Four significant connections are to be noted. Jesus felt compelled, as Jeremiah had done, to prophesy the destruction of the Temple of his day. Jesus quoted the saying of Jeremiah 7: 11, combining it with Isaiah 56: 7: 'My Temple will be called a house of prayer for the people of all nations. But you have turned it into a hideoutforthieves!' (Mark 11: 17). Jesus identified himself with Jeremiah's teaching that only in God is true security to be found. Without the inner faith and commitment, all the outward structures and practices of religion are useless.

The prophecy of the new covenant, Jeremiah 31:31-34, has already been discussed. We may note that as well as the references made to the new covenant in the Gospels and 1 Corinthians 11, it is referred to in Hebrews 8: 8-12 and 10: 16-18, and 2 Corinthians 3 :5-6. Paul's writing indicates that he was influenced by the book of Jeremiah, particularly with reference to the new covenant. We have also noted the parallel between Jeremiah and Jesus when each was rejected by his own home village. Jeremiah 11: 18-19 points towards Luke 4: 16-30.

Matthew 16: 13-14 records that Jesus was being compared to Jeremiah by some of the people of his time, and we can see some significant parallels. Each was rejected by his home village. Each was opposed by the leaders of his day. The Temple in Jerusalem was important in the ministry of each. Both sorrowed over his people's resistance to God, and both suffered.

But we also notice one significant difference between them. In his suffering, Jeremiah cried out to God to take revenge on his enemies. On the cross during his crucifixion, Jesus said, 'Father, forgive them! They don't know what they are doing' (Luke 23: 34). In the teaching of Jesus and the preaching of Jeremiah spiritual significance was revealed in very ordinary things.