Walking in Faith

"Those days are coming," Jeremiah foretells thrice in five verses. During which days did Jeremiah proclaim the advent of "those days?" Or during which period do those days arrive? Jeremiah preached during the forty years of political turbulence in Judah, i.e., 627-586 BCE. He watched five kings rise and fall in four decades. One of the kings lasted less than a year. Political instability opened opportunities for the neighboring Chaldeans to conspire against Judah, the southern kingdom, and gradually occupy the land, slice by slice, and take its leaders hostage. This gradual occupation culminated in the siege of Jerusalem during the reign of Zedekiah (597-586 BCE) and the captivity of the Davidic dynasty. These four decades also saw the monarchs' unholy alliance with the rich. The kings who were called to protect the interests of the poor with whom Yahweh was in an irrevocable covenant supported the rich in Judah in oppressing the poor. Instead of condemning the injustices, the prophets condoned wickedness. The priests shamelessly robbed the sacrifices and offerings. Instead of trusting Yahweh, the Davidic kings trusted weapons, armies, and political allies across the border. The "branch of David" has failed in its covenant with Yahweh. There were no signs of life.

Jeremiah was under siege by the conquering Chaldeans by the beginning of Chapter 33. The furious prophet preached God's wrath in the first 29 chapters. Jeremiah interpreted the fall of Jerusalem and captivity of the elite as Yahweh's punishment. After the fall, Jeremiah weeps in the Book of Lamentations, but not without hope. Finding himself and Judah's leaders as hostages, Jeremiah changed the tone. He remembers Yahweh's steadfast love and offers hope. There is hope, not because of David's faithfulness but because of God's steadfast love for the victims. God will raise a ruler from among the unfaithful descendants of David merely because of God's faithfulness to the covenant which God made with God's people who once were no people. Jeremiah encourages the besieged folks to keep hoping. Those preaching this text may want to focus on the themes of God's faithfulness to the defeated communities, and God's ability to raise leaders to execute justice and righteousness even from a dynasty so flawed and corrupt, in cities which have become synonymous with violence and wickedness.

In the four chapters of this brief epistle, the writer turns the readers' attention to Christ. Many scholars date this letter to the early 60s. This may have been a letter written to Christians in Colosse and circulated among Christians in the adjacent regions. You may recall the political context of the time. Nero, who ascended to the throne in his teens, consolidated his power by 60 CE. The power structures crumbled and insanity reigned. Suspecting Jews and Christians to be seditious, he unleashed cruelty against them, especially in the city of Rome. Meanwhile, an earthquake struck the cities of Colosse, Laodicea, and Hierapolis. Colosse, now located in Turkey, was known to be a trade center of wool, an industry run with the cheap labor of slaves. We read about one such slaveholder, Philemon, in the New Testament. Under constant pressure from Caesar, slaveholders, and the cosmic forces, Christians in Colosse constantly lived under fear of principalities and powers, visible and invisible. They turned their attention away from Christ, the crucified sovereign, and took a stigma in defeat and death. The letter-writer brings greetings in the first three verses of the first chapter and then offers a prayer for the Christians in Colossae in the following verses. He is grateful for their hope, faithfulness, and love. In the text we are reading, the author highlights the significance of the Crucified Christ in the cosmos.

Verses 15 to 17 point to the preeminence and centrality of Christ in creation. Christ reigns. The power of thrones, dominions, rulers, and powers that the traumatized Christians in Colosse were afraid of cannot stand against the power of the Vulnerable One. In reference to the image of God in verse 15, there may be allusions both to the divine image in the creation narratives in the first two chapters of the Book of Genesis and more likely to the Wisdom in Proverbs 8.

The crucified Christ is the head of the church, not victorious emperors. In Christ's emptiness dwells the fullness of the divine. The wounded body of Christ is the source of courage and peace for the defeated and humiliated folks in Colosse. In their emptiness, the fullness of the Divine dwells. In their fleshly defeats and deaths, the life of God dwells. Their labor and suffering establish Pax Romana, not the imperial armies. The vision of the crucified sovereign one resonates with the victim-turned-king in Matthew 25 and the martyr-turned-enthroned in the Book of Revelation. The preacher may want to focus again on God's faithfulness to God's covenant with the defeated and traumatized communities in this text and turn the congregation's attention to those days when God would vindicate the wrongly punished God's people.