Jeremiah 23:2-6

In the name of Jesus, truly the Lord Our Righteousness, dear fellow redeemed,

I have to admit that I don’t read the comics in the newspaper as much as I used to. But I still remember some of my favorites. One of them I never missed was Beetle Bailey, and one of the scenes that has always stuck in my head is the one where somebody falls off a cliff, only to be saved by grabbing hold of a tiny branch sticking out from the side of the mountain. It was a scene depicted many times. I’ve pasted one such strip in the bulletin this morning, with Beetle Bailey looking down on Sargent Snorkel and his dog Otto dangling from a little branch. I was always intrigued at what a perilous situation that would be. The only thing keeping them from danger is that one little branch.

Today is the last Sunday of the church year, the Last Sunday of End Time. Our attention shifts to the time when life on this earth will come to an end, the time when we will all finally have to face our Maker. For many that will be a scary time. It’s a time when we will stand before the righteous Judge and see whether or not he will let us into his heaven. Will we have what we need to get in? Will we have our “ticket” with us? Will we be found clinging to that one little branch that can save us?

Jeremiah tells us that when it comes to entering the Lord’s kingdom, we need to:

“Hang On to the Branch!”

I. For earthly preservation

II. For eternal salvation

The Lord had extended to his people the branch they needed to survive. Time after time he sent his prophets to remind the people of the Messiah, the only one who could give them hope while living and hope for when they died. But all too often the people let the Lord’s promise slip through their fingers. Their leaders weren’t much help. Through Jeremiah the Lord voices his displeasure with them (Jer 23:1), “‘Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!’ declares the LORD.” The men whom the Lord had placed over Judah to shepherd his flock had instead led the sheep astray. Both the religious leaders and the kings had failed to carry out their divine assignment, so they would suffer divine consequences (v 2), “Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says to the shepherds who tend my people: ‘Because you have scattered my flock and driven them away and have not bestowed care on them, I will bestow punishment on you for the evil you have done,’ declares the LORD.” Since their leaders had failed to do what they had been called to do, God himself would step in (v 3), “I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in number.” To lead his people back to him, the Lord would allow them to be carried off into captivity. But he would bring back a remnant. They would not die off in a foreign country. They would survive and be prosperous once more in the land the Lord had given them, because some changes would be made (v 4), “‘I will place shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any be missing,’ declares the LORD.” With faithful shepherds watching over them, sheep have nothing to fear. They’re protected from enemies, food is provided for them, and they’re all safely accounted for. The Lord would do the same for his people when he returned a remnant back to Jerusalem. They would have nothing to fear as they lived out their lives, for the Lord promised to watch over them. He promised to provide for their earthly preservation.

So the Lord would bring back his people from captivity and restore them to their homeland with new leaders to watch over them. What does that have to do with us today? Remember when Jeremiah was delivering these words to the people of Judah. It was before they would actually be taken away by the Babylonians. The worst was yet to come, but the Lord wanted them to have hope. He wanted them to know that even in the worst of times, he would be there for them. He wanted to give them something to hang on to, something which would give them hope. So he promised to be with them, to protect them, to bring them home. In short he promised to preserve them while they lived here on this earth.

For you and me this is comforting news. It means that God cares for his people. He cares for us! He gives us the promise (Mt 28:20), “And surely I am with you always”– and he means it! While we live out our lives here on this earth, we can do so with the comfort that the Lord is always there for us, providing all that we need, no matter what may come our way. “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want” (Ps 23:1). We can live in peace each and every day, because we don’t face life alone. Our Good Shepherd is always there, watching over and preserving his flock

This earthly life wouldn’t mean a thing if it didn’t lead to something better. The reason why we can live in peace and joy even in a world corrupted with sin is because God has given us something to hang on to — a Branch! When we were sinking in the quicksand of sin, the Lord came along and extended to us a righteous Branch to save us — the same Branch he extended to Israel. It’s the Branch which all people need for their eternal salvation.

Sure, the people of Judah had the hope of a return from exile to hang on to, but the Lord had so much more to offer to them (v 5), “‘The days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.’” The Lord promised them a miracle. Even though the reign of the house of David would come to a halt, God still wouldn’t forget the promises he had made to David. From his offspring would come the Messiah, the great and everlasting King of his people.

Jesus would be the Branch which would spring forth from the stump that was left of David’s line. Jeremiah uses the imagery of Isaiah (11:1), “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.” Here we have the richest gospel promise of all of Jeremiah’s prophecies. He speaks of a Branch who will be “righteous.” He would come as a king, but his kingdom wouldn’t be of this world, as he would explain to Pontius Pilate. His reign would consist in doing everything necessary for the world’s salvation. That would involve his sacrificial death on the cross. But in order for that death to mean anything, in order for him to give the world something to hang on to, he would first have to become one of us. He would have “to be tempted in every way, just as we are — yet [be one who] was without sin” (Heb 4:15). That’s what Jesus had to be to be our Savior, a “righteous” Branch — and that’s exactly what he was!

But here’s the greatest part of all. Christ came to be our King, to rule over us with his protecting and guiding hand. But above all, as our King, he came to rescue us. And the only way that could be accomplished was if he could trade places with us. But that’s what Jesus did! He tells us (Jn 10:11), “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” What Jesus did on Calvary had eternal significance for all those who have become his chosen people by faith (v 6), “In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety.” This isn’t just a reference to the return from exile. This prophecy reaches past this life to the life that is to come. All God’s people will experience an eternity with the Lord because a divine switch has been made (2 Co 5:21), “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Jesus Christ is the Branch given to us by God for our eternal salvation.

The reason for the peace and the hope which we have is summed up for us in the name the Lord gives to his promised Messiah (v 6), “This is the name by which he will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness.” You want a simple way to sum up the gospel, the entire message of the Scriptures? Then use this title. Jesus Christ, our Savior, our King, is our “LORD,” and he has become for us “Our Righteousness.” Not only is Jesus righteous in and of himself, but through his perfect life of obedience, his suffering and death, and his rising to life, he’s won for us the complete and total forgiveness of all our sins. Now we have what he has — righteousness, holiness, perfection — something we could never have obtained for ourselves. He’s restored to us once again what we lost in the Garden of Eden. Now we’re acceptable to God. We have a Branch, a righteous Branch, to hold on to. This is the Branch which opens for us the door to heaven and keeps it open. The Lord is our righteousness, and by faith each one of us can say, “The Lord is my righteousness. He’s made me his very own. Therefore I have everything I need for my eternal salvation.”

Our final status is secure. We’re all set, because we’ve been given the righteousness of Christ. This gift is your most treasured possession. So hang on tight! Hang on to the Branch, the righteous Branch of Jesus Christ! Don’t let anything in this world distract you and cause you to loosen your grip. Keep squeezing all the more by strengthening your grip with regular dosages of the Word. By making the gospel an everyday part of your life, the Holy Spirit tightens your grip so you can hang on even in the face of whatever temptation the devil may throw your way. Then, when it’s time for you to leave this life, you’ll be ready for what comes next. In your hands you’ll have the righteous Branch of Jesus, “the LORD Our Righteousness.”

It’s interesting that in the Beetle Bailey comics that little branch never breaks. It always seems to be there to save whoever falls over the cliff. Most people would say that’s impossible – except when it happens in the comics!

It’s also possible in real life if the branch we’re clinging to is the righteous Branch of Jesus. He’ll never let us fall. He’ll never let us plunge to our eternal death. So hang on and you’ll be safe – for now and for eternity!

Amen

–Rev. Jonathan Rockhoff