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Jesus, the
Eternal Eucharistic Sacrifice, Carries the Punishment of Us Sinners
Amos is perhaps the oldest book of the Old Testament which bears the name of its prophetic author. He lived and wrote in the 700’s b.c., after the fall of Israel to Assyria and before the fall of Samaria to Assyria (721), a fall which permanently obliterated ten of the twelve tribes of Israel. Here in today’s reading (Amos 7:12-15) he is condemned by the priest Amaziah. He is a priest in Bethel. Bethel means “house” (beth) of God (el) in Hebrew. Abraham and Jacob had visions of God there, and the Ark of the Covenant was once kept there. But it had fallen into corruption by now. They had even worshiped a golden calf in Bethel (cf. 1 Kings 12:28-33) much like their ancestors had done in the desert while they waited for Moses to return from Mount Sinai with the ten commandments. Bethel was in the land of Samaria. The twelve tribes split, as is told in 1 Kings, leaving the Southern Kingdom (Judah, faithful to King David’s lineage, from whom the Christ would come), and the Northern Kingdom (Samaria, composed of the remaining tribes). Samaria, the Northern Kingdom, suffered a deportation by the Assyrians in 721, and the Southern Kingdom, or Judah, suffered a deportation into slavery at the hands of the Babylonians, the famous Babylonian “exile” or “capitivity,” later in the sixth century. Amaziah is upset with Amos, apparently because of the message of judgment and destruction Amos was prophesying. After all, who enjoys listening to themselves being condemned? There was plenty of religious cult in Israel at the time, but flagrant neglect of the covenant (Amos 5:21-27). Injustice, hypocrisy, corrupt ritual, greed, depravity. Against this Amos promised God’s punishment, that of accusation for their sins, the silence of God’s prophetic word in Israel, and destruction not only of the Temple but of evildoers, including their eternal damnation. Amos was the victim of the hatred of Amaziah’s hardened heart, but he did not let this dissuade him from prophesying as Yahweh had commanded him. And nor do I, your servant and your priest. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all the prophesies in the Old Testament, for he is God, and the fullness of the revelation of the eternal Father. The punishments threatened by Amos did have a certain fulfillment in history, but later were fulfilled in both a historical and apocalyptic way by the Lord Jesus. Peter himself writes in his first letter, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24), referring to the prophecy of the suffering servant of Isaiah. Jesus took upon himself the sins of the whole world, of all before him, and of all after him; of those who would believe in him, and of those who would reject him forever. He was accused for our sins, he is the temple that was destroyed and rebuilt, yet he triumphed over sin by the resurrection. All of these teachings of scripture and tradition come to a head in the Holy Eucharist. For in the Eucharist, Jesus is an eternal sacrifice. He is the one prayer that is perfectly pleasing to the Father, he is the one oblation which can pay the price of man’s infinite sins against God, he is the savior of sinners. The sacrifice of Jesus in the Eucharist never ends; it is the same sacrifice of the Cross on Mount Calvary, but now in a sacramental manner and not in a bloody manner. Let all sinners, then, come to the Eucharist; and those who are too proud to admit their sins, let them never come to the Eucharist. Sinners, confess your sins, then come feast abundantly. Yes, your sins are blood red, but the God whom you have offended is your savior. Let our religious cult of the Eucharist never fall into the corruption found at Bethel, but rather let us center our lives on him, Jesus Christ, body, blood, soul and divinity, who is the one sacrifice for our salvation in the Holy Eucharist. |