a second Moses went very naturally the expectation of a second Exodus.”1 — And in today’s Proper Lessons, we see several signs that point toward JESUS as the ‘LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS’ that Jeremiah speaks about, as well as this ‘second Moses’ figure portrayed in Deuteronomy.

First, as the people came together to find JESUS and He looked upon them, St. Mark tells us that He “was moved with great compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd” (St. Mark 6.34). The people had come out after JESUS, because they saw in Him the power of GOD. Thus, the LORD began to teach them about the Kingdom of GOD and to heal all among them that were sick, for they hungered for His righteousness, like sheep needing their Shepherd.

Before we hear about the raising of the Branch of Righteousness from the house of Jesse in Jeremiah 23, the LORD says: “I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries where I have driven them and bring them back to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking” (Jeremiah 23.3-4). — In JESUS, GOD had raised up a true Shepherd of His sheep, who would not scatter them with false teaching or heavy religious burdens. Instead, as YHWH GOD promised, His Shepherd encouraged them, led them to green pastures beside still waters, that He might give them rest and ease from their worldly burdens. — For JESUS said on several occasions, ‘I am sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,’ that I might lead them in the Way of Life, and that their foot should not slip in strange paths of ungodliness.’ (cf. Matt. 10.6 & 15.24; Ps. 17.5), As David has said of the LORD, pointing toward JESUS, “By the word of thy lips I have kept me from the ways of the destroyer. O hold thou up my goings in thy paths, [Good Shepherd of GOD], that my footsteps slip not” (Psalm 17.4b-5).

Secondly, and perhaps most strikingly, is the feeding of the five thousand people in St. John 6. — Jeremiah’s prophecy was well known and many ‘false messiahs’ had risen up to claim this role in ancient Israel, as The LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS, even in JESUS’ day. As St. Paul’s rabbi, Gamaliel reported to the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem after the Day of Pentecost, there were two men of repute, a Judas of Galilee and a Theudas of Jerusalem, who sought the acclaim of the title and role of the LORD’s Messiah. Yet, Gamaliel said that both, along with their followers, were ‘scattered and came to nothing.’ (cf. Acts 5.33-39) — So, for Moses (who was scattered by none), to say that a Prophet would rise from amongst the people of Israel, even greater than himself, something profound would be necessary to show the people of this reality. — Thus, in those days before the Passover, JESUS had the disciples direct the people to sit down upon the grass, and with a boy’s simple lunch of five dinner rolls and two sardine-sized fish, JESUS proceeded to feed, overabundantly, the five thousand men, plus their wives and children. JESUS did this to show that He was indeed the true Christ of GOD, sent without a doubt, as Deuteronomy’s greater prophet than even Moses.

And perhaps to the disciples’ surprise, the people agreed with this assessment. St. John tells us that these now well-fed men, “when they had seen the sign that JESUS did, said, ‘This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world” (6.14). And as a result of their conclusion, these people wanted “to come and take JESUS by force and make Him their King,” (6.15), for surely, they reasoned, “If He could supply their needs in the wilderness [as Moses did], could He not also lead them against their [earthly, mortal] enemies?”2 — The people had missed the point, while yet being so close to understanding it. — It was not hard to do, and we too, dear St. Mark’s, we too could miss the point as we stand on the threshold of the season of Advent – the season of expectation of the coming of the Prophet greater than Moses – JESUS OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

JESUS did not come to establish a political or military dynasty in this fallen world. This, of course, is what most of the people in JESUS’ day thought, because this is what they wanted from Him. Such a conclusion misses the mark. JESUS confessed to Pontius Pilate when He was on trial for His life: “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here” (St. John 18.36). — So, many people have mistaken JESUS, either for a sage or a statesman, but rarely the Savior. And when those people realize that He is not going to be the type of leader that they want – to feed them, or entertain them, or to deliver them from a rival ideological or political party – they stop following Him.

As we prepare our hearts and minds for this coming Advent Season, and then for Christmas, let us remember the words of Simeon, who spoke of the LORD JESUS in the Temple, describing Him for who He really is and for what He really came to do. Simeon proclaimed, “[He is the Light of GOD’s] Salvation, which He has prepared before the face of all peoples; a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of His people Israel -[to those who possess the true faith of Abraham]” (St. Luke 2.31-32).

The people came to JESUS in St. John 6 seeking the Prophet, the second Moses. This they found, but they found even more than that. They also found a Priest and the true Passover Lamb, who came to bring the ‘once for all’ exodus and salvation for human souls. “The exodus of this second Moses was accomplished in JESUS’ own sacrificial death as the Passover lamb, whose flesh and blood give life to the world (cf. St. John 6:51–58).”3 This is what the people missed after they had eaten their miraculous lunch with JESUS. — This is what we cannot miss, and one of many reasons we come to the LORD’s Table each Sunday, to remember what Christ has done for us, and to participate in His death and resurrection life, by partaking in His Body and Blood, being refreshed spiritually and strengthened in our souls. Let us not miss this reality this Advent Season, dear church. Let us not miss it for the glaring distraction of the upcoming season’s rites, rituals, commercialism, nor to blindness due to self-imposed business in the pursuit of pleasing others. Let us sit down on the grass as the Household of GOD and consider how GOD has raised up for us His Branch of Righteousness from the house of David, a King to reign and prosper us; to execute judgment and righteousness in the earth for us. For in His days, the true Israel of GOD, those with Abraham’s faith, will be saved; saved from our enemies – saved from shame, fear, sin, and death. This is our true Shepherd, if we will but call upon Him – if we will but go to Him – if we will but seek the true meaning of the Passover in Him, born meek and mild, and riding upon the foal of a donkey – JESUS the Christ, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Amen.

1 Bruce, F.F., The New Testament Development of Old Testament Themes, (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1968), 49.

2 Bruce, 104.

3 Camlin, The Rt. Rev. Dr. Charles Camlin, “NT 503 The Four Gospels: John.” 2021. PDF file.