“Cursed is the man who trusts in human beings, who seeks his strength in flesh, whose heart turns away from the Lord! …… Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose hope is the Lord.” (Jeremiah 17:5,7)

Prophet Jeremiah said this passage to the Jewish people who at that time had been exiled as slaves to Babylon. Their country had been defeated. Families broke apart. Jeremiah was also coerced to flee to Egypt. The demise of Judah was actually the consequences of the corruption of the Jewish people in every aspect regarding to their religious, social and moral life.

Jeremiah had also prophesied that Messiah would come from the family of King David (raise up for David a just shoot). The Saviour would establish a new covenant for all people’s salvation and an eternal messianic kingship. (Jeremiah 31-33)

The birth of Jesus Christ of Nazareth was a fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecy.

The Beatitudes which Jesus proclaimed coincided with what Jeremiah had announced. “Blessed are you who are poor, who are now hungry, who are now weeping, when people hate you, when they exclude and insult you, and denounce your name as evil.” (Luke 6:20-22) It is only when one’s mind having been purified and refined, that he will rely totally on God and walk towards Him.
It is seemingly contrasted yet based on the same philosophy. When one is over conceited, fond of and indulged in carnal pleasures, he will be vulnerable to abandon and denounce God. Thence, it is mortal.