In today’s first reading the prophet Jeremiah is condemned to death by some religious leaders and some of the people: “When Jeremiah finished speaking all that the LORD commanded him to speak to all the people, then the priests, the prophets, and all the people laid hold of him, crying, “You must die!” Jeremiah had threatened the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple with the coded words: “This house shall become like Shiloh.” The sanctuary in Shiloh was where the Ark of the Covenant was kept before it was brought up to Jerusalem. This sanctuary was destroyed and Jeremiah was threatening that in a similar way the Jerusalem sanctuary or Temple would also be destroyed. We heard a similar threat in Jeremiah’s Temple Sermon in chapter 7.
“Go to my place at Shiloh, where I made my name dwell in the beginning. See what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel. And now, because you have committed all these deeds…because you did not listen… I will do to this house, which bears my name, in which you trust, and to the place which I gave you and your ancestors, exactly what I did to Shiloh.” (Jeremiah 7:12-14).
Jeremiah threated this destruction because the people lacked social justice and true worship:
“Only if you thoroughly reform your ways and your deeds; if each of you deals justly with your neighbor; if you no longer oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow; if you no longer shed innocent blood in this place or follow after other gods to your own harm, only then will I let you continue to dwell in this place, in the land I gave your ancestors long ago and forever.” (Jeremiah 7:5-7)
Jeremiah escaped the death sentence when the princes and all the people defended him and recognized that he was speaking the Word of God:
“Then the princes and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, ‘This man does not deserve a death sentence; it is in the name of the LORD, our God, that he speaks to us.’” (Jeremiah 26:16).
Centuries later a prophet and more than a prophet, Jesus, also threated the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple and he also was condemned to death. Jesus called the people to reform their lives and to be compassionate and merciful as God the Father is compassionate and mercy.
Jeremiah and Jesus call us today to reform our lives and to deal justly and mercifully with our neighbors, with the immigrants in our midst and with the lepers and outcasts of our society.
Image: “Cappella Sistina, Prophet Jeremiah” by f_snarfel is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.