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A Sabbath Day's Journey

By: Rev. Paul Landgraf
What is a Sabbath day's journey? First of all, it is a Jewish expression. We measure distances in meters or yards. The Jews had a certain distance that they could walk on Saturday before it would be considered work. So their synagogues that they went to on Saturday could not be very far away. The word appears only in Acts 1:12 and indicates a distance of about three-quarters of a mile.

With that in mind, I think it is important to remember the origins of Christianity. Just because we have an Old Testament, it does not mean that we call it the 'Outdated Testament'. Much of the Old Testament has a literary structure that we are not aware of because of our modern emphasis on chapter and verse divisions. Within many of these blogs, I try to get the reader to see a bigger picture, a larger perspective that often includes the Old Testament and the environment that was present when the New Testament was seeing the Light of the day.

Second, a Sabbath day's journey is intentionally short. These 'journeys' with a text, almost always one of the three readings for that Sunday, are deliberately brief discussions. This blog was never designed to be a comprehensive look at any text. Sometimes a specific word is studied in detail. But, as a whole, a blog entry, by itself, is meant to be quite brief.

Finally, since the term 'Sabbath day's journey' appears in Acts, it is meant to appeal to a wide variety of people. This blog is meant for those who cannot come on Sunday mornings. And it is also for those who do come on Sunday mornings but would also like a further study of the text. It is also for those who live somewhere else in the world (besides Drake and Freedom, Missouri, USA) and would simply like a further study of the text. It was meant to get these different groups of people to start thinking about the biblical texts. Part of the reason for this blog is that I am not able to have a bible class on Sunday mornings with either congregation, and so, to have a blog like this seemed like a good idea. I hope it is helpful for you, in whatever situation you may be.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. And thank you for taking the time to read this!

August 26th, 2017

8/26/2017

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​I was recently reading the book, How God Became King, and the author, Tom Wright, talked about the importance of the comma within the Apostles' Creed where it says, '...born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate....' There is a LOT of stuff within that little comma!

I would think that the things that have been recorded in all four gospel accounts would be considered the high points of Jesus' life, not only by the early Christians, but by those Christians of any period in history. At the start of Jesus' ministry is his encounter with John the Baptist. In the middle of his ministry is both the miracle of feeding the 5000 and the confession of  Peter (Matthew 16:13-20, Mark 8:27-30, Luke 9:18-21, John 6:67-71). At the end of his ministry is obviously his suffering and death--and obviously this last one is a critical part of the creed.

That Jesus withdrew (or retreated) after the feeding of the 5000 should be a pretty obvious indicator that he is not interested in a position of power. After Peter's confession, that Jesus tells the disciples not to tell anyone that he is the Christ should also be another indicator (Matt 16:20). The title of Christ can carry along with it a position of power. But Jesus wants to go in a different direction; he wants to go in the direction of the cross.

From the standpoint of etymology, to 'confess' means to say the same word. To say the same words, it is important to have the same definitions of words.

Many years ago, when I was looking at the way Martin Luther translated his favorite Psalm, I noticed that he would have some interesting translations that followed the theology he was finding within the Bible after his 'tower experience'. One of the most memorable is his final translation of Psalm 118:1, 'Danket dem Herrn, denn er ist freundlich...' Perhaps you can get that even if you do not know any German. He is saying, somewhat literally, 'Thank the Lord, for he is friendly.' 

There is a concrete action here that you do not usually see in the translation, 'Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.' Luther's translation is down-to-earth, much like the life of Jesus was. The Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One, comes down to our level to understand our hurts, our emotions, and especially our words. You can see that willingness when Jesus goes down to get baptized with a 'sinners baptism'; you can see that willingness when he goes up to a 'convicted criminals'' cross.

Jesus comes down to our level to anoint us, to pour oil and wine on all the wounds. He comes down to our level to help us hear some words that are much better for us. His words give healing. His words give life. 
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