6 April

Dear friends,

“Look, O Lord, at my affliction,  

for the enemy has triumphed!  

All her people groan  

as they search for bread;  

they trade their treasures for food  

to revive their lives.  

Look, O Lord, and see  

how worthless I have become.”  

These are the lamenting words of the prophet Jeremiah, often called “the weeping prophet,” after the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of his people by Babylon around 597 BC.

This passage is perhaps best known through Rembrandt’s visual depiction of it. In 1630, Rembrandt completed his painting Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem when he was only 24 years old. What makes this painting so striking is Jeremiah’s face as he mourns for his city. Last year, this painting was featured in the Turning Heads exhibition in Antwerp, which focused specifically on tronies – an art genre dedicated to single anonymous heads (the word “tronie” is an old Dutch term for “face”). This seemed unusual because Rembrandt’s painting is neither anonymous nor simply a facial portrait; it features a full-body image, and Jeremiah’s slumped posture communicates as much as his expression.

Nevertheless, the museum displayed it next to a true tronie by Rembrandt. When viewed together, we discover that the anonymous figure shares the same face as Jeremiah. Apparently, the same model was used for both.

I appreciate this idea because it suggests that Rembrandt drew inspiration from the world around him, capturing the suffering faces of ordinary people and incorporating that into Jeremiah’s lament. Something in Jeremiah’s sorrow resonates with all human suffering.

During the week, someone told me, an old resident of Amsterdam, that the city is not what it used to be. The tone of his comment was not one of disdain for his home city, but rather one of lament. He noted that people have become increasingly aggressive, and evidence of violence is becoming more apparent, not only in extreme incidents like stabbings and the burning car on Dam Square but also in everyday interactions among people.

I haven’t lived in the city long enough to form my own judgment. Neither am I suggesting that these recent incidents can be directly compared to the profound lament of Jeremiah witnessing the destruction of his city. However, I do want to take a moment to lament what has happened in our city over the last two weeks. 

Perhaps this is a reminder for me to strive for peace and welcome in every small action I take in our city today. And, as I contemplate Jeremiah's face, I feel a deep compassion for those mourning and suffering in cities around the world.

Marius Louw