The Friday after Misericordias Domini Sunday
Posted on April 24, 2026 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
Old Testament leaders who were false prophets, unfaithful priests, and ungodly kings were not good shepherds for the people of Israel. They were bad shepherds who harmed the sheep and drove them away from their God and the salvation which He desired for them. In today’s passage, God threatens punishment for these wicked ones and promises rescue for His scattered people.
On the one hand, God says that He, Himself, will do it. Using the first-person personal pronoun, He says, “I will gather…I will set up shepherds…” On the other hand, God speaks of the coming of “a Branch of righteousness” who will reign and do it. The “Branch” is a designation for the promised Messiah (Is. 4:2; Jer. 23:5-6; 33:15-16).
So which is it? Both! Of course, Jesus is the promised Messiah, who is God come in human flesh. When Jesus, our Branch of righteousness, sets everything right, it is God saving us from our sins. Jesus gives us His righteousness and places us in His Church so that we dwell in safety.
In Christ’s Church our God provides good shepherds who will attend to the needs of the sheep. Jesus’ pastors will serve up heaping portions of God’s Word. The baptismal waters will wash away all stains. The Lord Supper will serve as a medicine of immortality.
Collect: 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.
