B113 - Lent 5 (Jer 31; Heb 5; John 12)

God’s faithfulness to the people of Israel is manifest in the Jeremiah reading with the promise of a new covenant that will not be broken – thanks to God’s radical forgiveness. Christians understand Christ partly through the lens of Jeremiah’s new covenant; in the paradoxical way the brokenness (of Christ’s body) makes up the un-breakability of God’s covenant with all humanity.  Themes of suffering echo throughout the Hebrews reading as Christ is cast as a high priest, mediating in a new, intimate way with creation. The John passage reinforces the universality of salvation offered in the suffering Christ. We refer to Jennifer Kaalund’s commentary on Hebrews 5 on workingpreacher.org