The Fifth Sunday after Epiphany (OT)

Jeremiah 17:1-10

“The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron; with a point of diamond it is engraved on the tablet of their heart, and on the horns of their altars, ² while their children remember their altars and their Asherim, beside every green tree and on the high hills, ³ on the mountains in the open country. Your wealth and all your treasures I will give for spoil as the price of your high places for sin throughout all your territory. ⁴ You shall loosen your hand from your heritage that I gave to you, and I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you do not know, for in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn forever.” 

⁵  Thus says the Lord: 

“Cursed is the man who trusts in man 

and makes flesh his strength, 

whose heart turns away from the Lord. 

⁶  He is like a shrub in the desert, 

and shall not see any good come. 

He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, 

in an uninhabited salt land. 

⁷  “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, 

whose trust is the Lord. 

⁸  He is like a tree planted by water, 

that sends out its roots by the stream, 

and does not fear when heat comes, 

for its leaves remain green, 

and is not anxious in the year of drought, 

for it does not cease to bear fruit.” 

⁹  The heart is deceitful above all things, 

and desperately sick; 

who can understand it? 

¹⁰  “I the Lord search the heart 

and test the mind, 

to give every man according to his ways, 

according to the fruit of his deeds.” 

Your sins are engraved with an iron pen in stone. They are etched with a diamond upon your hearts. The Lord will search your heart and mind and he will discover all the wickedness and evil there in. God knows the fruit of your deeds.

God planted his man in the garden, in a land full of rich foods for him to eat and enjoy. God delivered his people from the land of Slavery, and planted them in a land flowing with milk and honey. God has washed you in the blood of Christ, and planted you beside a stream of forgiving water.

All of these have fallen short of the Glory of God. All these turned their back on God's commands. It could be as simple as not to eat of one tree, or as great as teaching everything Jesus commanded you. Our sins are written on stone tablets. Christ whips his blood over those tablets, with the result that God sees Christ crucified for the forgiveness of your sins, instead of your rotten fruit. Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord.