November 17 - Time of the Church

Jeremiah 33:1-22 - Verse 9b strikes me as interesting. "They shall fear and tremble because of all the good and all the prosperity I provide for it." How do you typically respond to periods of personal prosperity? Looking back on your life, has there ever been a time where the goodness and blessing of God caused you to "fear and tremble"?

I think this connects well with a biblical understanding of Law & Gospel. In the proclamation of the good news of the gospel - the bad news of our sinfulness and helplessness before God is already implied, causing us to "fear and tremble" (in the healthy sense of those terms). But if we preach ourselves and preach the law - the good news of Christ is not implied and we are left in despair or in our own naive self-righteousness.

Matt 27:11-32 - There is much to think about here in this passage many of us are quite familiar with - not the least of which is the mocking of Jesus we witness at the end of the reading. The thing that particularly caught my eye here, is the choice presented to the Jews by Pilate in verse 17: "Whom do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?"

The crowd's choice is predictably selfish - allowing them to quickly get rid of this pesky rabbi who had become a source of conviction for them. But there is more here than that. The choice reflects the extent of their (and our) depravity. The crowd would rather release a "notorious criminal" into their midst than have to deal with Jesus. But the gospel is foreshadowed here too. The "guilty" (Barabbas) walks free while the "innocent" (Jesus) is condemned. This is a preview of what Luther called the "Glorious Exchange" that is received by all Christians. He takes our sin and punishment - we receive His active obedience and righteousness.