Amos 9:11-15

The Restoration of David's Kingdom (Cp Acts 15.16-17)

11 On that day I will raise up

the booth of David that is fallen,

and repair its breaches,

and raise up its ruins,

and rebuild it as in the days of old;

12 in order that they may possess the remnant of Edom

and all the nations who are called by my name,

says the LORD who does this.

13 The time is surely coming, says the LORD,

when the one who plows shall overtake the one who reaps,

and the treader of grapes the one who sows the seed;

the mountains shall drip sweet wine,

and all the hills shall flow with it.

14 I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel,

and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them;

they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine,

and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.

15 I will plant them upon their land,

and they shall never again be plucked up

out of the land that I have given them,

says the LORD your God. (Amos 9:11-15, NRSV)

The following comments are repeated here with editing and supplement from December 11, 2005 (the Third Sunday of Advent, Year Two):

Amos concludes his book by announcing the restoration of David's kingdom, which anticipates the end of David’s dynasty: “On that day I will raise up / the booth of David that is fallen, / and repair its breaches, / and raise up its ruins, / and rebuild it as in the days of old” (Amos 9:11). Amos prophesied during the reign of Uzziah (Amos 1:1) in the eighth century B.C. (783-742 B.C., NOAB, 2^nd ed., p. OT 339), some two centuries before the fall of Jerusalem (587/586 B.C.) The date of Amos’ prophecies is dated “two years before the earthquake,” which “cannot be precisely dated” ( R. Lansing Hicks and Walter Bruggemann, NOAB, 2^nd ed., on Amos 1:1); though some have suggested an approximate date of 761 B.C.). Amos himself must have looked forward beyond the judgments he was announcing to a time of restoration. Perhaps a later editor made it specific to Judah at a time when the northern kingdom was no more. The purpose of this restoration, says Amos’s oracle, was “in order that they may possess the remnant of Edom / and all the nations who are called by my name, / says the LORD who does this” (v. 12). According to Gregory Mobley, “Edom was a traditional rival of Judah, not Israel” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., on Amos 9:12).

The LORD, speaking through Amos, says that normal agricultural activity will resume. “The time is surely coming, says the LORD, / when the one who plows shall overtake the one who reaps, / and the treader of grapes the one who sows the seed; / the mountains shall drip sweet wine, / and all the hills shall flow with it” (v. 13). The promise is that Israel’s fortunes will be restored: “and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them” (v. 14a, b). The restoration of agriculture, “they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, / and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit” (v. 14c, d), becomes a metaphor for the restoration of the nation itself. “I will plant them upon their land, / and they shall never again be plucked up / out of the land that I have given them, / says the LORD your God” (v. 15).

2 Thessalonians 2:1-3, 13-17

2:1 As to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we beg you, brothers and sisters, 2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as though from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here. 3 Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the lawless one is revealed, the one destined for destruction. (2 Thessalonians 1:1-3, NRSV)

13 But we must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the first fruits for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and through belief in the truth. 14 For this purpose he called you through our proclamation of the good news, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by our letter.

16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and through grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, 17 comfort your hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word (2 Thessalonians 2:13-17, NRSV)

The following comments are based on those of December 11, 2005 (the Third Sunday of Advent, Year Two), and comments on 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 selected from comments on 2:1-17 from May 19, 2006 (Friday in the week of the Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year Two):

Paul has previously told the Thessalonian believers about the Lord’s coming. “For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever” (1 Thess. 4:16-17). He added an implicit warning to be ready, “For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night” (1 Thess. 5:2). In today’s passage from Second Thessalonians, he returns to the subject with a clarification. “As to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him,” he says, “we beg you, brothers and sisters, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as though from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here” (2 Thess. 2:1-2). He seeks to correct some false information falsely attributed to him by others, and at the end of the letter, certifies it as his own. “I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. This is the mark in every letter of mine; it is the way I write” (3:17). According to Abraham Smith, “False claims about the end-time were not uncommon, as the Synoptic tradition attests (Mk. 13:5-6; Mt. 24:4-5; Lk. 21:8)” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., on 2 Thess. 2:2). Paul offers a clarification that seeks to correct a misunderstanding of his teaching in 1 Thessalonians. “Let no one deceive you in any way,” he says, “for that day [i.e., the day of the Lord, v. 2] will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the lawless one is revealed, the one destined for destruction” (v. 3). According to Smith, “the identity of the lawless one is unknown, [but] some identify him as a false prophet or an emperor” (on v. 3). While some believe they see contradictory “eschatological timetables” implied for these two passages, it is likely that Second Epistle offers a clarification of the First. Paul had to leave Thessalonica early, ahead of persecution (Acts 17:10-15). First Thessalonians was written soon after, very likely within weeks of his departure. So, in a sense, both Epistles may be seen as clarification of misunderstandings at Thessalonica.

After a brief comparison of 1 Thessalonians and 2 Thessalonians, Beverly Roberts Gaventa asks a question: “How do we account for this curious combination of similarities in the structure and language of these letters, on the one hand, and the differences in content and tone, on the other?” (First and Second Thessalonians, Interpretation, 1998, p. 93 in the Introduction to 2 Thess.). For a discussion of some of these issues as related to 2 Thessalonians, chapter 1, see comments in the archive for May 18, 2006 (Thursday in the week of the Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year Two). But the issue comes to the fore in chapter 2. Gaventa admits that she belongs to “an increasing number of scholars, myself included [she says, who] find themselves unable to reconcile 2 Thessalonians with 1 Thessalonians and, indeed, with the remainder of the Pauline letter corpus” (Ibid.).

Paul J. Achtemeier, Joel B. Green and Marianne Meye Thompson respond to those who find the teaching about the second coming of Christ in Second Thessalonians so different from that of First Thessalonians that they must be from different authors by admitting that “The signs that will precede Christ’s second coming named in 2 Thess. 2:1-12 are nowhere else mentioned by Paul, and the fact that such observable events seem to contradict Paul’s claim in the first letter that there would be no such signs (1 Thess. 54:2) may point to someone other than Paul as author” (Introducing the New Testament, 2001, p. 443). But they add:

Yet both ideas–observable events preceding the coming of the Messiah and the suddenness of the events–are held in apocalyptic Judaism, which influenced Paul and other early Christians in these matters. Paul is apparently reminding his readers of what he told them when he was with them (2:5). Also to be noted are the different situations addressed. In the first letter the problem is potential despair over the long delay in Christ’s return; in the second letter the problem is anxiety about the fact that Christ may already have returned. The two problems require different solutions. (pp. 443-444).

The “anxiety about the fact that Christ may already have returned” is indicated in Paul’s instruction “not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as though from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here” (2 Thess. 2:2). It seems that someone else has written a letter pretending to be from Paul but misrepresenting his teaching, which leads him to authenticate this letter (2 Thess. 3:17).

In the interval in today’s reading (2 Thess. 2:4-12), Paul elaborates on his reference to “the lawless one” (v. 3). He exalts himself above even God (v. 4), but he will not appear until “the mystery of lawlessness,” which is “already at work” is removed (v. 7). When this restraint upon the lawless one (cf. v. 6) is removed, and only then, “the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will destroy with the breath of his mouth, annihilating him by the manifestation of his coming” (v. 8). According to Smith, “the person or thing restraining the lawless one is also debated, though perhaps the purpose for mentioning both is to show that certain events must occur first before the day of the Lord occurs” (on vv. 6-7). The coming of the lawless one is related to “the working of Satan,” with “all power, signs, lying wonders, and wicked deception” (vv. 9, 10a), deception, that is, “for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved” (v. 10b). In the end, says, Paul, it is “God [who] sends them a powerful delusion, leading them to believe what is false, so that all who have not believed the truth but took pleasure in unrighteousness will be condemned” (vv. 11-12).

The remainder of the chapter gives thanks for the Thessalonian believers, chosen by God “as the first fruits for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and through belief in the truth” (v. 13). “For this purpose he [God] called you through our proclamation of the good news,” says Paul to the Thessalonians, “so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 14). And he exhorts them to “stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by our letter” (v. 15), and so, to ignore the deception of those who would contradict him (cf. v. 2). The chapter closes with a prayer: “Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and through grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, comfort your hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word” (vv. 16-17). “The wish prayer (cf. 1:11-12),” says Smith, “introduces ideas that develop in subsequent parts of the letter, noting God’s role in strengthening the community (2:17; cf. 3:3) and a concern about ‘work’ (2:17; cf. 3:8-12” (on vv. 16-17).

John 5:30-47

30 "I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just, because I seek to do not my own will but the will of him who sent me.

31 "If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. 32 There is another who testifies on my behalf, and I know that his testimony to me is true. 33 You sent messengers to John, and he testified to the truth. 34 Not that I accept such human testimony, but I say these things so that you may be saved. 35 He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. 36 But I have a testimony greater than John's. The works that the Father has given me to complete, the very works that I am doing, testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me. 37 And the Father who sent me has himself testified on my behalf. You have never heard his voice or seen his form, 38 and you do not have his word abiding in you, because you do not believe him whom he has sent.

39 "You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf. 40 Yet you refuse to come to me to have life. 41 I do not accept glory from human beings. 42 But I know that you do not have the love of God in you. 43 I have come in my Father's name, and you do not accept me; if another comes in his own name, you will accept him. 44 How can you believe when you accept glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the one who alone is God? 45 Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; your accuser is Moses, on whom you have set your hope. 46 If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. 47 But if you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?" (John 5:30-47, NRSV)

On August 19, 2007 (the Sunday closest to August 17, Year One), the following comments were combined with revision and adaptation from December 20, 2004 (Monday in the week of the Fourth Sunday of Advent, Year One), from December 11, 2005 (the Third Sunday of Advent, Year Two), from August 22, 2006 (Tuesday in the week of the Sunday closest to August 17, Year Two), when comments were repeated from February 25, 2005 (Friday in the week of the Second Sunday of Lent, Year One), and from January 26, 2006 (Thursday in the week of the Third Sunday after the Epiphany, Year Two). The combined comments are repeated here:

This debate with “the Jews” (i.e. Jewish leaders) was occasioned by Jesus’ healing of the lame man at the pool of Bethzatha (Jn. 5:2-9). He is challenged by those who “were seeking all the more to kill him, because he was not only breaking the sabbath, but was also calling God his own Father, thereby making himself equal to God” (Jn. 5:18). Jesus describes his relation to God (vv. 19-29), including “identity of his will and actions with the Father’s” (Donald G. Miller and Bruce M. Metzger, NOAB, 2^nd ed., on vv. 19-20) and the ability of both to give life (vv. 21-22), which includes eternal life (v. 24) and resurrection (vv. 25, 29). So, at first the issue was the healing on the sabbath (vv. 9-10, 16), but Jesus’ assertion, “My Father is still working, and I also am working” (v. 17), introduced the issue of his identity. (The debate will continue on similar terms through chapters 5, 7-10.)

Jesus asserts that he does “the will of him who sent me” (Jn. 5:30). Jesus does not rely on his own testimony (v. 31), but refers to the testimony of John the Baptist (vv. 32-35). But there is “testimony greater than John’s,” that is “the works that the Father has given me to complete,” including the healing of the lame man, which “testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me” (v. 36). With the testimony of “the Father . . .himself” (v. 37a), that amounts to three witnesses, more than the two required by Deuteronomy 19:15 (cf. Deut. 17:6). Jesus challenges the Jews, “You have never heard his voice or seen his form, 38 and you do not have his word abiding in you, because you do not believe him whom he has sent [i.e. Jesus]” (vv. 37b, 38). They “search the scriptures” expecting “eternal life” from them, but the scriptures “testify on my behalf,” that is, on Jesus’ behalf–a fourth witness!–(v. 39). But they refuse to accept Jesus (vv. 40, 43), which means they “do not have the love of God in you [i.e. themselves]” (v. 42). Jesus does not have to accuse them; for Moses, the author of the Torah, accuses them (v. 45). They “do not accept” Jesus, but accept “another [who] comes in his own name” (v. 43); they “accept glory from one another [but] do not seek the glory that comes from the one who alone is God” (v. 44). Jesus’ assertions here anticipate his very powerful statement made to the Jews later: “Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am” (Jn. 8:58; cf. Ex. 3:14).

As though challenged in court, “You are testifying on your own behalf; your testimony is not valid” (cf. Jn. 8:13), Jesus responds with a series of witnesses (noted by Raymond E. Brown, The Gospel according to John I-XII, Anchor Bible 29, 227-228). John the Baptist (Jn. 5:33-35), Jesus’ miracles (v. 36), the testimony of the Father himself (vv. 37-38), the Scriptures (v. 39). But though “these are the witnesses who come forward for Jesus . . . the sad outcome of the trial (vs. 40) is that ‘the Jews’ are not ready to believe in Jesus” (Brown 228). Brown adds in reference to verses 41-47:

What “the Jews” are rejecting is not one sent from God–they willingly accept self-proclaimed messiahs (vs. 43). They are actually rejecting the giving or dedicating of one’s life to God (“love of God” in 42; seeking the glory of God in 44) which is the implicit demand of Jesus’ message. The failure to accept Jesus is really the preference of self.

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The last verses of the discourse (45-47) attack “the Jews” on their most sensitive point. They justify their refusal to believe in Jesus in the name of their loyalty to Moses (ix 29), and yet Moses will condemn them for this failure to believe. In Jewish thought . . . Moses was to intercede before God for Jews; now he will become their prosecutor. (p. 229)

Speaking of several similar encounters of Jesus with others in John’s Gospel, a current textbook says:

On the basis of the witnesses called, every person must pass judgment on Jesus. Each one becomes a judge in a court of law, adjudicating the truthfulness of the testimony borne by the witnesses. But the irony is that in assuming the role of judge and in passing judgment on Jesus, people indirectly pass judgment on themselves. If they deny that Jesus comes from God and makes God known, they reveal their alignment with “the world” rather than with God. . . . The responses of belief and unbelief thus reveal whether a person stands in light or darkness, in the realm of life or the realm of death. . . . Those who do not believe pass the sentence of death on themselves. The tragic irony of the Gospel is that those who seek Jesus’ death unwittingly reject the life that he has offered. (Paul J. Achtemeier, Joel B. Green, Marianne Meye Thompson, Introducing the New Testament, 2001, p. 194)

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net