“Tell it like it is” might be a description of his style. He clearly was not liked by Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, who snitched on him to King Jeroboam. He calls him a seer — not much more than a fortune teller. But Amos protests, explaining that he was a simple shepherd and someone who made his living by “dressing sycamore trees.”
But, says Amos, God plucked me out and sent me forth to prophesy in his name. And prophecy he does. Yikes! Brutal! Amos tells Amaziah four dreadful things:
“Your wife shall become a prostitute in the city, and your sons and daughters shall fall by the sword. Your land shall be parcelled out by measuring line, and you yourself shall die in an unclean land.”
By prophet standards, this is what you call not mincing words!
Perhaps Amaziah ought not to have barked at Amos,
“Off with you, seer, flee to the land of Judah … but never again prophesy in Bethel
Surely, Amos’ prophecy would “ring in his ears” until his last days where and when he would die in an “unclean” land.
Words! Words! Words!
(Again, an echo of Eliza Doolittle.)
Jesus said words with such care and such insight. When Jesus had returned to his own town, some people brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher. What did Jesus see, and what did Jesus say? He saw their faith!
He said to the paralytic —
“Courage, child, your sins are forgiven.”
Now we must appreciate exactly what Jesus was doing, his purpose. For the Jews, chronic illness and terrible conditions like paralysis were often seen as having come to a person as punishment for their sins, or even the sins of their parents.
For example, in these present days, if a woman consumes excessive alcohol or drugs during her pregnancy, the child may already be born addicted. And even on cigarette packages the warning is stated there conspicuously for all to see. The child is harmed; although the child had nothing to do with it. But for the Jews, this was one more of those “beliefs” (at best) and “superstitions” (more likely).
And so Jesus chose his words carefully. He went to the root of bad conditions — sin! Did Jesus believe this? Who knows. But he was making a point, and the point hit the mark.
Some of the scribes (not surprisingly) said among themselves —
“This man is blaspheming.”
Did Jesus know that they would probably do so? (You better believe he did). And so Jesus called them on it. And he accomplished this miracle of healing for this pobrecito by challenging their logic, and bringing his own words and actions full circle.
He told them —
“Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?
And then he lowered the boom on them as he asked and answered his own question with this statement —
“But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.”
He then said to the paralytic —
“Rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home.”
And he did! And they were amazed yet again! And we are drawn into a glorious appreciation of Christ’s miraculous spiritual powers for and in our own lives!
