DBRP_205 JER.7 JER.8 PSA.141 JHN.19.14-42

JEREMIAH 7-8:
In this and several other prophetic books, it is important to observe where quotes begin and end, and who is speaking. The section headings are also very helpful to our understanding. Modern translators and editors use the heading to help modern readers understand such things as ancient poetic imagery.

Yesterday's reading had this ironic statement spoken by the Lord:
5:19 When they ask why I did all these things, tell them, Jeremiah, that just as they turned away from me and served foreign gods in their own land, so they will serve strangers in a land that is not theirs.”

PSALM 141:
David received the answer to his prayer in verse 5, if this was written before his affair with Bathsheba. Nathan did what David prayed for here. This psalm contains gems that are well worth digging for and meditating on.

JOHN 19b:
I believe that John saw, and wanted us to feel, the extreme irony in many events that we have read. The ironic events and statements also didn’t happen by accident. It was not an accident that the mob who came to arrest Jesus stumbled back and fell when he said, “I am He.” That was— and still is, a sign from God. All of the statements of Pilate and the chief priests drip with irony which they could not see, but which we can. “I find no fault with this man!” “Behold your king!” “We have no king but Caesar!” “What is truth?” “Don’t release him, we want Barabbas!”

Translation notes:
30 [After Jesus tasted//Jesus drank] the wine and said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
31 Then the Jewish authorities asked Pilate to allow them to break the legs of the men who had been crucified, [so that they would die quickly and their bodies could be taken//and to take the bodies] down from the crosses. They requested this because it was Friday, and they did not want the bodies to stay on the crosses on the Sabbath, since the coming Sabbath was especially holy.
35 ([I,] The one who saw this happen [have now//has] spoken of it, so that you also may believe. What [I//he] said is true, and [I know that I speak//he knows that he speaks] the truth.)

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