B, Lent 5 - John 12:31-32 Jeremiah 31:29-34 "Behold, days are coming"

John 12:31–32 (ESV) Jesus answered, “Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.  And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

Unlike the prophet Jeremiah, Jesus says, “Now!”

Jeremiah points forward to this “now” from Jesus. 

Fifteen times Jeremiah prophecies, “Behold, days are coming!” This is a call to notice something is going to occur.  Expect the unexpected at a time that is unexpected. 

Jeremiah is called to speak on behalf of the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, “In those days they shall no longer say: “ ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’  But everyone shall die for his own iniquity.  Each man who eats sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.  “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah,  not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD.”  (Jeremiah 31:29–32 ESV)

The days are coming when everyone will be responsible for their own sins.  No longer will children suffer from the sins of the fathers!  Nor will wives, children, or others in the household be covered by the father’s piety.  Everyone who eats sour grapes will have their teeth set on edge!  Everyone shall die for their own evils.  In other words, God only has children, he does not have grandchildren.

God’s covenant with Israel had become ineffective.  Not from God, but from what Jeremiah describes as Israel’s whoredom.

This whoredom was through the worship of Baal, a fertility cult, to make the land productive by appeasing Baal.  In a bid to become wealthy off the land that God had given them, they made this Canaanite god their master.  “Baal” literally means “master” or “husband”.  God was their master, their caring husband, who took them by the hand and brought them out of Egypt into this land of milk and honey.

But in the land of Canaan, the Israelites were unfaithful, and God who brought them in as their husband and master, withdrew and tested them with their wanton ways.    The God of providence stopped providing.  Therefore, the livestock produced no milk, and the bees produced no honey, in the land of milk and honey!

We can see the vicious spiral occurring in Israel’s bad choices.  Things going from bad to worse as Israel the bride, no longer desired her husband, but became contrary with God and his rule.  What does God’s rule look like next to our deeds, desires, and choices? 

God’s rule over Israel, became tough through Jeremiah.   Not only did the Israelites and Jews struggle, but as God representative, so too did Jeremiah.  You could imagine his words of prophecy against them were not well received.  Through Jeremiah, God’s call to repentance and prophecies of judgement, fell on deaf ears, and stubborn hearts, landing Jeremiah in gaol.

Imagine being a faithful partner in a relationship, imagine being the unfaithful partner.  It is not what a healthy relationship looks like.  This relationship broke down between God and man at Eden.  There were consequences for Adam and Eve and these consequences continued between God and Israel, in the days of Jeremiah.  God was the faithful husband or master, and Israel the unfaithful partner.

This strain on the relationship appears first in the wording of Genesis chapter three verse sixteen by the double meaning of the text.  God says to Eve, “Your desire shall be for your husband”, but it can also mean “Your desire shall be against (or contrary) to your husband.” (Genesis 3:16 ESV)

Like Eve, Israel’s desire should have been towards God as a faithful and giving husband, yet Israel’s desire was for God’s position and therefore contrary to God.

As mentioned earlier, the language of husband, used by Jeremiah, is the confrontation between God and Israel over "the other man” in Israel’s life.  This other man is Baal.  He has become their master when their master was God.  Yet Israel’s desire for Baal worship is really a desire for their own prosperity at the expense of their relationship with God and the land they received from him.

Fifteen times we hear Jeremiah say on behalf of God, “Behold, (the) days are coming.”  These are all calling the Israelites to look backward, focusing on what has occurred beforehand, while walking into the future.  The days are coming for Israel’s judgement, but also their restoration back as God’s faithful bride.

God would do this work of restoration through a new covenant.  This covenant looks backward while striving forward, much like a swimmer, backstroking their way up the lanes of a pool!

God will etch the law on each person’s heart.  They will know him by his forgiveness of sin.  In these days every generation, every person, knows, God will deal with their evil. 

Not only will each person have their teeth put on edge from eating sour grapes, but each person will have the law written on their hearts.  Jeremiah continues…

“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares 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.  And no longer shall each one teach his neighbour and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” (Jeremiah 31:33–34 ESV)

At first glance, this seems like God is going back on his word.  Each will die for their own sins, yet God promises to forgive and no longer remember sin.  How can this be?  Israel and Judah had proven themselves as harlots deserving divorce.

The clearest hint God gives through Jeremiah has already been given by another “Behold the days are coming” statement.

In Jeremiah chapter twenty-three verses five and six we hear, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.  In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.’” (Jeremiah 23:5–6 ESV)

For us today we know that the days were coming and came in Jesus Christ!  Jesus says, “Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.  And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

Jesus is the righteous branch!  He is the Israel and Judah that Israel and Judah could not be!  “Now” is the day of salvation for all who are drawn to Jesus.  Once someone has heard the name of Jesus, proclaimed for the forgiveness of sin, the law is etched on their hearts.  Jesus draws all people to himself for the forgiveness of sins.  Jesus is the Lord, and the Lord is our righteousness!

As Jesus walked to the cross, he said, “For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’  Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’  For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”  (Luke 23:29–31 ESV)

Here Jesus tells us what to expect as his followers on earth.  As the days increase after Jesus’ death and resurrection, in the last days, the green wood of the gospel, the righteous branch, will be attacked and burned, the drier and more mature it gets.

We will suffer because of our sinful being.  We will also suffer as we believe and receive forgiveness while others take offence at the law written on the heart.  Just as generations of Christians have before us.

Incidentally, those who take offence, know the truth of the law and gospel, having heard the name of Jesus.  God’s word is repulsive to them, because they are rejecting the Holy Spirit who gives faith in his word written on each heart.

Jesus also gives another “Behold the days are coming” statement, but gives it in two parts, to the Pharisees and then the disciples…

“Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed,  nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”  And he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.  And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them.”  (Luke 17:20–23 ESV)

As God’s children today we have the word of God stamped on our hearts!  The kingdom of God is in our midst.  The kingdom of God is within us!   As we desire the return of Jesus in these last days, we know days are coming when we will see Jesus, face to face.

We remember, at the cross, our Baals, our Old Adam, our human spirit, and Satan the ruler of this world, the deceitful master, are judged.  Our master, Jesus Christ, has eaten our sour grapes!  His teeth have been put on edge!  He has died for your sin, and my sin!

“Now”, when Jesus returns, behold, the day will have come for the prince of this world to be cast out forever!   “Now” that Jesus is lifted up in resurrection glory, let him take you by the hand, draw you to himself in repentance, and lead you into the eternal land of milk and honey.  Amen.