READING FOR MAY 29, 2026: JEREMIAH 5, MARK 12, PSALM 48:9-14
JEREMIAH 5 God asked Jeremiah to conduct a field experiment. He told him to walk around Jerusalem to look for a person who does justice and seeks honesty. If Jeremiah could find such a person, God promised to save the city. Some of us might remember a similar deal God had with Moses. Here is that exchange: “Then he [Moses] said, “Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak only this once: suppose ten are found there [Sodom]?” And He [God] said, “I will not destroy it on account of the ten.” (Gen. 18:32). Jerusalem, like Sodom many centuries earlier was devoid of those who sought honesty, responded to God’s discipline, and were willing to repent. Pray that this not be the description of Yorktown Methodist or our community and nation.
Jeremiah tries to excuse the people by saying they are poor, foolish, and lack knowledge. He says he will approach the great, likely the wealthy, who should know better. But verses 5b-6 say they too have rebelled and are in danger because of their falling away from faith. Then in verse seven God asks rhetorically, “Why should He forgive Judah?” They had committed great sins, such as pledging in the name of false gods and committing adultery with their neighbor’s wife. They lied to God but believed false prophets who said in effect that sin doesn’t matter and they won’t be punished. Do we ever hear today that a God of love won’t bring punishment upon anyone? This is not too different from what these prophets were saying.
In verse 14-17 God said, due to their wrong beliefs (i.e., bad theology), God will bring a faraway nation with a different language to basically demolish Judah. Verse 15 clearly says God is bringing them, not just that God will somehow make Babylon’s invasion turn out well for Judah in the long run but that He is not the cause of this devastation. God is the cause, and Babylon is His instrument. God says, however, that this destruction will not be complete. He commissions Jeremiah to then explain that this will happen due to their sin.
Verses 20-31 conclude the message Jeremiah is to convey to the people when these disasters occur. Jeremiah will press Judah to consider who God is, what His attributes are, and what He has done for them over the centuries. Do we have a more correct view of God than Judah had? Do we think of Him as a distant being to whom we can ask for good health but other- wise don’t need to consider what He is commanding us to do? Remember what Jesus told us: “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” (John 14:15). God told Jeremiah to tell Judah they had grown prosperous but have not cared about the poor and the orphans. They have enjoyed hearing false prophets who don’t speak God’s word, but as a result are totally unpre- pared for when the end comes. He says this is horrible and terrible. Let’s avoid their mistakes.
MARK 12 In the parable of the landowner, previously studied in Matt. 21:33-45, notice the graciousness and patience of the landowner. He graciously planted the vineyard and included
READING FOR MAY 29, 2026 CONTINUED: MARK 12, PSALM 48:9-14 everything needed to make it successful, just as God created a beautiful world and appointed us as His stewards. He patiently sent the vine-growers many representatives, just as God sent Israel numerous prophets over the centuries. Even though the prophets were on a mission for God, they were mistreated and sometimes killed by Israel.
Finally, God sent His only Son to save the world, but Israel mostly rejected Him and sent Him to the cross. Today, we have access to these prophets through His Word and to His Son through faith. Do we reject Jesus, ignore Jesus, or receive Jesus as chief cornerstone of our lives—not just a peripheral activity one hour a week? God’s patience is not unlimited: “He [the owner] will destroy the vine-growers" (Mark 12:9).
An issue for the Pharisees and Herodians, as for us today, is the proper relationship between government and God. Jesus in essence states that we need to support the government but not look to the government as our ultimate source of meaning. Look to God. In response to the Sadducees, disbelievers of life after death, Jesus gave this very harsh criticism that we must also ponder: They did not understand the Bible nor the power of God. What about us? Jesus, however, encountered a wise scribe who truly understood that love of God and neighbor is more important than the prescribed sacrifices of the Mosaic Law. Jesus then identified Himself as the One whom David proclaimed as Lord and He lifts up those who humbly offer God what little they possess as opposed to those of us who parade our self-importance.
PSALM 48:9-14 What did the Psalmist think about when He was in the Temple? What do we think about in church? Let’s follow the Psalmist and contemplate God’s goodness, His praiseworthiness throughout the world, His righteousness (i.e., acting according to His right standard), and His judgments. In fact, we have far more reason to do this than the Psalmist who had not yet known the details of Jesus’s unimaginable work on our behalf at the cross.
The Psalmist then tells the reader to take a tour of Jerusalem, the City of God, which reflects something of God’s character: “for such is God” (vs. 14). A tour of present-day Jerusalem would surely be historically fascinating but may no longer project the majesty it did when the Psalmist was writing. What certainly will reflect all the attributes of God is the New Jerusalem: “He... showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very valuable stone, like a stone of crystal-clear jasper. It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written on the gates, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel” (Rev. 21:10-12). LET’S START CONSIDERING THIS CITY OF GOD MORE AND MORE.
