St Johns Southgate

In the Bible we read that the Prophet Jeremiah lived in a time of turmoil, when the fate of many nations—including Judah—was being sealed.

The message from God was harsh as the creator lodged a indictment against his people. But

in the middle of Jeremiah’s prophecies, stands a promise of restoration and healing, which God would bring on his people.

One could argue that the high point of Jeremiah’s prophecies is the foretelling of this promise of restoration – the “new covenant” – pointing to the coming Messianic era. In this passage Jeremiah writes: “The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel” (Jer.31:31). This Messianic era has of course been fulfilled in the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

This is why “Jesus is the reason for the season”. In Jesus’s birth we have the fulfilment of the prophecy, which Jeremiah foretold some 600 years before Christ’s birth. As the church celebrates another Christmas and as we prepare to receive yet another New Year, Jeremiah’s prophecy gives us encouragement and hope.

It reminds us that God is the author of history and the ultimate director of human destiny. It reminds us that our days are in God’s hands and that he is not unfamiliar with the joys and struggles of our lives. It reminds us that we can hand over our future and the future of our loved ones to God, because he cares for his own.

God came to us in Jesus Christ to makes things better and to remind us that throughout human history he has been at work and in control. In Jesus, Jeremiah’s prophecy of restoration and healing has been fulfilled and is now offered to us in Jesus – the baby asleep in the manger, the crucified one on Golgotha, the risen Lord Jesus Christ. This is the message of Christmas.

Pastor Ian