Friday after Misericordias Domini
Posted on May 6, 2022 by under
Scripture: Jeremiah 23:1-6 (NKJV)
23:1 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” says the Lord. 2 Therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel against the shepherds who feed My people: “You have scattered My flock, driven them away, and not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doings,” says the Lord. 3 “But I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. 4 I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking,” says the Lord.
5 “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.
6 In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely; Now this is His name by which He will be called:
THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS
Devotion
God tells us through the prophet Jeremiah that He has not been pleased with the shepherds who have governed Israel. They will be removed and punished for their lack of faithful care, and God will step in and appoint new watchmen: “‘I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking,’ says the Lord.” In fact, God Himself will be the ultimate Shepherd–the “Righteous Branch”–who will not only rule with righteousness, but will become our righteousness. This prophecy points ahead toward Jesus becoming incarnate in human flesh.
As our perfect replacement from womb to tomb, Jesus would live the sinless life we could never lead. By His perfect life and sacrificial death Jesus Christ would be the atonement for all mankind. Through the gift of faith, given to us by the Word and the Spirit, that righteousness becomes ours. May we forever marvel at the Divine Exchange, in which Jesus takes our sin and gives us His righteousness. As a result, the Father sees us as He sees His own Son. “Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:11).
Prayer: God, Who, by the humiliation of Thy Son, didst raise up the fallen world: Grant unto Thy faithful ones perpetual gladness, and those whom Thou hast delivered from the danger of everlasting death, do Thou make partakers of eternal joys; through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
