May 17, 2024 Daily Dose of Discernment

“The fathers have eaten sour grapes, And the children’s teeth are set on edge." (Jeremiah 31:29)

The proverb means children are punished for the sins of their parents. That’s what Moses declares that God does (Exodus 20:5). Ezekiel argues that whoever sins, parents or children, each will suffer the consequence (Ezekiel 18:4). Jeremiah, while foreseeing a time when God will no longer remember sin (Jeremiah 31:34), and famously announcing that His mercies never come to an end but are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23), still believes everyone will die for his own iniquity (Jeremiah 31:30). This is the Old Testament, a time when people only saw glimpses of truth.

Then comes Jesus, the express image of God’s person, who scandalously proclaims that His Father reconciles the world to Himself and doesn’t count men’s sins against them. He’s not giving us a license to sin because He still teaches that it is sin that wounds and kills us. He means that it doesn’t affect God’s infinite love toward us. And if we accept that and follow His ways, we will overcome sin and our lives will be full. Now that’s good news!