Joel Johnson | Biblical History & Theology

According to church tradition, the prophet Jeremiah was stoned to death   ““For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” I’m sure plenty of you are familiar with this verse - in fact, Jeremiah 29:11 is the best-known verse in the entire book of Jeremiah. Yet it seems at odds with the rest of the book, which is largely doom and gloom.  If you don’t know much about the prophet Jeremiah, he is often referred to as the “weeping prophet.” Do you think he felt like Jer 29:11 was true? This picture of a “weeping prophet” - someone with so much investment in God’s message and empathy for his fellow Israelites - is indeed a powerful picture of a sacrificial servant from the Old Testament. Today, we are going to take a look at Jeremiah and what we can learn about God’s call to each one of us to step up to the plate and become sacrificial servants.  What does sacrificial service look like? 1...

Today I would like to turn our minds to a unique example we have in the Scriptures of servanthood. It may not be among the first examples which come to mind when you are thinking of examples of God’s servants. But it certainly is a prime example - perhaps among the most important examples we have been given in the Bible.  I am talking about Mary - the mother of Jesus - and her special call to surprise service. Background We are not given a great deal of information about Mary. The first time we encounter her in the gospels, we learn that she was from Nazareth (Lk 1:26) and was betrothed to Joseph (Lk 1:27).  I think we all know that Nazareth was a small country village, but what surprised me when I first found out was how small it actually was. Archaeological excavations have shown that during the 1st century AD, Nazareth comprised of around 50 houses, with an estimated total population of 200 to 400 people.(1) It’s the kind of village where everyone would have known everyone ...