Serving the Lord in Leytonstone, London
Jeremiah once more describes in vivid detail the level of trouble heading towards Judah. He responds to his prophecy with a cry of anguish: why have the people of Judah listened to the voices in their own heads instead of to the voice of the Lord?
Jesus is so different from us because he is the eternal Son of God. His conception was by the power of the Holy Spirit. His life was lived without a moment’s sin.
For the Christian dissatisfaction with ourselves and this world is a signpost to the better world for which we have been saved.
Back in first century Jerusalem, the Christians living there knew that the Lord was going to judge the city for her sins and bring down her temple as punishment
James is correcting the worldly thinking which is influencing his distant Christian friends. They are living in Jewish communities where too much respect is paid to the rich and the poor are too easily dismissed.
Although he doesn’t mention it directly, what happened on the cross to the Lord Jesus feeds into the ideas which James presents in his letter.