Prophets Deliver God's Word and Do God's Works

Homily for Friday of the Fifth Week in Lent

Both Jeremiah and Jesus were called to deliver the judgment of God upon sinful men and women of their times. The message of both was marked by repentance, humility, and the sincere desire to love and serve God. While the Bible doesn’t explicitly recognize Jeremiah as a type of Christ, there are some very clear ways in which his ministry and pain pre-figures Jesus’. In fact, the rabbis saw Jeremiah as the suffering servant prophesied by Isaiah much the same as Christians identify Jesus in that role. Jeremiah is considered to be the third most important Prophet in Hebrew history after Ezekiel and Isaiah; and, in fact, he wrote more than both of them put together. There are many ways that the life of Jesus is prefigured in the life of Jeremiah.

Both of them were known before they were conceived. Both were called from the womb. Both knew the Father's call before they reached adulthood. Both of them wept over Jerusalem, for its impending judgement. Both were accused of being mad and of self-promotion. Both were mocked. Both had what they said scrutinized to be used against them. Both where declared "worthy of death" by corrupt priests. Both had their deaths plotted against them. Both prophesied the fall of Jerusalem. Jeremiah uses the barren fig tree as a sign of impending loss; Jesus acts out the sign. Both prophesied the disappearance of the bridegroom. Both where "led like a lamb to the slaughter."

We see the similarity between Jeremiah and Jesus in today’s Scripture readings. The plot to kill Jesus is much the same as the plot described by Jeremiah. When the priests condemned Jeremiah, he was thrown into a dry cistern. However, his friends and followers pulled him up out of the mud into which he had sunk, thereby rescuing him from death. Being lifted out of the dry cistern is often compared to the resurrection of Jesus.

Neither Jeremiah nor Jesus offers a defense against the accusations made by the Jewish leaders of their times. Rather, each of them continues to proclaim the call to repentance and conversion.

The faithfulness and response of Jeremiah and Jesus are instructive to us today. We are all called to heed their call for repentance. This requires us to change. As we prepare to receive Jesus in the Eucharist today, let us ask God for the courage and strength to bear witness to the Father’s work and truth in our homes and community.