Embodying the Prophets

Dr. Walter Brueggemann

Last weekend, I had to opportunity to see Dr. Walter Brueggemann present at The Justice Conference. We read one of his books in my Old Testament Prophets class at Notre Dame, one of his most famous works, The Prophetic Imagination. Hearing him speak brought all the memories and themes of my Prophets class back like a flash flood. I was overwhelmed by how passionate and articulate (not to mention charming and good-natured) he was. He also elegantly connected the message of the Prophets to the message and person of Jesus. Further, he found clear ways to apply that message to our lives, both as a society and as individuals.

For now, I really just want to report on some of the insights he shared with that room of 2000, mostly Evangelical Christian, people.

First, he dove into 5 words in the book of Hosea God uses to describe his love for his people. Steadfast love, righteousness, justice, compassion and self-giving love. These words are all rough synonyms for the kind of fidelity God pleges to Israel, comparing himself to a spouse.

He emphasized that God's love is described as a 'gut-wrenching' kind of love in both Hebrew and Greek. It made me remember that the word for compassion used in the Magnificat in Luke is related to the word for entrails. For God, love is visceral, intense. It requires a response.

His response? Jesus. I was so taken with the way Brueggemann described Jesus as the literal embodiment of God's love and promises made in the prophets. He drove his point home by reminding us of one of John the Baptist's communications with Jesus: "Are you the one who was to come...?" His followers asked Jesus. Brueggemann noted that Jesus, rather than giving a straight answer, he describes what he's seeing: "The blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear... the poor have Good News proclaimed to them."

Brueggemann's idea is that Jesus wasn't just being enigmatic, but that he was saying, "Look, I don't know any better than you, but wherever I go, the stuff the prophets said comes true." Jesus knew that gut-wrenching compassion and he couldn't help but do something about it! He became a radical conduit of love and healing for the world.

The conclusion? We must seek to love in a visceral, gut-wrenching way, like Jesus did by His own nature. Such love will always prompt action, will always lead us to heal and to proclaim good news. It is our response to God's gift of fidelity to us.