Jeremiah

The Promise That Includes Exile | Jeremiah 29.10–11

/ Paul Burkhart / Leave a comment

For thus says the LORD: Only when Babylon’s seventy years are completed will I visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.
—Jeremiah 29:10-11

A lot could be said here, but I’ll just point out that God first says to not listen to prophets saying everything is going to be fine. It won’t, they’re liars, and God didn’t send them.

And the plans God knows—the plans to prosper and not fail them—are the plans for Babylon to keep Israel in exile. The suffering, loss, and exile are God’s plans to prosper them.

For more on this theme, read: A Sermon I Got to Preach on Isaiah 61.

More: Marginalia on Jeremiah · Browse all Marginalia · Browse by Bible book

These Days After Pentecost: On Law & Spirit

/ Paul Burkhart / Leave a comment

In the Christian Church Calendar, we are currently in a season that is numbered according to the Holy Day of Pentecost, the day we celebrate the Holy Spirit falling on the apostles fifty days after Jesus’ death (hence the name Penta-cost).

Jesus had told the disciples to go out into the world ministering this Gospel to the world, but first, to wait. What would be so important as to put the brakes on the mission of God in the world?

The Holy Spirit.
Continue reading →

Pentecost is Coming: on Law & Spirit (p.s. Easter is forever.)

/ Paul Burkhart / Leave a comment

On the night of Passover, a lamb was killed so that God’s people would live. Fifty days later, God offered his law to his people–a picture of who he was, a mark of who his people would be, and the equipping of his people for the purposes God had for them.

And that’s the New Testament version.

Easter officially comes to an end this Sunday. Then comes Pentecost, the season in which we celebrate the Holy Spirit falling on the apostles, fifty days after Jesus’ death (hence the name Penta-cost). This day is celebrated as the “birthday” of the Church. Jesus had told the disciples to go out into the world ministering this Gospel to the world, but first, to wait. What would be so important as to put the brakes on the mission of God in the world?

The Holy Spirit.
Continue reading →