The True Balm – Jesus

 Jeremiah 8:18-9:1, I Timothy 2: 1 -7

Jeremiah is beside himself – no joy, grief, and a sick heart. Why? Because Israel has turned from God provoking God to anger with their foreign idols. They have been conquered and many killed by other nations. When, oh God will you save these poor people? They have cried past harvest and summer. Jeremiah emphasizes with the hurt of these poor people. Mourning and dismay have overtaken him.

Is there no solution – no salvation for his people? If only a healing balm could be found to restore the health of these poor people. He compares his sorrow needing a spring of water and his eyes as a fountain of tears so that he can weep day and night for those who have been slain.

In I Timothy the apostle Paul tells of the balm that can save – Jesus who gave himself as a ransom for all. There is no balm in Gilead – even if the song says so. The balm is in Jesus who due to his death on the cross has the power to save. He is now the mediator between God and humankind.

Jeremiah has asked is the king not in Zion? The name Zion is used to describe a place where people can live and serve God. It is a city of holiness and a refuge where the Lord protects God’s people from the evils in the world. The Lord isn’t in their government due to their worship of foreign gods.

In Timothy 2 Paul encourages prayer for everyone and he makes a point of them praying for kings and those in high positions. Why? - so that we may live in a true “Zion” or as the New Testament has named it - the kingdom of God.

In this kingdom those who sin can reach out to the true balm who is Jesus who will save them from their sins and become a mediator between them and God.

 

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