The Dynamic Self of Jesus

Lamentations 1:1-6; 3:19-26

How lonely sits the city that once was full of people! How like a widow she has become, she that was great among the nations! She that was a princess among the provinces has become a vassal. ²She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks; among all her lovers she has no one to comfort her; all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they have become her enemies. ³Judah has gone into exile with suffering and hard servitude; she lives now among the nations and finds no resting place; her pursuers have all overtaken her in the midst of her distress. ⁴The roads to Zion mourn, for no one comes to the festivals; all her gates are desolate, her priests groan; her young girls grieve, and her lot is bitter. ⁵Her foes have become the masters, her enemies prosper, because the LORD has made her suffer for the multitude of her transgressions; her children have gone away, captives before the foe. ⁶From daughter Zion has departed all her majesty. Her princes have become like stags that find no pasture; they fled without strength before the pursuer. ¹⁹The thought of my affliction and my homelessness is wormwood and gall! ²⁰My soul continually thinks of it and is bowed down within me. ²¹But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: ²²The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end;²³they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ²⁴"The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him." ²⁵The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him. ²⁶It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.

Context: 

The prophet Jeremiah lived through the siege and eventual destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians, one of the most devastating events in the history of Judah. This destruction was not merely a military defeat; it was considered by the prophets and people to be a divine judgment upon God’s people. Jeremiah’s heart was broken for his people, and God allowed him to express this brokenness poignantly in the book of Lamentations.

Reflection: 

In Lamentations 1, Jerusalem is personified as a widow, lonely and forsaken—once grand and now abandoned because of sin and judgment. Jeremiah’s sorrow is deep as he recounts the city’s former splendor now turned into mourning. The city’s suffering symbolizes the individual believer’s experience in trials — when God’s presence feels distant, and His promises seem delayed or forgotten.

However, in chapter 3, Jeremiah’s lament becomes personal and hopeful. He recalls his own suffering and bitterness — “My soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is” (3:17). Then he proclaims a powerful truth grounded in God's faithfulness: “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” (3:22-23). This is not sentimental optimism but a humble acknowledgment that, even in the darkest night, God’s covenant mercy persists.

Jeremiah’s testimony calls us into a faith that does not dismiss sorrow but is rooted in the unchanging nature of God. Though our afflictions, like his, may be many, God's mercies are even greater. We see that through repentance and hope, we do not rely on our fragile circumstances but on the Lord our Redeemer, who remains faithful to His promises.

How Does Jesus Relate to Jeremiah

When we sit at our kitchen tables, our desks, our favorite reading chair, and study a book like Jeremiah or Lamentations, we are affected by what Jeremiah says. If we approach such scripture in prayer, as we should, we begin to see the warnings weigh heavily on our conscience. Disobedience and idolatry may make us think about what we put before God. The foretelling of impending judgment may make us fear what might happen to us if we continue to disobey the commandments of “Love God with all your heart, mind, and soul; and to love our neighbor as ourselves.” Jeremiah is relatable to the sinner, of which we are all considered.

Jesus, too, relates to Jeremiah in profound ways through the themes of suffering, lament, and hope, grounded in God’s faithfulness, as seen in Lamentations 1:1-6 and 3:19-26. Jesus understands Jeremiah differently from us because he, too, knew that God’s people had become idolatrous. He understood the consequences of such behavior and knew what needed to happen for the sake of the world, not just Judah.

2D, 3D, A Well-Rounded Character

In our modern world, we often fall prey to believing that everything is black and white —good and evil, right or left, this or that —when, in fact, all things are far more nuanced. This is perpetuated by our media, including books, TV, Movies, and social media, and it bleeds into other aspects, such as politics. Some, not all, people desire things to be this way because it makes it easy for them. Sherlock Holmes is the good guy, and Moriarty is the bad guy, the cowboy in the white hat vs. the cowboy in the black hat. Understanding the world in black and white is easy, and we tend to prefer simplicity. However, we suffer a real loss of understanding when we allow such simplistic notions to enter our theology —the study of God.

Such two-dimensional thinking renders Jesus a two-dimensional character in the gospel, rather than a fully fleshed-out person with a complex personality, a rich background, and nuanced motivations. In other words, we see Jesus, especially on the cross, only as God’s tool, not as a man who “wept tears of blood” while praying for God’s people (Luke 22:44). Christ understood the assignment. He understood everything that brought him to that point. His anguish was amplified by his understanding of the betrayals, false accusations, and the torturous death that awaited him, as well as the awareness of how many souls would be lost despite his sacrifice. Jesus understood the complexity of Jeremiah, and the prophet had a profound influence on him.

The Suffering Prophet vs. The Suffering Servant:

Jeremiah is known as the “weeping prophet” because he faithfully witnessed God’s judgment and sorrow over Jerusalem’s unfaithfulness. He experienced deep grief and alienation because of his people's sins. Similarly, Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of the “suffering servant” (Isaiah 53), who took upon Himself the sins and sorrows of the world by bearing the judgment we deserved.

Jeremiah’s laments express deep anguish and a plea to God amid judgment and destruction. Jesus, especially in Gethsemane and on the cross—expressed the fullest human lament, even crying out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). Both show that true faith does not deny suffering but honestly brings it to God.

Despite Jeremiah’s sorrow, he holds onto the steadfast love and mercies of God, “new every morning” (Lam. 3:22-23). Jesus embodies this ultimate hope: through His resurrection, He secures new mercies, restoration, and eternal life for His people. While Jeremiah could only hope for restoration, Jesus makes it happen once and for all.

Jeremiah mourns the destruction of Jerusalem, God’s earthly city. Jesus, however, inaugurates the New Jerusalem—the spiritual city and covenant community where God dwells permanently with His people (Revelation 21). In Him, the desolation Jeremiah mourned is transformed into eternal joy.

Conclusions:

Therefore, studying Jesus as a fully three-dimensional figure—real, complex, and deeply human—enriches our understanding not only of the gospel story but also of God’s very heart for His people. When we view Jesus simply as a means to an end, we risk reducing Him to a distant symbol, missing the depth of His compassion, integrity, and relational invitation. By exploring the fullness of Jesus’s life, emotions, and actions, we uncover a Savior who both embodies and transforms the lament and longing of Jeremiah. In knowing Him as prophet, priest, and king, and as the One who weeps, heals, and reigns, our faith is deepened, and our relationship with God becomes more genuine, personal, and transformative.

I will leave you with this to reflect upon yourselves, and may you find peace in the dynamic self of Jesus.

Bibliography

Meeks, Wayne A., et al., The Harper Collins Study Bible, New Revised Standard Version with the Apocryphal and Deuterocanonical Books. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1993.

"NRSVue." Holy Bible With Deuterocanonical/Apocryphal Books of the Old Testament. Washington: Zondervan, 2021.