From Darkness To Light, From Sorrow To Hope: Lessons From Jeremiah And Lamentationsናሙና

"Third Sunday of Advent: Messiah in the City"

Cecil Frances Alexander (1818-1895) wrote many good hymns for the children in her Sunday school class. One of her best reminds us that the Messiah was born in the city: 

Once in royal David’s city 

Stood a lowly cattle shed, 

Where a mother laid her baby 

In a manger for his bed. 

Jeremiah teaches that the Messiah also came to build a city. True, most of his prophecies were about urban decay, but the prophet also promised new life for the city. God called him “to build and to plant” as well as “to destroy and overthrow” (1:10). Jeremiah promised that God would reverse the fortunes of his people: “This is what the Lord says: ‘I will restore the fortunes of Jacob’s tents and have compassion on his dwellings; the city will be rebuilt on her ruins, and the palace will stand in its proper place’” (30:18). A new city would arise from the ruins of the old, which is generally the way cities were rebuilt in those days. God’s strategy for urban redevelopment would touch every level of society.

The reference to “tents” shows God’s compassion for the general population, including the poor, but not only for the poor. Homes would go up for the middle class. The business district would be gentrified. And since the king should have a royal place to live, the Lord would rebuild his palace. From the slums to the mansions, God promised to rebuild his city.

A city is more than its buildings, however. The citizens of God’s new city would be filled with joy. There were to be great civic festivals, full of singing and dancing, music, and all kinds of merriment: “From them will come songs of thanksgiving and the sound of rejoicing” (30:19a). Imagine a city where all the great civic events centered on the worship of Almighty God. This is God’s ultimate plan for his city. A strong city requires strong leadership, and Jeremiah promised a leader who would rule in majesty: “Their leader will be one of their own; their ruler will arise from among them” (30:21a). God promised that the leader would be one of his own people—not a stranger or a foreigner. This is exactly the kind of majestic ruler that Jesus came to be. He did everything possible to identify with his people. He was eternal God, yet he became a man. He was a Hebrew among Hebrews and a man among men. He had the same kind of body his people had, a body that could grow tired and hungry and die. Jesus lived the way his people lived. He was born into a poor family. He was wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger, a common child. In her Christmas hymn, Cecil Frances Alexander testified to this mystery of humility: 

He came down to earth from heaven 

Who is God and Lord of all…

With the poor, and mean, and lowly,

Lived on earth our Savior holy.