Christ in Jeremiah
Bro Nicolas Tan · Jeremiah 23:5–6 · 1 November 2026
"Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, that I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; a King shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth." — Jeremiah 23:5
Not Just Judgment — Hope
The book of Jeremiah is often remembered as the voice of a weeping prophet calling out to a nation refusing to listen. There is much judgment in these pages. There is much sorrow. But Jeremiah is also one of the most hope-filled books in all the Old Testament.
In the very middle of the collapse of a kingdom, God gave His people three of the greatest promises in the whole Bible: the promise of a righteous King, the promise of a new covenant, and the promise of forgiveness of sins. And all three of these promises would one day be fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ.
Three pillars rise out of Jeremiah's prophecy — and each one points us straight to Jesus.
1. The Coming of the King
Look carefully at what God spoke through Jeremiah:
"Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, that I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; a King shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely; now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS." (Jeremiah 23:5–6)
A righteous Branch from David's line. A King who would rule wisely. A ruler who would do what was right.
Why did this matter so deeply? Because many kings in the Old Testament had failed. Rulers are meant to protect, to guide, to shepherd — but instead of guiding God's people, so many of Israel's kings led them astray. The people were tired of looking up to a throne and finding corruption, idolatry, and injustice sitting on it.
But this coming King would be different. Who is this King? Luke tells us plainly, in the words spoken by the angel to Mary:
"He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end." (Luke 1:32–33)
Jeremiah prophesied Him. Luke announced His birth. Jesus is the promised King from David's descendant. And unlike every earthly king who came before Him, His kingdom is not shaken, not corrupted, not ended. It is everlasting.
A Kingdom Not of This World
When Jesus stood before Pilate — moments away from being handed over to be crucified — He said something that still stops us today:
"My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here." (John 18:36)
This King does not rule by military might. He does not fight for position. He does not seize power. His kingdom operates on an entirely different plane — a kingdom of truth, righteousness, and the salvation of souls.
Submitting to His Authority
Knowing Jesus is our King changes how we live. We must submit to His authority — even when the path He asks us to walk is hard, even when obedience costs us something. Jesus Himself asked a question that cuts to the heart:
"But why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do the things which I say?" (Luke 6:46)
It is not enough to say the right words. If He truly is our King, our lives — our obedience — must match the title we give Him.
2. A New Covenant
The second great promise in Jeremiah is the promise of a new covenant. And this is a passage worth reading in full, because every word matters:
"Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah — not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more." (Jeremiah 31:31–34)
Count the promises hidden in those four verses. A new covenant. The law written on hearts, not just on stone. A God who claims His people. A people who know Him personally. And a complete, final forgiveness of sin.
The Old Covenant Broken
Under Moses, God had given Israel a law to guide them. But as time went on, the people repeatedly broke that covenant. They disobeyed. They turned to idols. They forgot the God who had led them out of Egypt by the hand. The old covenant was not faulty — the people were. And so God promised something new.
Jesus Established the New Covenant
The night before He died, Jesus took the cup at the Last Supper and said something that would have made every faithful Jew at the table remember Jeremiah:
"And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, 'This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.' Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.'" (Luke 22:19–20)
Jeremiah promised a new covenant. In Luke 22, Jesus established it — in His own blood. The blood of Jesus is not merely a symbol of physical suffering. It is the blood of the covenant — the means by which reconciliation and forgiveness come to every soul who will come to Him.
A Better Covenant
The writer of Hebrews later quoted Jeremiah's prophecy in full to prove that the new covenant Jesus established is better than the old:
"But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises… 'I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people… For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.' In that He says, 'A new covenant,' He has made the first obsolete." (Hebrews 8:6, 10, 12–13)
Jesus is the mediator of a better covenant. And this is why it matters so deeply for every one of us to understand the difference between the Old Testament and the New.
We Are Not Under the Law of Moses
The law of Moses was given to Israel for a specific time and purpose. We live under the new covenant established by Jesus Himself. Paul could not have said this more clearly:
"having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross." (Colossians 2:14)
"Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor." (Galatians 3:24–25)
Christians are not under the law of Moses. We are under the law of Christ. This does not mean the Old Testament is unimportant — far from it. The Old Testament shows us God's character, teaches us how He deals with His people, and holds many principles that still apply. But for how we are to be baptised, how we are to worship, how we are to live as the people of God — we look to the New Testament.
Worship Under the New Covenant
Here is the heart of Jeremiah's new covenant promise:
"I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts." (Jeremiah 31:33)
God does not want cold compliance. He wants a people who know Him and sincerely follow Him from the inside out. And this is precisely what Jesus asked of His disciples:
"If you love Me, keep My commandments." (John 14:15)
God wants His word to shape our life — our attitudes, our choices, our behaviour. Not written on tablets of stone outside of us — written on the tablet of the heart within us.
3. The Forgiveness of Sins
The third great promise of Jeremiah is perhaps the most tender of all:
"For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more." (Jeremiah 31:34)
Forgiveness and restoration. God Himself promising to put the sins of His people out of His memory forever. And how was this promise accomplished? In the blood of Jesus. Hear His own words at the Last Supper:
"For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." (Matthew 26:28)
And Paul anchors it beautifully:
"In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace." (Ephesians 1:7)
Jeremiah promised the forgiveness. Jesus achieved it. Paul declared it. It is ours — through His blood.
Why Was His Death Necessary?
Some may ask — why did someone have to die? Why couldn't God simply forgive?
Because sin separates humanity from God. It damages every relationship — most of all, our relationship with Him. And no matter how determined we may be to remove this sin on our own, we cannot do it. We do not have the power. Jesus is the only way.
Forgiveness and Reconciliation Are Two Different Things
And here is a tender point to pause on. Being forgiven and being reconciled are not the same.
If someone has deeply hurt us — truly disappointed us — We may try to forgive them. But we may still not want to be around them. We may still try to avoid them. Forgiveness is one thing. Reconciliation is another, and reconciliation is harder.
The standard that Jesus holds up before us is very high — not just to forgive, but to come down to a place where we are able to be reconciled. We are to forgive the way God forgives us. We are to pursue reconciliation the way Christ pursued reconciliation with us.
Responding to the Gospel
So what must we do with all of this? Peter answered that question for the very first group of people who ever heard the gospel after the resurrection:
"Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:36–38)
They were cut to the heart. They had rejected Jesus. They were troubled by what they had done. And when they asked, "What shall we do?" — Peter did not give them a vague answer. He gave them the clearest instruction in the New Testament. Repent. Be baptised. In the name of Jesus Christ. For the remission of sins.
This is how we respond to the gospel. This is how the new covenant promised through Jeremiah is entered — through faith, repentance, and baptism into Christ.
One Final Lesson — From Jeremiah's Own Life
Before we close, one more lesson from Jeremiah himself.
In today's world, many of us do not experience the kind of hardship Jeremiah faced. He lived a tough life — a very tough life. In the Old Testament, you see person after person turn away from God, and Jeremiah stood in the middle of it, often alone, often weeping, often rejected by his own people. And yet God used him to reveal the greatest promises of what was coming.
Through Jeremiah's hardship, God revealed:
The coming of the King who would reign in righteousness forever.
The new covenant that would write God's law on human hearts.
The forgiveness of sins that would be remembered no more.
And the most important truth of all — the salvation that God offered through Jeremiah's words then is the very same salvation offered to us today. It has not changed. It has not aged. It has not grown weak. Through the blood of Jesus Christ, the promises Jeremiah spoke so long ago are available to every soul who will come.
Take This Home
Three promises. One Saviour. One response.
Will you receive the King whose kingdom will never end?
Will you enter the new covenant by faith, repentance, and baptism — and let His law be written on your heart?
Will you accept the forgiveness that cost His blood to purchase — and then, as a forgiven person, go out and extend that same forgiveness and reconciliation to others?
Jeremiah wept over a people who would not hear. May that not be said of us. The greatest promises God ever made are not locked away in an ancient book — they are extended to you today, in Jesus Christ.
Come to the King. Come under the new covenant. Come and be forgiven. And then — live like someone who has been.
