3:1 Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:

On December 4, 2007 (Tuesday in the week of the first Sunday of Advent, Year Two), comments were repeated with editing and supplement from November 29, 2005 (Tuesday in the week of the First Sunday of Advent, Year Two); they are repeated again here with editing and supplement.

Readings for today focus on the role of the prophet as the voice, the "trumpet blast" or "lion's roar" of God. In a certain sense, Jesus' cleansing of the temple continues the voice of prophecy which calls the people to account. Peter anticipate his death–or perhaps his followers look back on it–with a concern that the apostolic voice not be forgotten. But Amos, the pioneer among the writing prophets of the Hebrew Bible (cf. comments yesterday), gives voice to the trumpet blast of God (Amos 3:6), the roar of God the lion (v. 8).

“Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you,” says Amos, addressing “O people of Israel,” whom he further describes as “the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt” (3:1; cf. 2:9-11). According to Ehud Ben Zvi, the phrase “hear this word” begins each of “a set of three units” (3:1; 4:1; 5:1). “Thus the phrase serves also to mark the book into subunits, just as the phrase ending the previous chapter, declares the LORD [NJPS 1985, 1999; NRSV ‘says the LORD], typically expresses the end of a subunit” (The Jewish Study Bible, 2004, on Amos 3:1-6:14). He discusses further phrases that subdivide or interconnect subunits, but we continue here with Amos. “You only have I known,” he says, “of all the families of the earth; / therefore I will punish you / for all your iniquities” (3:2). Ben Zvi says that the expression, “the whole family,” is an “inclusive reference to Israel [that] allows and encourages the identification of the readership [including, for Ben Zvi, later Judean readers] with Israel, though, as expected, vv. 9, 12 point to Israel as the Northern Kingdom” (ibid., on Amos 3:1). “The LORD,” he adds, “states that this unique relationship carries obligations and punishment will result if the obligations are not fulfilled” (on v. 2). Gregory Mobley says, “A chosen people are held to a higher standard” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., augmented, 2007, on Amos 3:1-2).

Speaking for the LORD, the prophet resumes the motif ot God the lion’s roar (3:8, cf. 1:2); but he begins with what Ben Zvi “a series of rhetorical questions, invoking cause-and-effects situations [that] serves didactic purposes” (on vv. 3-8). “Do two walk together / unless they have made an appointment?” (v. 3). “Does a lion roar in the forest, / when it has no prey? / Does a young lion cry out from its den, / if it has caught nothing?” (v. 4). The reference to the lion’s “roar” and the young lion’s “cry” invokes the lion’s roar motif directly, but the rhetorical questions continue. “Does a bird fall into a snare on the earth, / when there is no trap for it? / Does a snare spring up from the ground, / when it has taken nothing?” (v. 5). The question about the trumpet reminds us that Amos is still speaking for the LORD. “Is a trumpet blown in a city, / and the people are not afraid?” (v. 6a, b). And he is announcing disaster. “Does disaster befall a city, / unless the LORD has done it?” (v. 6c, d). Amos claims that the Lord GOD has revealed his plans to the prophets, that is, to Amos himself. “Surely the Lord GOD does nothing, / without revealing his secret / to his servants the prophets” (v. 7). And, because “the lion has roared,” Amos asks, “who will not fear?” Since “the Lord GOD has spoken,” he asks, “who can but prophesy?” (v. 8). “The questions,” says Ben Zvi, “lead up to the implicit question, ‘How is it that the prophet warns of the impending doom to be caused by God, but the people do not pay any attention?” (ibid.). According to Mobley, this “series of rhetorical questions, which permit only a single response, build to an inescapable conclusion in v. 8b: The call to prophecy, unsolicited, cannot be resisted (7:14-15). Furthermore, the self-evident truths of vv. 1-8a render the audience susceptible to a truth in 8b it would naturally resist: Amos speaks on behalf of the LORD” (op. cit., on vv. 3-8). J. P. Hyatt labels these verses, “the Prophet’s Authority to speak” (Peake’s Commentary on the Bible, 1962, reprint 1972, on Amos 3:3-8).

Earlier, Amos denounced the neighboring nations as he led up to denouncing Israel. Now he calls upon neighboring nations–Ashdod, that is, Philistia, and Egypt--as witnesses against Israel. “Proclaim to the strongholds in Ashdod, / and to the strongholds in the land of Egypt, / and say, ‘Assemble yourselves on Mount Samaria, / and see what great tumults are within it, / and what oppressions are in its midst’ ” (v. 9). Gene M. Tucker, revised by J. Andrew Dearman, says, “The prophetic voice calls for the Philistines (Ashdod) and the Egyptians to serve as witnesses to Samaria’s corruption” (HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Amos 3:9). “They do not know how to do right, says the LORD, / those who store up violence and robbery in their strongholds” (v. 10). The prophet presents a conclusion. “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: / An adversary shall surround the land, / and strip you of your defense; / and your strongholds shall be plundered” (v. 11). According to Tucker and Dearman, “Yahweh addresses Samaria directly, announcing a military defeat” (ibid., on v. 11).

12 Therefore I intend to keep on reminding you of these things, though you know them already and are established in the truth that has come to you. 13 I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to refresh your memory, 14 since I know that my death will come soon, as indeed our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. 15 And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.

16 For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased." 18 We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain.

19 So we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed. You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, 21 because no prophecy ever came by human will, but men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. (2 Peter 1:12-21, NRSV)

On December 16, 2008 (Tuesday in the week of the Third Sunday of Advent, Year One), comments were repeated from December 4, 2007 (Tuesday in the week of the First Sunday of Advent, Year Two), when comments were repeated from December 19, 2006 (Tuesday in the week of the Third Sunday of Advent, Year One), when comments were combined with revision and adaptation from December 14, 2004, (Tuesday in the week of the Third Sunday of Advent, Year One), and from November 29, 2005 (Tuesday in the week of the First Sunday of Advent, Year Two). Some use was also made of material from an Email message sent December 1, 2003, for ‘December 2, 2003. The combined comments are repeated here with editing and supplement:

Peter, speaking directly, or perhaps through a close follower, reminds his readers of his teaching. “Therefore I intend to keep on reminding you of these things, though you know them already and are established in the truth that has come to you” (2 Pet. 1:12). He refers to the promises and admonitions of the previous paragraph (discussed in yesterday’s comments). “I think it right, as long as I am in this body,” he says, “to refresh your memory, since I know that my death will come soon, as indeed our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me” (vv. 13-14). Peter may be anticipating his imminent death, though some would say a close follower, in the light of his death, wants to pass on his essential teaching. “And I will make every effort,” says the voice of Peter, “so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things” (v. 15). According to Patrick A. Tiller, “The reference to Peter’s death transforms the letter into a kind of testament in which the speaker gives ethical exhortations and warnings about the future based on his own past experience” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., augmented, 2007, on 2 Peter 1:12-15). Richard J. Bauckham says, “Peter’s teaching will be his permanent bequest to the church” (HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on 2 Pet. 1:12-15).

Of the next section, Bauckham says it “replies to the opponents’ charges that the apostles prediction of Christ’s future coming was their own invention (vv. 16-19) and that OT prophecies of it did not come from God (vv. 20-21)” (ibid., on 1:16-21). “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths,” says Peter, “when we made known to you the power and coming (parousiva, parousia) of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty” (v. 16). He refers briefly, as an eyewitness, to the Transfiguration and the voice from heaven, “This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased” (Mt. 17:1-8; Mk. 9:2-8; Lk. 9:28-36), “For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, ‘This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased’ ” (2 Pet. 1:17). “We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven,” he says, “while we were with him on the holy mountain” (v. 18). According to Tiller, “Peter’s presence at the Transfiguration makes him an eyewitness of the voice from heaven, which confirms the apostolic testimony about Christ’s power and coming (Mt. 17:1-8; Mk. 9:2-8; Lk. 9:28-36). The wording of the heavenly voice differs slightly from that in the Gospels. The writer may be relying on oral tradition rather than a written gospel” (op. cit., on vv. 16-18). Through this apostolic witness to the majesty of Christ, prophecy is confirmed.“So we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed,” says Peter (v. 19a). “The prophetic message,” says Bauckham, means “prophecy in general” (ibid., on v. 19). “You will do well,” advises Peter, “to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts” (v. 19b). “The morning star,” says Bauckham, means “Christ at his coming in glory (Num. 24:17; Rev. 22:16)” (ibid.).

The emphasis upon prophecy (v. 19) is characterized as public, not private. “First of all you must understand this,” we are told, “that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation” (v. 20). By “one’s own interpretation,” says Bauckham, is meant “probably not interpretation of scripture by its readers, but the prophets’ interpretation of their visions” (ibid., on v. 20). Peter explains, “because no prophecy ever came by human will, but men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God” (v. 21). G. H. Boobyer says,

In the light of their context, the sense and implication of these much-debated verses seems to be: all scripture is God-given, through the Holy Spirit. Likewise, God alone unfolds its true meaning. He has revealed this to the the apostles. In the case of scriptures relating to Christ’s Parousia, he did so on the Mount of Transfiguration. The apostolic interpretation of these and other passages is therefore to be heeded as authoritative, as against the private interpretations offered by the false teachers. Cf. 1 Pet. 1:10-12; 2 Pet. 3:16. (Peake’s Commentary on the Bible, 1962, reprint 1972, pp. 1032-1033, sec. 902 c)

According to Warren A. Quanbeck and Pheme Perkins, “Since prophecy is inspired by the Spirit, its interpretation must be in accord with God’s intention” (NOAB, 2^nd ed., 1994, on 2 Pet. 1:20-21). Peter speaks here of the Hebrew Bible and its prophetic message about Christ. But later he includes the writings of Paul (2 Pet. 3:15-16) as writings “which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures” (v. 16, my emphasis). Even though “There are some things in them hard to understand” (v. 16), the writer views Paul’s writings as scripture.

12 Then Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who were selling and buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. 13 He said to them, “It is written,

14 The blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he cured them. 15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the amazing things that he did, and heard the children crying out in the temple, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they became angry 16 and said to him, "Do you hear what these are saying?" Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read,

18 In the morning, when he returned to the city, he was hungry. 19 And seeing a fig tree by the side of the road, he went to it and found nothing at all on it but leaves. Then he said to it, "May no fruit ever come from you again!" And the fig tree withered at once. 20 When the disciples saw it, they were amazed, saying, "How did the fig tree wither at once?" 21 Jesus answered them, "Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' it will be done. 22 Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive." (Matthew 21:12-22, NRSV)

On April 5, 2009 (Palm Sunday, Year One), comments on Matthew 21:12-17 were repeated from June 30, 2008 (Monday in the week of the Sunday closest to June 29, Year Two), when comments were repeated from December 4, 2007 (Tuesday in the week of the First Sunday of Advent, Year Two), when comments were repeated from July 3, 2006 (Monday in the week of the Sunday closest to June 29, Year Two), when comments were combined with revision and supplement from June 28, 2004 in an email sent June 28, 2004, for June 28-July 4, and from November 29, 2005 (Tuesday in the week of the First Sunday of Advent, Year Two). The combined comments are repeated again here with editing and supplement:

Parallel versions of Jesus’ Cleansing of the Temple are presented in a table in a separate file, Jesus Cleanses the Temple. For recent comments on the versions of this event in Luke and Mark, see the Archives for March 16 and 17, 2008 (Palm Sunday and Monday of Holy Week, Year Two), Luke 19:41-48 on Sunday, and Mark 11:12-25 on Monday. For recent comments on John’s version, see the Archive for January 19, 2008 (Saturday in the week of the First Sunday of Epiphany, Year Two).

The following table presents a diagram of today’s reading from Matthew and the parallel passages in other Gospels. Note that John’s account of the Cleansing of the Temple comes very early in his narrative (Jn 2:13-25). This difference in John’s sequence of events from that of the other Gospels is discussed in the comments for January 19, 2008, as noted above.

Matthew 21:10-22 and Parallel Passages *
Jesus in Jerusalem (Cleansing the Temple), Return to Bethany
Matthew 21:10-17	Mark 11:11	Luke 19:45-46
The Cursing of the Fig Tree
Matthew 21:18-19	Mark 11:12-14	Luke 13:6-9
The Cleansing of the Temple
Matthew 21:12-13	Mark 11:15-17	Luke 19:45-46	John 2:13-17
The Chief Priests and Scribes Conspire against Jesus
	Mark 11:18-19	Luke 19:47-48	John 11:45-53; 8:1-2
The Fig Tree is Withered
Matthew 21:20-22	Mark 11:20-26		John 14:13-14; 15:7; 16:23
* Based on Kurt Aland, ed., Synopsis of the Four Gospels, 1982, secs. 271-275, pp. 237-240

In the above table, the references in bold, larger type represent passages in a common sequence, so to speak. The other references are for passages with common material but in different contexts.

In Matthew, we are told that when Jesus “entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, ‘Who is this?’ ” (Mt. 21:10). Mark reports his entering Jerusalem and the temple, but not the turmoil or the question (Mk. 11:11a). Matthew presents the crowds answer to the question. They “were saying, ‘This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee’ ” (Mt. 21:11). At this point Mark reports that “when he [i.e., Jesus] had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve” (Mk. 11:11b). “Then Jesus entered the temple,” says Matthew, “and drove out all who were selling and buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves” (Mt. 12:12). Mark reports the same actions (Mk. 11:15b), but only after reporting Jesus’ return from Bethany on the following day (Mk. 11:12), and his cursing the fig tree on the return (Mk. 11:13-14). Luke’s brief report (Lk. 19:45) follows his report of the entry (Lk. 19:28) and Jesus’ weeping over Jerusalem (Lk. 19:41-44). To the report of the cleansing, Mark adds that Jesus “would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple” (Mk. 11:16). John, who apparently places the Cleansing of the Temple at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry (Jn. 2:13-17), arranges his narrative to highlight the raising of Lazarus (Jn. 11:1-44) as the “last straw,” so to speak, which precipitated the Pharisees’ and Chief Priests’ decisive action against him (Jn. 11:46-48).

The three Synoptic Gospels report Jesus’ saying based on quotations from the Hebrew Bible: “My house shall be called a house of prayer” (Mt. 21:13b; Mk. 11:17b, adding “for all the nations”; Lk. 19:46a; cf. Isa. 56:7); “but you are making it a den of robbers” (Mt. 21:13c; Mk. 11:17c with “have made it” = Lk. 19:46b). Matthew reports that “The blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he cured them” (Mt. 21:14). According to Dennis C. Duling, “The blind and the lame were unclean and presumably should not have been in the temple (see Lev. 21:16-20; 2 Sam. 5:8)” (HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Mt. 21:14). “Every day,” says Luke, “he was teaching in the temple” (Lk. 19:47), but neither Mark nor Luke mention healings at this point. But all the Synoptic Evangelists report that the chief priests and scribes (“and the leaders of the people,” Lk.) take note of Jesus’ activities. “But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the amazing things [including the healings] that he did, and heard the children crying out in the temple, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David,’ they became angry” (Mt. 21:15). Mark says, “And when the chief priests and the scribes heard it, they kept looking for a way to kill him; for they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was spellbound by his teaching” (Mk. 11:18; cf. Lk. 19:47b, 48). The words “kept looking” apparently refer to Mk. 3:6, where, after Jesus heals the Man with the withered hand, “The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him” (cf. C. Clifton Black, revised by Adela Yarbro Collins, HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Mk. 11:18). In Matthew, the chief priests and the scribes” (Mt. 21:15) challenge Jesus. “Do you hear what these are saying?” they ask (Mt. 21:16a), in reference to those repeating the triumphal entry acclamation, “Hosanna to the Son of David” (Mt. 21:15, cf. v. 9). Jesus responds with another biblical quotation, “Yes; have you never read, ‘Out of the mouths of infants / and nursing babies / you have prepared praise / for yourself’?” (Mt. 21:16b, citing Ps. 8:3 LXX). And Matthew reports that “He left them, went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there” (Mt. 21:17; cf. Mk. 11:19, for which this is the second departure from Jerusalem for the night, cf. v. 11).

When we compare Gospel accounts, it sometimes seems that Mark has an eye for a variety of details, whereas Matthew tends to focus on what he regards as the main points. After the triumphal entry, both have Jesus enter the temple, then leave to spend the night at Bethany (Mt. 21:17; Mk. 11:11). But at that point Matthew has already told us about Jesus' cleansing of the temple, overturning the money-changers' tables, and so forth (Mt. 21:12-13 [14-16]), whereas these events come later in Mark (11:15-17 [18]), sandwiched between two parts of the Cursing of the Fig Tree (Mk. 11:12-14; Mt. 21:18-19) and its Withering (Mk. 11:20-25; Mt. 21:20-22). In Matthew’s account, the fig tree withers “at once” (Mt. 21:19), whereas in Mark, the cursing of the fig tree is separated from the tree’s withering by the account of the cleansing of the temple (Mk. 11:15-17) and the conspiracy against Jesus (Mk. 11:18-19). It was the morning of the following day as Jesus and the disciples returned to the city when they found “the fig tree withered away to its roots” (Mk. 11:20). This “sandwich pattern,” characteristic of Mark (cf. the healing of the hemorrhaging woman, Mk. 5:25-34, which is sandwiched between the healing of Jairus’s daughter, Mk. 5:21-24, 35-43), emphasizes the point. Those who were conspiring against Jesus are the withered “fig tree” (note that Luke presents a similar thought in another context in the form of the Parable of the Unfruitful Fig Tree (Lk. 13:6-9).

According to Dennis C. Duling, “the only cursing miracle in the Gospels emphasizes the power of faith and foreshadows the coming destruction of Israel (cf. 3:10)” (HarperCollins Study Bible, 2^nd ed., 2006, on Mt. 21:18-22). As such it seems to relate to the point of the Cleansing of the Temple. “You are making it a den of robbers” (v. 12). We might remember that some Jews were also critical of those who controlled the temple. Herodian rulers appointed high priests without regard to succession from Aaron (Josephus). Earlier the successors of Judas Maccabeus had assumed royal titles, though not from the line of David, and also made themselves priests while, though from the tribe of Levi and the family of Matthias the Priest, they were not in the succession of Zadokite priests. The reaction of more pious Jews to this irregularity of succession, and probably also to various abuses and oppressions by the Hasmonean rulers, led to criticism of the established priesthood. The Habakkuk Commentary from Qumran, for example, calls the High Priest a “wicked priest” (1QpHab col. 8, lines 8, 16; col. 9:9, cf. “The translation of

The Pesher to Habakkuk,” at http://www.ao.net/~fmoeller/peshtran.htm, accessed again April 3, 2009). We should “keep our own house in order,” so to speak. Let our churches be “houses of prayer,” and not “dens of robbers.”

The sequence varies, but the Cursing of the Fig Tree (Mt. 21:18-22; Mk. 11:12-14, 20-25), the Question about Authority (Mt. 21:23-27; Mk. 11:27-33; Lk. 20:1-8), the Parable of the Two Sons (Mt. 21:28-32), and the Parable of the Wicked Husbandmen (Mt. 21:33-46; Mk. 12:1-12; Lk. 20:9-19) all occur in close proximity to the Cleansing of the Temple. We must continually remind ourselves that this opposition came from a small handful of Jewish leaders at the time, and not Jews in general then or now.

Daily Scripture Readings
Tuesday (December 1, 2009)*
Daily Office Lectionary, The Book of Common Prayer, the Episcopal Church in the U.S.A., 1979	Daily Lectionary, Book of Common Worship, the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., 1993	Daily Lectionary, Book of Worship Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship, c. 1978 (2002 printing) ‡
http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/index.htm http://www.pcusa.org/lectionary
‡ Daily Lectionary, Evangelical Lutheran Worship, ELCA, 2006. In the Evangelical Lutheran Worship book of 2006, the Daily Lectionary (pp. 1121-1153) is revised to correlate with the Sunday Lectionary (the Revised Common Lectionary) on the three year cycle: Year A, Year B (now current), Year C. “The readings are chosen so that the days leading up to Sunday (Thursday through Saturday) prepare for the Sunday readings. The days flowing out from Sunday (Monday through Wednesday) reflect upon the Sunday readings” (p. 1121).
Unless otherwise indicated, the scripture texts quoted are from The New Revised Standard Version (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers), 1989.
Tuesday AM Psalm 5, 6 PM Psalm 10, 11 Amos 3:1-11 2 Pet. 1:12-21 Matt. 21:12-22 Nicholas Ferrar: http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/Nicholas_Ferrar.htm Psalm 15 Galatians 6:7-10; Matthew 13:47-52 [Charles de Foucauld]: http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/charles_foucauld.htm Psalm 73:24-28 Wisdom 3:1-5; James 1:2-4, 12; John 16:25-33 Eucharistic Reading: Psalm 72:1-8 Isaiah 11:1-10; Luke 10:21-24	Tuesday Morning Pss.: 33, 146 Amos 3:1-11 2 Pet. 1:12-21 Matt. 21:12-22 Evening Pss.: 85, 94	Tuesday Morning Pss.: 33, 146 Amos 3:1-11 2 Pet. 1:12-21 Matt. 21:12-22 Evening Pss.: 85, 94
		Year C Daily Readings Psalm 90 2 Samuel 7:18-29 Revelation 22:12-16
* Tuesday in the week of the First Sunday of Advent, Year Two