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"'The days are coming,' declares the Lord, 'when I will fulfill the good promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah. 'In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David's line; he will do what is just and right in the land. In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will live in safety. This is the name by which it will be called: The Lord Our Righteous Savior' (Jeremiah 33:14-16).
Today, we return to the image of the Branch. Again, it is a balm for the soul of the weary Christian, weary of the church failings and weary of the struggle to live faithfully in this world.
It is a message that comes to Jeremiah the prophet, a prisoner in Jerusalem. First the Assyrians chopped up Israel and then the Babylonians chopped away at Judah. Only a remnant remains; even these leftovers refuse to follow the Lord God. A stump is a fair image for what is left of his people. And it will get slashed down even further when they flee to Egypt, a country they may not return to. God explicitly instructed them never to retrace their steps. Yet, this remnant will cart Jeremiah back through the wilderness. God's faithful prophet will die in Egypt.
Into this miserable setting, God speaks to Jeremiah, reiterating his promise that this devastation will not be the end of Israel's story. Last week, the Ruler from David's line was called, "The LORD our Righteousness." Here, Jerusalem is given that name. The remaining Israelites will hear in this title a play on the name of Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, which means "The Lord is righteous."
Zedekiah was anything but godly. As a righteous king, he was a dramatic failure. He simply refused to put his trust in God. Yet the promise remains, someone from the line of David will come, a branch will grow from the stump. The future will bring a just and righteous king in contrast with the end of Judean history as witnessed by Jeremiah. Salvation and safety are in store for Judah and Jerusalem because this branch will personify justice and righteousness.
This promise to the Davidic house comes unexpectedly in Jeremiah. The dynasty is generally regarded as Israel's main problem and this vision of a David-shaped future is rare. Nonetheless, God's favour toward the dynasty and family of David are Israel's central promises and God is true to his word. That out of this broken line of David's descendants hope should sprout is an encouraging word for believers today. To paraphrase Jesus, "With God, all things are possible."
The word "righteous" tells us of the ruler's character; "branch" of his humble origins. He will bring justice and righteousness, not just to Israel, but to the whole earth. As we saw last week, Christ is the promised Ruler from David's line, and his ministry on behalf of his people shows the depth of God's commitment to us. Then as now, we are called to trust in God's promise and to live according to the hope revealed to us.
Christian hope reaches for the future of the fullness of God's kingdom. Hope, at least in part, is maintained by living according to the values of this kingdom in the here and now. That is why, after his long chapter on the future resurrection, Paul concludes simply, "Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain" (1 Corinthians 15:58).
Further, we are also called to look not at the church, but to Christ. He is our righteousness. "It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption" (1 Corinthians 1:30). It is from him that we receive our beauty, not from ourselves. This, too, is something we ought to deeply consider, especially church leaders who are so concerned to root out impurity. We will not save ourselves, only Christ can redeem us.
When kings practice justice and righteousness, their cities and lands are healed and saved. In Jeremiah's day, Jerusalem was a sordid city, her kings disappointing, exploitative towards the common folk. Yet, out of this mess came Jesus of Nazareth, of the house of David. At his ascension, he occupied God's throne from which he rules his church. Let us look to him, he is our only hope.
