NOTES for Jer 15:1-21
A prophet is a person who lives on earth, among people, in the midst of events, but at the same time bears the burden of his calling: to speak the Word to people. Sooner or later, therefore, he finds himself in conflict with himself: God is against his compatriots, while he himself is for them, though not with them. He is “a man who quarrels with the whole earth,” yet cannot bear to see the approaching catastrophe destroy that land and its inhabitants. To some extent, this tragedy is inevitable for everyone who allows himself to live by more than earthly interests. In one way or another, God and the world come into conflict, and the human person has to bear this rupture in his heart. Both paths of retreat are closed to him: he cannot merge with the world and forget God and His Word, nor can he rejoice in the “wrath of God,” because he loves those who provoked that wrath. It is a difficult path. But what is the point of taking easy paths?