the Lord is my shepherd

Good morning sisters and brothers,
This morning's reading features Jeremiah speaking for God and accusing the leaders of Judah of unfaithful leadership. More specifically, God accuses the leaders, the shepherds, of taking advantage of the people for their own gain instead of taking care of them. Notice the word play on "attend," which is used both in the sense of care and in the sense of revenge. You could replace "attend" with "take care of" if that makes it easier to understand: "Because you haven't taken care of my people I will take care of you.

Judah's leaders haven't led and care for the people properly, so God will get rid of those leaders and raise up new leaders to gather and care for God's people. The second paragraph here is a common Advent text that we read as pointing to the ministry of Jesus, the new shepherd not only of Israel and Judah but also of the world. We look forward to the day when Christ will gather all the people together in peace in harmony. Amen; come Lord Jesus.

God bless,
Sam

Jeremiah 23:1-8
Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the Lord. 2Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people: It is you who have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. So I will attend to you for your evil doings, says the Lord. 3Then I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing, says the Lord.

5The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. And this is the name by which he will be called: “The Lord is our righteousness.” 7Therefore, the days are surely coming, says the Lord, when it shall no longer be said, “As the Lord lives who brought the people of Israel up out of the land of Egypt,” 8but “As the Lord lives who brought out and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the land of the north and out of all the lands where he had driven them.” Then they shall live in their own land.