Please read Jerimiah 31:31-34 to prepare for Sunday morning worship.
Sermon Focus: Covenant Keeping: Words Within
Key Verse: “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” Jerimiah 31:33
Reflection Questions:
- God promises that God will put the law within them, what do you believe is meant by the “law”?
- Verse 33 indicates that God will write on your heart, what words do you think God desires to write on your heart?
Connection for Today:
This passage from Jerimiah reveals God’s promise of a new covenant. Scholars both Jewish and Christian have interpreted this text as an eschatological promise from God. In the Jewish tradition, it offers them hope for what the time of the Messiah will be. For Christians, it stands as a foreshadowing of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Christians believe that the new covenant promised here comes to life in the stories of the New Testament. This is not to say that the Jewish community has missed out on God’s promise. Oppositely, Patrick Miller writes “it is important to remember… Christians are grafted onto the Jewish tree and come ‘derivatively and belatedly to share in the promised newness.’” While the Jewish community enters this new covenant through their unique faith, Christians will discover the written words through their relationship with Jesus the Christ.