As they say, Amos has gone from preaching to meddling. Preaching is talking about someone else's
sins and meddling is talking about my sins.
He brings charges against the nation similar to those against their
neighbors. It isn't for a single sin
they are being judged but for a settled pattern of sin for which they have not
repented. The language is exactly the
same as we saw yesterday, "For three transgressions of Israel, and for
four…" In other words, I have
tolerated enough from you and now judgment comes. Amos, on behalf of the Lord, enumerates a few
of these sins, the failure to execute justice, taking advantage of the poor,
sexual immorality and failing to take seriously the holiness of God in the
temple. The nation, because they have
the Word of God, has a great responsibility to make it known and to revere
Him. They alone have been chosen to
receive this revelation and if that weren't enough, He made a covenant with
them and delivered them from captivity and gave them this land. They will not escape judgment, in fact they
are held to a higher standard by the Lord.
So are we.
Jesus knows He will be fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah
by riding into town on a donkey as Messiah and so instructs the disciples to go
ahead of him to secure the animal. They
are told that if anyone asks they are to say, "The Lord needs
it." We can assume that the
disciples themselves were known in Jerusalem as companions of Jesus and that
their words would make clear that it was for Jesus that they were taking the
animal. As they enter the city there is
great acclaim, Messiah has come. The
particular messianic title here is "Son of David" which tells us much
about the expectations they have concerning Jesus. He is the one who will take the throne once
and for all and establish the permanent kingdom through which the earth will be
governed. We also see another title in
this passage, Jesus the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee. Those who cry about the son of David are the
crowds before and behind Him, foreigners making their pilgrimage to the city
for the festival. The question posed
regarding Jesus and its answer are from those in the city. There is a dispute here. The outsiders believe Jesus to be Messiah
while the insiders minimalize Him as prophet first and then, from Nazareth in
Galilee. The more cosmopolitan you were
the less you thought of Jesus, He was for those rubes.
Peter says that "His divine power has granted to us all
things that pertain to life and godliness…" Is that the primary content of your petitions
to Him? When Peter writes that we are to
supplement our faith "with virtue and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge
with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with
godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with
love" he isn't saying that these add anything to faith in either salvation
or justification. He is speaking of
sanctification and telling us what that looks like. We are saved by faith alone but that
salvation leads to something more, a changed life, a life that has different
priorities and values than the previous life we lived. In practicing these qualities, the qualities
that Paul calls fruits of the Spirit, we confirm our calling and election. To the extent that these things are what we
are pursuing, hungering and thirsting after righteousness, we can become more
sure of our call. If you want to be
confident in your election and salvation, set yourself to pursue, with the aid
of the Holy Spirit, these things.
Christ-likeness is the goal.
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