John Chrysostom — Commentary on Scripture

Jeremiah 11:14

Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them: for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble.

They ask for a mercy it is impossible for them to receive since they have sins for which they have not repented. They cannot receive this mercy—not if they ask for it themselves, or even if the request is made by others who are stronger in their relationship with God. When Jeremiah was praying for the Jews, the Lord in fact said, “Do not pray for this people, because I will not hear you.”

Jeremiah 13:12

Therefore thou shalt speak unto them this word; Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Every bottle shall be filled with wine: and they shall say unto thee, Do we not certainly know that every bottle shall be filled with wine?

And these things he said, setting laws and rules for his own disciples, that when they should have to receive as disciples those of all sorts that should come from the whole world, they might deal with them very gently. “Neither is new wine put into old wineskins.” Consider how his illustrations are like those in the Old Testament. The garment? The wineskins? For Jeremiah, too, calls the people “a waistcloth” and makes mention again of “jar” and of “wine.” Thus, the discourse being about gluttony and a table, he takes his illustrations from the same.

Jeremiah 13:23

Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.

Moreover, what did the prophet say? “If the Ethiopian changes his skin and the leopard its spots, this people will be able to do well, when it has learned evil.” He did not mean that it was impossible for them to practice virtue, but that they did not wish to do so; therefore, they could not.

Jeremiah 14:1-9

The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the dearth.

Again, the Scriptures speak of God as asleep when the psalmist says, “Arise! Why do you sleep, O Lord?” He does not say this to make us suspect that God sleeps. This would be the utmost madness. By the word sleep the psalm shows God’s patience and forbearance toward us. Another prophet has said, “You will not be like a person who sleeps, will you?” Do you not see that we need much help from our understanding and reason when we are searching into the treasure house of the divine Scriptures? If we listen to the words only, if we do not think but take the words as they come, not only will those absurdities follow, but many a conflict will be seen in what has been said.

Jeremiah 15:19 · 3 passages

Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them.

Consider to what a dignity one exalts himself who esteems others’ salvation to be of great importance. Such a person is imitating God as far as lies within the power of humankind. Hear what God says speaking through his prophet: “He who separates the worthy from the vile shall be as my mouth.” What God says is that one who is eager to save a brother who has fallen into careless ways, one who hastens to snatch his brother from the jaws of the devil, that person imitates me as far as lies within human power. What could equal that? This is greater than all good deeds. This is the peak of all virtue.

Let us catch them, then, by our mode of life; and by these souls let us build up the church, and of these let us amass our wealth. There is nothing to weigh against a soul, not even the whole world. Thus, although one may give countless treasure to the poor, in so doing he will not do such work as one who converts one soul. “For he who takes forth the precious from the vile shall be as my mouth,” so God speaks. A great good it is, I grant, to have pity on the poor, but it is nothing equal to removing them from error.

Words full of gentleness and meekness, even as Jesus also used to speak, saying to those who were insulting him, “I have not a devil,” and again, “If I have spoken wrongly, bear witness to the wrong.” If you also speak in this way, if you speak for your neighbor’s betterment, you will obtain a tongue like that tongue. And these things God says: “For he that brings out the precious from the vile shall be like my mouth”; such are his words.

Jeremiah 17:10

I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

That it belongs to God alone to know people’s secrets, hear what the prophet says: “You alone know the heart,” and again, “God examines the heart and the seat of emotions,” and Jeremiah, too, says, “The heart is inscrutable above all things, and he is man, and who shall know him?” and, “People shall look on the face but God on the heart.”

Jeremiah 18:3-6 · 2 passages

Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.

When, therefore, God speaks of an irremediable calamity, he does not say vessels of the potter, but an earthen vessel. When, for instance, he wished to teach the prophet and the Jews that he delivered up the city to an irremediable calamity, he bade him take an earthen wine vessel, and crush it before all the people and say, “Thus shall this city be destroyed, be broken in pieces.” But when he wishes to hold out good hopes to them, he brings the prophet to a pottery and does not show him an earthen vessel but shows him a vessel of clay, which was in the hands of the potter, falling to the ground. He brings him to saying, “If this potter has taken up and remodeled his vessel that has fallen, shall I not much rather be able to restore you when you have fallen?” It is possible therefore for God not only to restore those who are made of clay, through the washing of regeneration, but also to bring back again to their original state, on their careful repentance, those who have received the power of the Spirit and have fallen from grace into ruin.

What do you mean, Paul? Am I to be subject to God in the same way the clay is to the potter? Yes, Paul says. For the distance between God and man is as great as the distance between the potter and the clay. Rather the distance is not merely as great but much greater. The potter and the clay are of one and the same substance. It is just as Job said: “I admit it as for those who dwell in houses of clay, because we are ourselves formed from the same clay.” If a man seems more beautiful to look upon than clay, this difference was not produced by a change of nature but by the wisdom of the craftsman. Why? Because you are no different from the clay. If you refuse to believe this, let the coffins and the cremation urn convince you. And you will know that this is the truth if you have gone to visit the tombs of your ancestors. Therefore, there is no difference between the clay and the potter.

Jeremiah 20:8-10

For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the LORD was made a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily.

Jeremiah, having borne many temptations, gave in on these, and when he was rebuked, said, “I will not prophesy, neither will I name the name of the Lord.” And David, too, in many places complains of rebuke. Isaiah also, after many things, admonishes concerning this, saying, “Do not fear the reproach of people, neither be overcome by their reviling.” And again, Christ also to his disciples: “When they shall speak all manner of evil against you falsely, rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven.”

Jeremiah 23:23 · 2 passages

Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off?

If God were distant from us in place, you might well doubt, but he is present everywhere. To him who strives with purposeful intent, God is near. For this reason also the psalmist said, “I will fear no evil, for you are with me,” and God again, “I am a God near at hand and not a God afar off.” Then, just as our sins separate us from him, so do our righteous deeds draw us near to him. “For while you are yet speaking,” it is said, “I will say, ‘Here I am.’ ”

From this time on, bid everything farewell for these five days and begin to observe the feast. Away with the business of the law courts! Away with the business of the city council! Away with daily affairs together with their contracts and business deals! I wish to save my soul. “What does it profit a person if he gains the whole world but suffers the loss of his soul?” The Magi went forth from Persia. You go forth from the affairs of daily life. Make your journey to Jesus. It is not far to travel if we are willing to make the trip. We need not cross the sea or climb the mountain crests. If you prove your piety and full compunction, you can see him without leaving home, you can tear down the whole wall, remove every obstacle and shorten the length of the journey. As the prophet said, “I am a God near at hand and not a God afar off,” and, “The Lord is close to all who call on him in truth.”

Jeremiah 31:15

Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.

Herod sought him after his birth. He was to kill all the children in that place. And the prophet revealed this, too, foretelling it long beforehand when he said, “A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, mourning and much weeping, of Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are not.” The Scriptures also predicted that he would come to Egypt when they said, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

Jeremiah 31:31 · 2 passages

Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:

Don’t you see how their reasoning comes around to the very contrary? The God of the old covenant, whom they call cruel, will be found mild and meek. The God of the new, whom they acknowledged to be good, will be hard and grievous, according to their madness. But we say that there is but one and the same Legislator of both covenants, who dispensed all correctly and adapted to the difference of the times the difference between the two systems of law. Therefore the first commandments are not cruel, nor are the second hard and grievous, but all come from one and the same providential care. Hear the affirmation of the prophet that God gave the old covenant also, or rather (so we must speak), the affirmation of him who is both the one and the other: “I will make a covenant with you, not according to the covenant that I made with your ancestors.”

From the prophets I will prove that the Old and New Covenants have one Lawgiver. And so, what does Jeremiah say? “I will give you a new covenant.” Do you see Jeremiah’s prophetic reference to a new covenant that shines forth brilliantly for so many years before Christ’s coming? “I will give you a new covenant.” But how does it seem that he gave even the Old? When he said, “I will give you a new covenant,” he added, “not like the covenant that I gave to your ancestors.”

Jeremiah 31:32

Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:

There was a law before, and there is a law now: “The law of the Spirit of life has delivered me.” There was worship before, and there is worship now: “Whose worship,” Paul says, and again, “Who serve God in spirit.” There was a covenant before, and there is a covenant now: “I will make a new covenant with you, not according to the covenant that I made with your ancestors.” There was holiness before, and there is holiness now. There was a baptism before, and there is a baptism now. There was a sacrifice before, and there is a sacrifice now. There was a temple before, and there is a temple now. There was a circumcision before, and there is a circumcision now. So also there was grace before, and there is a grace now. But the first-named as types, and the others as the reality, have kept the same name but not the same meaning. Thus, even in pictures and images one that is done in black and white shades is said to be a person, and likewise one that has been done in realistic colors. Similarly, in the case of statues, both the gold one and clay one are called statues, but the one as a mode…

There was a law before, and there is a law now: “The law of the Spirit of life has delivered me.” There was worship before, and there is worship now: “Whose worship,” Paul says, and again, “Who serve God in spirit.” There was a covenant before, and there is a covenant now: “I will make a new covenant with you, not according to the covenant that I made with your ancestors.” There was holiness before, and there is holiness now. There was a baptism before, and there is a baptism now. There was a sacrifice before, and there is a sacrifice now. There was a temple before, and there is a temple now. There was a circumcision before, and there is a circumcision now. So also there was grace before, and there is a grace now. But the first-named as types, and the others as the reality, have kept the same name but not the same meaning. Thus, even in pictures and images one that is done in black and white shades is said to be a person, and likewise one that has been done in realistic colors. Similarly, in the case of statues, both the gold one and clay one are called statues, but the one as a model, the other as the real statue.

Jeremiah 31:34 · 3 passages

And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

To show the rapidity of the change and the facility with which they would embrace Christ’s teaching, the prophet went on to say, “And they shall no more teach everyone his neighbor and everyone his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all will know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.” On his coming, Christ would also pardon the transgressions of all people and no more remember their sins. What could be clearer than this? By these predictions the prophet revealed the calling of the Gentiles, the superiority of the new law over the old law, the ease of access, the grace possessed by those who have believed and the gift given in baptism.

Consider how easy it is for people to obey. For Jeremiah said, “They shall no more teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying: ‘Know the Lord.’ For all men will know me from the least of them to the greatest.” And Isaiah showed how indestructible the Church would be. “For in the last days the mountain of the Lord will be conspicuous, and the house of the Lord will be on top of the mountains and will be exalted above the hills. And to this mountaintop will come many peoples and many nations.”

Let me beg you to consider then this simple and single-hearted person and take notice of him in the affairs of life, and you will see him a pattern of the utmost scrupulousness, such that if he would have shown it in spiritual matters he would not have been overlooked. The facts of the truth are clearer than the sun. And wherever a person may go, he might easily lay hold of his own salvation, if he wanted to, that is, to be obedient and not to look on this as a byproduct. For were these events confined to Palestine or to a little corner of the world? Didn’t you hear the prophet say, “All shall know me, from the least even to the greatest”?