That is what God told Jeremiah, “If you utter what is precious and not what is worthless, you shall serve as my mouth.” And, Jeremiah did as he was advised, and he used wise words and taught the people; and the Lord said, For I am with you to save you and deliver you. He was delivered out of the hand of the wicked, and redeemed from the grasp of the ruthless. 

Jeremiah was to be Prophet, one who heard the voice of the Lord God, and told the people what God required of them, and of him. The people did not like Jeremiah for what God had him say to them; and they persecuted and insulted him. “Your words were found, and I ate them and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart.” Said Jeremiah, and he suffered; yet they did not prevail over Him. And the Lord said, “I will deliver you out of the hands of the wicked, and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.”    

Jesus took time to tell his disciples what was going to happen when they reached Jerusalem; how he would undergo great suffering at the hands of the ruling religious at the Temple, the center of worship for the Jews; how he would be handed over to the chief Priest and scribes, and be killed. He told his disciples all this. He gave them an accurate prediction of what was going to happen. And then he told them he would be killed, and on the third day be raised.  

When the phrase said he would be killed, Peter in revulsion of the thought, rebuked him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.” He had not heard, and if he did hear Jesus say that He would be raised, he could not get passed the thought of Jesus being killed. 

Jesus responded, almost in anger, to Peter, for his interruption of the explanation, that the Disciples needed to hear. He probably turned and set Peter on his ear, saying, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me, for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” Peter, after all was a very human creature.   

We are also. And we would, just as easy as Peter, rebuke the Lord at the very thought of his death, because we would not have known of the resurrection that would occur after three days in the tomb. 

And, Jesus did die a horrible and painful death, and he was placed in a tomb, and after that predicted three days, he did rise to life again. There is much proof of these things, which we can rely on as we meet Jesus in our everyday lives to this day; if we set our minds on divine things. For with God, everything is possible. Amen.

The Rev. George O. Martin is an Ordained Deacon at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 17th and Adams, Great Bend. Send email to georgeom@hbcomm.net.