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)

On December 16, 2007 (the Third Sunday of Advent, Year Two), comments were repeated with editing and supplement from December 11, 2005 (the Third Sunday of Advent, Year Two); the comments are repeated again here with editing and supplement:

Today’s reading is the last in a series of twelve from the Book of Amos that essentially cover the entire book. As noted two weeks ago when the series began, Amos prophesied during the reign of Uzziah (Amos 1:1) in the eighth century B.C. (783-742 B.C., Chronological Table of Rulers, NOAB, 2^nd ed., 1994, p. OT 339), some two centuries before the fall of Jerusalem (587/586 B.C.). But now, at the end of his book, Amos announces 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). In other words, Amos prophesies the restoration of the Davidic dynasty nearly two centuries before its collapse. He 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. According to Ehud Ben Zvi,

Rabbinic sources understood the reference to setting up the fallen booth of David [NJPS wording for “the booth of David that is fallen, NRSV] as pointing to the messianic era (e.g., b. Sanh. 96b-97a). Some Jewish medieval commentators understood the booth as a reference to the temple, but the majority to the Davidic kingdom. Most modern scholars associate the image of the fallen booth of David with the fall of monarchic Judah and the exile. Ibn Ezra associates the verse with Hezekiah’s successful stand against Sennacherib (see 2 Kings 18:13-19:37; Isa. 36:1-37:38; f2 Chron. 32:1-23). The Jewish Study Bible, 2004, on Amos 9:11)

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, so this is further evidence that part or all of this final oracle was added after the fall of Samaria in 722, at a time when the book was reinterpreted for Judahites” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., augmented, 2007, on Amos 9:12). R. Lansing Hicks and Walter Bruggemann remind us to “note the use of this passage by James at the meeting of the apostles and the elders of the church at Jerusalem in Acts 15:16-17” (NOAB, 2^nd ed., 1994, on Amos 9:11-12).

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). For the words, “shall overtake,” Hicks and Bruggemann refer to the LORD’s promise through Moses (ibid., on v. 13), where Moses says, “Your threshing shall overtake the vintage, and the vintage shall overtake the sowing; you shall eat your bread to the full, and live securely in your land” (Lev. 26:5). According to Ben Zvi, “The produce will be so abundant that the harvesting will continue through the time for planting new seeds” (op. cit., on v. 13, also with ref. to Lev. 16:5). “I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel,” says the LORD, “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” (Amos 9:14). The restoration of agriculture becomes a metaphor for the restoring of Israel herself, as the Lord says, “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). Gene M. Tucker, revised by J. Andrew Dearman, says, “In the new age, nature will be incredibly fruitful and the people will be secure in their land. Those who experienced the judgment announced by Amos now see God acting to save and restore” (HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Amos 9:13-15). Ben Zvi says, “The book concludes with a highly optimistic, unconditional promise: Nevermore [NJPS, for ‘never again’ NRSV] will the disaster foretold, which actually transpired to the post-monarchic community, be repeated” (op. cit., on 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)

On December 11 and 12, 2008 (Thursday and Friday in the week of the Second Sunday of Advent, Year One, comments were on 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 and 2:13-3:5 respectively. On May 10, 2009 (the Fifth Sunday of Easter;, Year One), comments were on 2 Thessalonians 2:13-17. Those comments were based on earlier comments, as noted there, and the following comments are based on relevant earlier comments:

Paul promised in his first letter to the Thessalonians that “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). In the first letter, 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). This promise apparently left some with an intense focus on an immediate Second Coming. In his Second Letter, Paul reassures them: “As to the coming (parousiva, parousia) of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, 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. 2:2). “Let no one deceive you in any way,” says Paul; for that day will not come unless the rebellion (ajpostasiva, apostasia) comes first and the lawless one (oJ a[nqrwpoV th:V ajnomivaV, ho anthrōpos tēs anomias) is revealed, the one destined for destruction (oJ uiJo;V th:V ajpwleivaV, ho huios tēs apōleias)” (v. 3). According to Abraham Smith, “though the identity of the lawless one is unknown, some identify him as a false prophet or an emperor” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on 2 Thess. 2:3). In other words, says Paul, the parousia hasn’t happened yet, and will not happen before certain events, the “rebellion” and the revealing of the “lawless one.”

The reading today passes over verses 4-12, in which Paul elaborates on “the lawless one” (v. 3) and “the mystery of lawlessness (musthvrion . . . th:V ajnomivaV, mystērion . . . tēs anomias)” (v. 7). He says, “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” (v. 13). We have noted the brevity of the first thanksgiving in this letter (2 Thess. 1:3-4, cf. comments a week ago, Sunday, Dec. 6, 2009), as compared with that of 1 Thessalonians (1 Thess. 1:2-10). But now, Paul resumes his thanksgiving in the midst of a chapter that Abraham Smith has called a “correction of apocalyptic enthusiasm” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., augmented, 2007, on 2 Thess. 2:1-17). “For this purpose,” says Paul, “he [i.e., God] called you through our proclamation of the good news, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thess. 2:14). “Another thanksgiving,” says Smith, “indicates God’s role in choosing the congregation and in sanctifying them” (ibid., on vv. 13-14). Jouette M. Bassler says, “The abrupt resumption of the thanksgiving (see 1:3; see also 1 Thess. 1:2; 2:13) creates a stark contrast between the condemned and the saved” (HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on 2 Thess. 2:13-14). F. F. Bruce notes that this repetition has been seen as an indication of “a separate letter,” but he adds, “It is more satisfactory to recognize in this thanksgiving the resumption of the introductory thanksgiving of 1:3, just as 1 Thess. 2:13 resumes the introductory thanksgiving of 1 Thess. 1:2” (1 & 2 Thessalonians, Word Biblical Commentary, 45, 1982, p. 189 on 2 Thess. 2:13-17). Bruce notes that the thanksgiving is

to God that he has chosen these Thessalonians believers–not simply that he chose them in Christ before all worlds but that his eternal choice of them has now been manifested in time by their wholehearted response to the gospel. This response was made when in due course they heard his call–“those whom he predestined; he also called” (Rom. 8:30)–and his call to them proved to be effectual in faith and life.

It is a travesty of God’s electing grace to suppose that, because he chooses some for salvation, all the others are thereby consigned to perdition. On the contrary, if some are chosen for special blessing, it is in order that others may be blessed through them and with them. This is a constant feature in the pattern of divine election throughout the Bible story, from Abraham onward. Those who are chosen constitute the firstfruits, bearing the promise of a rich harvest to come. (ibid., p. 191)

“So then, brothers and sisters,” continues Paul, “stand firm and hold fast to the traditions (paradovseiV, paradoseis) that you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by our letter” (2 Thess. 2:15). For traditions passed on by Paul, compare “For I handed on (parevdwka, paredōka, the verb related to paravdosiV, paradosis) to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3). “For “stand firm,” Bassler refers to 1 Thessalonians 3:8; she adds that “the traditions include ethical (see [2 Thess.] 3:6 and doctrinal (see 2:5-6 teachings able to refute the erroneous views shaking the church” (op. cit., on 2:15).

Paul concludes the chapter 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). According to Smith, “The wish-prayer (cf. 1:11-12) 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)” (op. cit., 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)

Today’s reading from the Gospel of John is used frequently in the Daily Office Lectionary. The following comments are repeated here from August 16, 2009 (the Sunday closest to August 17, Year One), when comments were repeated from March 13, 2009 (Friday in the week of the Second Sunday of Lent, Year One) and earlier as noted there:

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). According to Donald G. Miller and Bruce M. Metzger, Jesus describes his relation to God (vv. 19-29), including “identity of his will and actions with the Father’s” (NOAB, 2^nd ed., 1994, 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”: “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” (Jn. 5:30). Jesus does not rely on his own testimony, “If I testify about myself,” he says, “my testimony is not true” (v. 31). According to Obery M. Hendricks Jr., “Jewish tradition (m. Ketub. 2.9; cf. Jn. 8:13) regarded testimony on one’s own behalf as invalid” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., augmented, 2007, on Jn. 5:31). Jesus rather refers to the testimony of another. “There is another who testifies on my behalf, and I know that his testimony to me is true” (v. 32). By “another,” according to Hendricks, Jesus meant “the Father (see v. 37)” (ibid., on v. 32). But Jesus then refers to John the Baptist. “You sent messengers to John, and he testified to the truth. Not that I accept such human testimony, but I say these things so that you may be saved. He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light” (vv. 33-35). And Jesus claims that his works give credible testimony, greater than John’s. “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” (v. 36). That would include the healing of the lame man. According to Hendricks, “God witnesses to Jesus through the ministry of John the Baptist (vv. 33-35), through Jesus’ works (v. 36), and through the scriptures (vv. 37-40)” (ibid., on vv. 33-40). But John seems to distinguish the Father’s testimony from that of scripture. “And the Father who sent me has himself testified on my behalf,” says Jesus. “You have never heard his voice or seen his form, and you do not have his word abiding in you, because you do not believe him whom he has sent” (vv. 37-38).

A paragraph break between verses 38 and 39 (NRSV) suggests distinguishing the witness of the Father as such from the witness of scripture, but others include verses 36-40 as a paragraph (TNIV, cf. K. Aland and others, The Greek New Testament, 3^rd ed., 1975). In any event, Jesus clearly refers to the testimony of scripture. “You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life, and it is they that testify on my behalf” (v. 39). With the witness of John the Baptist (vv. 33-35) and that of the Father himself (v. 37a). The accumulation of witnesses here amounts to more than the two required by Deuteronomy 19:15 (cf. Deut. 17:6). But they refuse to accept Jesus. “Yet,” says Jesus, “you refuse to come to me to have life” (v. 40). He adds, “I do not accept glory from human beings” (v. 41). “Jesus does not seek glory for himself (cf. v. 18),” according to David K. Rensberger, revised by Harold W. Attridge, “but for God (see vv. 30, 44; 7:18; 88:50, 54; 12:43)” (HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Jn. 5:41). This means they “do not have the love of God in you [i.e. themselves]” (v. 42). “I have come in my Father’s name,” says Jesus, “and you do not accept me; if another comes in his own name, you will accept him” (v. 43). “In his own name,” say Rensberger and Attridge, means “perhaps like messianic pretenders. Cf. Mt. 24:23-25; Mk. 13:21-23” (ibid., on v. 43). Continuing, Jesus asks rhetorically, “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?” (v. 44). “Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father,” says Jesus; “your accuser is Moses, on whom you have set your hope” (v. 45). At this point, Hendricks refers (op. cit., on v 45) to 9:28, “Then they [i.e., ‘the Jews’] reviled him [i.e., the healed blind man], saying, ‘You are his [i.e., Jesus’] disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.” “If you believed in Moses,” says Jesus, “you would believe me, for he wrote about me” (5:46). Hendricks refers (ibid., on v. 46-47) to “1:45; cf. Lk. 16:31; 24:27,” where Philip says to Nathanael, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth” (Jn. 1:46). Jesus closes with a challenge. “But if you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?” (5:47). 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, as later, “You are testifying on your own behalf; your testimony is not valid” (Jn. 8:13), Jesus responds here with a series of witnesses (noted in summary by Raymond E. Brown, The Gospel according to John I-XII, Anchor Bible 29, 1966, 227-228, on Jn. 5:31-47): 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” (ibid., p. 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. (ibid., pp. 228-229)

Speaking of several similar encounters of Jesus with others in John’s Gospel, Paul J. Achtemeier, Joel B. Green, Marianne Meye Thompson say:

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. (Introducing the New Testament, 2001, p. 194)

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net