Advent Day 3: Jeremiah 23:5-8

Read & Journal

Read Jeremiah 23:5-8, then 1 Corinthians 1:28-30. Use any or all of these journal prompts to guide your study:

• As you look over Jeremiah 23:5-8, take note of the words that describe the “righteous Branch” (ESV) or “righteous descendant” (NLT). What do these words teach you about Jesus’ character?

• For Isaiah’s original audience, the word “Branch” was used to describe the ideal king and referred to the Messiah. The Jews’ expectations of what that king would look like were based on their understanding of a powerful earthly king. They expected that from the Messiah. When have you placed expectations on Jesus based on a faulty understanding? What did you learn from that situation?

• Righteousness figures heavily in this description of the Messiah. Righteousness means living a life that matches God’s commandments, love and purposes. How do we achieve righteousness according to 1 Corinthians 1:30?

• In what ways are you trying to earn God’s favor through your own goodness or righteousness rather than resting in Jesus’ pure righteousness which covers you?

Ponder

Sometimes called the “weeping prophet,” Jeremiah was known for the grief he expressed as he called for the leaders and people of Judah to return to God wholeheartedly. The book contains few Messianic prophecies, but these verses point clearly to Jesus. Jeremiah was clear in his prophecy: the leaders of Judah, the people, the kings—they had all failed, so God would provide His own ruler, a king characterized by wisdom, justice and righteousness. What the people could not do on their own, God would do Himself.

What we know as believers is that in Jesus, God has done what we could not do for ourselves. Our righteousness is as filthy rags (Isa. 64:6), and we cannot live according to God’s standard through our own power or goodness. What 1 Corinthians 1:28-30 tells us is that Jesus makes us right with God. He covers us with His righteousness. What we could not do, He has done. We are not righteous, no not one (Rom. 3:10), but we are made new, and Jesus is our righteousness.