Lenten Reflections: Jeremiah 11, John 8

Many times the focus on Lent is, “What do I give up for Lent?” Most will answer with responses like, “I have given up eating meat;” “I have given up eating chocolate;” . . . and so on and so forth. It seems rather petty, as if God cares about our craving for meat and chocolate, etc.

The Jeremiah text makes it clear that God’s emphasis is elsewhere. He is more concerned about whether we really “hear” his voice or not. The word “hear,” “do not hear” is repeated over and over again, just in Jeremiah 11 alone- “Hear the words of this Covenant” (Jer. 11:2, 3, 6); “Hear my voice” (Jer. 11:4, 7); “But, you/they did not hear.” (Jer. 11: 8, 10). Of course, they heard. But, in reality they did not hear. It was pseudo-hearing. Instead, they fed upon the hearing of their own thoughts, and on thoughts, which were inimical to the voice of God.

The consequence of drowning out the voice of God among the leaders and the people, was the decision to kill Jeremiah. He exclaims, “I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter; “ (Jer. 11:19). The religious leaders devised schemes against him saying, “Let us destroy the tree and its fruit; let us cut him off from the land of the living.” (Jer. 11:19). This is eerily similar to what happened to the Messiah Jesus, hundreds of years later!

In John 8, Jesus exclaims the same thought as in Jeremiah 11. He says to the religious leaders of his time, “You are determined to kill me . . . Why is my language not clear to you? Because you do not hear my word.” (John 8:43). He goes on to lament, “He who truly belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.” (John 8:47).

Sometimes I wonder, whether the focus on Lent should not be on what we eat or not eat, but rather on whether we hear or not hear the voice of God. The more we hear the voice of God, the more we will fall in love with him. The more we starve the voice of God, and hear our own voice, and the voices of others, the more we distance ourselves from God.

May we commit ourselves today to truly HEAR the voice of Jesus during these days of Lent!

Rev. Dr. R. Boaz Johnson, Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies

Comments

[carme ardito]

I like how you emphasize the idea of HEARING God's voice, and hearing his words. This is an important thing for Christians to keep in mind today becuase it is easy to fall victim to Satan's lies and traps. How does one know the difference between God's voice and a seemingly innocent trap that has been set by Satan? One must have accurate knowledge of the Bible in order to know what pleases and displeases God...This is something to reflect on and maybe will encourage us to spend a little more time studying the word of God.

[Jeff Ganim]

I am glad you emphasized the importance of hearing obediently and deemphasized the importance of giving something up for lent. I think I remember Dr. McKnight saying something like "if you are giving it up for lent, its probably something you shouldn't be doing the rest of the year anyway." I also loved the poetic quotes you brought from Jeremiah and pointed out the similarity between them and Jesus. I have been learning to view the bible not only as a guide but also an object of beauty as a song or the sky. I think this beauty is especially seen in parallels between the Old and New Testaments, such as the one you pointed out.

[Bianca Pinetti]

I could not agree more. This Lenten Season I decided to pray for someone that I know is struggling and I know I can't understand with my own understanding. I'm listening to hear what God would like me to do and what that next stop is. This season is all about listen and not just about sacrificing something that is common and whole in your life. Its an amazing time well the "perfect timing" of God that gets us through the struggles of connecting to others. Something that I know is on my heart for a reason needs to rely on not my understanding of this specific situation but gods words of understanding and wisdom.