Jeremiah 1:8

(Vers. 7, 8.) And the Lord said to me: Do not say, I am a boy, for you shall go to all whom I shall send you, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of their faces: for I am with you to deliver you, saith the Lord. Do not consider your age, says he; for by another prophet speaking, you have learned: The wisdom of a man is in his gray hairs (Wis.

Someone of those who hear will say to me: Exercise the other argument as well, and try to present all the things written as fitting the Savior. Concerning the second matters, do not be anxious; for it is evident that the Savior rooted out the kingdoms of the devil and pulled down the nations, having destroyed the heathen life. Here, in what seems ill-omened as regards the Savior, exercise the argument somehow, how the Savior can say: "I do not know how to speak, for I am young," and what follows. Do you see that the argument is hard pressed? We know the Savior as Lord. We seek, according to the worth of the passage and according to the truth, to refer these things to the Savior. We must take the Scriptures as witnesses; for our undertakings are without witnesses, and expositions without witnesses are untrustworthy. And "By the mouth of two and three witnesses shall every word stand" fits the case of expositions rather than of human beings, so that I may establish the words of the interpretation by taking two witnesses from the New and Old Testament, and by taking three witnesses from the gospel, from a prophet, from an apostle; for thus shall every word stand. How, then, are we able to refer these things to the Savior? […]

"And I said: O You who are, Master, Lord, behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am young. And the Lord said to me: Do not say that I am young, for to all to whom I shall send you, you shall go." We have often said that it is possible to be a child according to the inner man, even though one be in the aged stage of the body; and it is possible sometimes to be a child according to the outer man, but according to the inner a man. Such was Jeremiah, already having the grace from God while still being in the childhood stage as regards the body. Therefore the Lord says to him: "Do not say that I am young." And a sign that he is not young, but "a perfect man," is the "to all to whom I shall send you, you shall go, and according to all that I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid before their face." The Word of God knows that those who serve as ambassadors of the Word are in danger among their hearers; for, being convicted, men hate them, being rebuked, they persecute them. The prophets suffer anything whatsoever: "A prophet is not without honor except in his own homeland and in his own house," which we also mentioned recently. God knows, then, when He sends the prophet, how many dangers he will take upon himself, and He says to him: "Do not be afraid before their face, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord." The things Jeremiah suffered are recorded: he was cast into a pit of mire, he remained there "eating one loaf a day" and drinking only water, and countless other things which his prophecy has made clear that he suffered. "Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute?" is said to the Jews. […]

We are not ignorant that some refer these things, as being too great for Jeremiah, to our Savior and Lord; and one must know that most of them are in accord with Him and can be referred to the Savior, which I will set forth; but a few of the things said to Jeremiah press hard upon the argument, being unable, as they can with respect to the many, to be fitted to the Savior. What, then, are the things that fit the Savior? "To all to whom I shall send you, you shall go, and according to all that I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid before their face, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord." These would not yet seem to be referred to the Savior; but what follows—"and the Lord stretched out His hand to me and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me: Behold, I have given my words into your mouth. Behold, I have set you this day over nations and kingdoms, to root out and to pull down"—presses hard upon the interpretation concerning Jeremiah. What nations did Jeremiah root out, what kingdoms did he overthrow? For it is written: "Behold, I have set you this day over nations and kingdoms, to root out and to pull down." And what authority did Jeremiah have "to destroy," which is said as if to Jeremiah in the phrase "and to destroy"? And how many so great did Jeremiah build up, that it should be said "and to build"? Jeremiah says: "I have not benefited, nor has anyone benefited me." How then has "to build and to plant" been given to him? How will "to plant" fit Jeremiah? These things, referred to the Savior, do not press hard upon the interpreter, since Jeremiah in these matters is a symbol of the Savior. […]

You should not consider the matter of age, he said, for you have learned through another prophet's words that "a man's gray hair is his wisdom." May you only be willing to continue, for you will have me as a companion by whose assistance you will accomplish everything: "Open your mouth, and I will fill it." Neither should you consider the number of those against whom you are about to speak, but consider me only, who is with you to deliver you, says the Lord. The Lord delivers, however, not so that the prophet will be free of persecutions and difficulties, for we read that he was severely afflicted. Instead, the Lord liberates one who suffers everything to overcome these tribulations rather than yielding to them.