Sinking Into the Mud

20th Sunday of Ordinary Time - Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10

In those days, the princes said to the king:

"Jeremiah ought to be put to death;

he is demoralizing the soldiers who are left in this city,

and all the people, by speaking such things to them;

he is not interested in the welfare of our people,

but in their ruin."

King Zedekiah answered: "He is in your power";

for the king could do nothing with them.

And so they took Jeremiah

and threw him into the cistern of Prince Malchiah,

which was in the quarters of the guard,

letting him down with ropes.

There was no water in the cistern, only mud,

and Jeremiah sank into the mud.

Ebed-melech, a court official,

went there from the palace and said to him:

"My lord king,

these men have been at fault

in all they have done to the prophet Jeremiah,

casting him into the cistern.

He will die of famine on the spot,

for there is no more food in the city."

Then the king ordered Ebed-melech the Cushite

to take three men along with him,

and draw the prophet Jeremiah out of the cistern before

he should die.

Jeremiah is a striking figure whose ministry clearly foreshadows that of Jesus. During Jesus’ lifetime, people noticed the similarities (see Matthew 16:14). Both preached against the ruling authorities and were heavily persecuted as a result. Both prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem. Both went down into the earth only to rise up again. Jesus is in many ways another Jeremiah, and you and I are other christs, Christians. If we are living a fully Christian life, this same pattern of persecution will play out in our lives as well. 

One of the uncomfortable realities of life in a fallen world is that people will misunderstand you. Another uncomfortable reality is that people will sometimes understand you clearly and just not like what you say or stand for. We like to plasticize the Gospel as just loving people, but we forget that people often don’t want to be loved or that they want to define love in their own terms, frequently shunning divine love in the process. Authentic love and the mercy of God are sometimes received as treasonous, as in the case of Jeremiah, or blasphemous, as in the case of Jesus. As other christs, Christians, if we live our lives in such a way that no one ever raises an eyebrow at us, then perhaps we aren’t doing it right.