A Comforting Word about a New Covenant—Lectionary Reflection for Pentecost 19C (Jeremiah 31:27-34)

 

Jeremiah 31:27-34 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

²⁷ The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of humans and the seed of animals. ²⁸ And just as I have watched over them to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring evil, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the Lord. ²⁹ In those days they shall no longer say:

“The parents have eaten sour grapes,

    and the children’s teeth are set on edge.”

³⁰ But all shall die for their own sins; the teeth of the one who eats sour grapes shall be set on edge.

³¹ The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. ³² It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. ³³ 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. ³⁴ No longer shall they teach one another or say to each other, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more.

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                You will find a portion of this week’s reading from Jeremiah 31 elsewhere in the Revised Common Lectionary, including Lent 5B (Jer. 31:31-34). It is an important passage for Christians who understand our own identity as followers of Jesus, rooted in the “new covenant” Jeremiah speaks of. This passage stands behind Jesus' institution of the Lord’s Supper (Luke 22:20 and 1 Corinthians 11:25). In 2 Corinthians 3, Paul speaks of himself as a “minister of the new covenant” (2 Cor. 3:4-6). The phrase appears four times in Hebrews, including twice in chapter 8, once in chapter 9, and then again in chapter 12, where the author speaks of Jesus establishing or mediating a new covenant (Heb. 8:8-13; 9:15; 12:24). In that Hebrews 9 passage, we read: “For this reason he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, because a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions under the first covenant.” While the uses in Hebrews tend to speak in terms of replacement, we needn’t interpret it that way. Rather, we can envision continuity between covenants, with Jesus being the key to the Gentile inclusion.

                We must try to locate this passage in Jeremiah’s context, though that is not an easy task. Jeremiah writes these words to people living in exile. Chapters 30 and 31 have been designated “The  Book of Comfort.” But, where exactly in the exilic period this passage lies is unclear. The previous reading from Jeremiah 29:1-7 indicated that the letter was being sent to the first wave of exiles, while Zedekiah served as the proxy king, but before the city of Jerusalem had been destroyed. The Book of Comfort may speak to the first wave of exiles. While there are words of judgment here, they also offer hope as seen in verses 27-30 of Jeremiah 31. Perhaps  hearkening back to the earlier message sent to the exiles, where the exiles were told to build houses and settle in for the long haul, here in chapter 31, Jeremiah speaks of God plucking up, breaking down, overthrowing, destroy, and even bringing evil, such that everyone will “die for their own sins; the teeth of everyone who eats sour grapes shall be set on edge.” While this is a word of judgment, it precedes a word of hope as we will see.

                Both the word of judgment and the word of hope are set in a larger conversation that offers hope for an eventual return from exile. Our reading begins with that word of hope. I verse 27, we read: “The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of humans and the seed of animals.” In essence, God is promising to resettle/replant the people and their animals so that they can flourish in the homeland. This is the promise of a new beginning. As Paul writes of the new creation in 2 Corinthians 5:17: “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; look, new things have come into being.” While Jeremiah addresses this word to Judah and Israel, the message is the same as what Paul had in mind. The old world has passed away, while a new world awaits.

In verse 28, we see a word of judgment, but there is also hope. Yes, God can tear down and destroy, but God can also build and plant. When this happens, people will be responsible for their own sins, not the sins of others. In other words, the effects of the sins of one generation will not be passed on to the next generation. This is an important message because what Jeremiah is telling the exiles is that when they return home, they won’t be limited by the past. They can start fresh without the sins of the past hanging over them. Of course, they will be responsible for their own sins going forward.

                It is in the second paragraph of this passage that the word of hope becomes much clearer. There in verse 31 of chapter 31 is that beloved passage that Christians hold dear, reading it in light of Jesus’ ministry. This is the word: “The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.”  While Christians read the ministry of Jesus in light of Jeremiah’s message of the new covenant, the prophet is clear that this word is directed at the house of Israel and the house of Judah. Of course, by the time Jeremiah wrote this, the kingdom of Israel (northern kingdom) had disappeared long before (the Assyrian conquest). Depending on when this letter is sent to the exiles, the kingdom of Judah as a kingdom may no longer have existed. Zedekiah was the final king in the Davidic line.  His reign ended with the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE.

                When it comes to this new covenant, Jeremiah reveals that it will be different from the previous covenant God made with the ancestors when God led them out of Egypt and took them “by the hand” to the promised land. The people had broken that covenant, which put them in their current predicament. This new covenant will be different. Rather than writing it on stone tablets as before, this time God will place the law that defines the covenant within the people. God will write it on their hearts, not on stone. Therefore, using typical covenant language, God says to the people, “I will be their God, and they will be my people.”  Then Jeremiah adds that when God places the law in the hearts of the people, they will no longer need to be taught or teach one another. They’ll no longer need to say to each other “Know the LORD.” Why? Because everyone will know Yahweh. What Jeremiah speaks of here is completely relational.

                Now it is true that Jews, ancient and modern, just like Christians, ancient and modern, still need teachers. Judaism provides for the ordination of rabbis, and the church ordains clergy, both of whom teach the message of Torah and the Gospel. Nevertheless, there is a powerful word here concerning the internalization of the message, such that when it comes to the covenant relationship, it is fully relational. That said, there is an eschatological dimension here that is worth taking hold of. We may still need teachers, but the day is coming such that we will know God fully and no longer need to be taught the law. As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13:12,  “For now we see only a reflection, as in a mirror, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.” 

                When it comes to knowing Yahweh, everyone from the least to the greatest will be included. This is not just for the elite. The entire community, young and old, male and female, rich and poor, yes, all means all (as they say). When that day comes, God will forgive the iniquity of the people and no longer remember their sin. That is good news because it means when the people return to the land, they start with a clean slate. The past will not hang over them.

                Now, there is a need here to address concerns about supersessionism. Christians tend to read Jeremiah 31 in such a way that by embracing the promise of the new covenant, we assume that the message applies solely to us. That is, Judaism is seen as being obsolete. Unfortunately, passages like Hebrews 8:13 suggest that since Jesus established this new covenant, “In speaking of a new covenant, he has made the first one obsolete, and what is obsolete and growing old will soon disappear.” Jeremiah does not envision the rejection of Israel/Judah or their replacement. So, we are wise to heed this word from Walter Brueggemann:

It is clear, against such a Christian misreading, that the contrast of “old and new” concerns the Israelite community of covenant in both its parts. The “old” covenant belongs to that Israelite community which, through its sustained disobedience, forfeited covenant with God, even as it lost the city of Jerusalem. The “new” covenant now wrought by God also concerns the Israelite community. This is the community formed anew by God among exiles who are now transformed into a community of glad obedience. Thus we are right to posit a deep discontinuity between old and new, but that deep discontinuity is not between Jews and Christians, but between recalcitrant Jews prior to 587 and transformed Jews after 587 who embrace the covenant newly offered by God. [Brueggemann, Walter. A Commentary on Jeremiah: Exile and Homecoming (Kindle p. 292). Eerdmans].  

So, if we start with this reminder, then we can interpret the work of Jesus in light of the message of the new covenant as we see in Luke, 1 and 2 Corinthians, and even in Hebrews (though Hebrews distorts to some degree the original message).

                Regarding the Christian appropriation of the new covenant imagery, I turn again to Brueggemann:  

At best, we may say that Christians come derivatively and belatedly to share the promised newness. This is not to deny Christian participation in the newness, but Christian participation is utterly grounded in Jewish categories and claims, and can have participation on no other terms. Moreover, this Jewish mediation of newness is left open as an act of profound grace to all who come under these commandments and allegiance to this God. [Brueggemann, A Commentary on Jeremiah (Kindle p. 295)].

 It is always good to be reminded that God engages us through grace, making us new by welcoming us into God’s realm.