The readings trace a single golden thread from eternity past into time and forward into everlasting joy. What Jeremiah glimpsed in prophetic vision, what Paul proclaimed as mystery revealed, John declares accomplished in flesh and blood: God’s eternal purpose to gather a people for Himself, chosen before the foundation of the world.

The Remnant Gathered (Jeremiah 31:7-14)

Jeremiah speaks to a scattered people. Israel has known exile, loss, and the bitter consequences of covenant unfaithfulness. Yet God announces restoration: “He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock” (Jeremiah 31:10).

Notice the certainty of divine action. God does not merely hope to gather; He will gather. The blind and the lame, the expectant mother and she who is in labor. None are excluded from this homecoming. Their weeping will be turned to joy, their mourning to gladness, their sorrow to satisfaction (Jeremiah 31:13).

This is not wishful thinking but covenant promise. The God who chose Jacob, who renamed him Israel, who preserved a remnant through every disaster, declares that His purposes cannot fail. The prophet glimpses what Paul will later explain: this gathering was always the plan.

Chosen Before Creation (Ephesians 1:3-14)

Paul pulls back the curtain on eternity. Before God spoke light into darkness, before He formed Adam from dust, He had already chosen a people in Christ “before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him” (Ephesians 1:4).

This is the doctrine of election that our Lutheran traditions confess; The Formula of Concord affirms that election is “a cause which procures, works, helps, and promotes our salvation” (FC SD XI:8). God’s choice is not a response to foreseen faith but its very cause.

The comfort here is immense. Our salvation does not rest on the shifting sands of human decision but on divine decree, sealed with the Holy Spirit “who is the guarantee of our inheritance” (Ephesians 1:14). What God has purposed, He will accomplish. The destiny of His chosen people was settled outside of time itself, before creation’s clock began ticking.

And the purpose of it all? “To the praise of his glorious grace” (Ephesians 1:6). Three times Paul repeats this refrain. Election exists not for our boasting but for God’s glory.

The Word Made Flesh (John 1:1-18)

John reveals how this eternal purpose entered history. The Word who was with God and was God “became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). The One through whom all things were made descended into His own creation.

Here is the fulfillment of Jeremiah’s promise and the execution of Paul’s mystery. Christ is the gathering point of God’s scattered people. In Him, the eternal decree becomes embodied reality. The light shines in the darkness, and though the world did not recognize Him, “to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12).

From the Father’s eternal counsel, through the Son’s incarnation, by the Spirit’s sealing, one God works one salvation for one people, to His eternal glory. Our trials are real, but they are not final. The One who chose us before time will bring us safely home for his glory alone.

Jeremy Miller

Church Elder