BIBLE LESSON

“No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,’ declares the LORD. ‘For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.’”

— Jeremiah 31:34 Jeremiah foretold the time that began when the LORD established a new covenant by sending Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, into the world. Unlike the old covenant, in the new covenant Jesus revealed the grace and the truth of God (see John 1:1417). Toward the end of His ministry, Jesus told His disciples, “If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him” (John 14:7). When Philip replied that they wanted to see God the Father and that would be enough for them, Jesus answered, “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” (John 14:9). The Gospels and the Book of Acts show how people from the least to the greatest came to know God through the disciples teaching about Jesus, but not everyone in the world knows the LORD yet. When God made the new covenant, Jesus died, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven to sit at God’s right hand. By doing so, He made possible God’s just forgiveness of all who would believe in Him (see John 3:16). The Letter to the Hebrews teaches that Jesus is the High Priest in heaven; therefore, believers in Him have assurance that God will forgive and forget their sins as Jeremiah prophesied (see Hebrews 8).