Psalm 76 / Jeremiah 5:20-31 / John 7:1-13

It is hard not to tremble before the words of Jeremiah, a response that surely cannot be called unintended. God, through Jeremiah, asks: "Should you not fear me?" We pay a great deal of attention to God's love and all too often forget the fearsome majesty of God, who created all that is, seen and unseen. However, Jeremiah calls us back to the fear that inspires worship and reminds us that it is our stubbornness and rebelliousness that have separated us from the good things of God and his wondrous creation. And what better emblem of this sin of separation than the rich and powerful who have grown fat and sleek while forsaking the poor and the fatherless in their need? "Should I not punish them for this? ... Should I not avenge myself on such a nation as this?" We struggle to venture an answer, our voices muted with shame and embarrassment. And the most terrible question of all: "But what will you do in the end?" Terrible, yet so full of hope, for the answer is not foreordained, nor — great thanks to our stalwart friend and blessed Redeemer — is it ours alone to make.

— Michael Jones