My Thoughts on the Bible Readings of the day

The two readings today are similar in their theme of fear: fear of the future in the reading from the book of Jeremiah, and fear of the uncontrollable in the gospel reading.

The reading from Jeremiah happened after King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had sacked Israel and Judah. The people of these two countries feared his return, and longed for the return of treasures and exiles of theses two countries. Is it suprising that someone would come to assuage their fear and fulfill their hopes? We don't know if Hananiah truly believed his own prophecy or was just playing to the people. It doesn't matter- both led people away from God's intentions for them- to repent and return to the Lord and His laws. After all God sent Nebuchadnezzar to punish Israel and Judah, and here was Hananiah saying that they weren't really punished, just unlucky! No wonder God condemned him. Thus we should, like Jeremiah, put our trust in prophecies only after they have been fulfilled.

The gospel reading shows how far way from Jesus His disciple still were. Think about it: they had spent so much time with Him, and yet couldn't recognize Him from a few feet away? The fact is that they feared Nature more then they trusted God and His Son. They forgot that Nature, no matter how dangerous, was still a thing of God, and as long as they were under His protection, they need not fear. It wasn't until Jesus defeated death that they fully understood this though.