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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 Just because we have an Old Testament, it does not mean that we call it the 'Outdated Testament'.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!

December 15th, 2018

12/15/2018

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The Gospel text for this Sunday [Luke 7:18-28] is a helpful text to get an idea of this gospel account’s connection to Acts. In verse 19, the text relates that John the Baptist sends two of his disciples, not to Jesus, but to ‘the Lord’.

The first time the writer uses the word Lord to describe Jesus is just slightly earlier. In verse 13 of the same chapter, Jesus is called the Lord when he has compassion for a widow. It is hard not to see a connection to Jesus’ resurrection in this description, especially since Jesus is often called the Lord after that important event.

John the Baptist sent the disciples to ask Jesus this question: ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’ The early Christians may have easily asked this question of Jesus. They may have been tempted to look to something else to ‘save’.

There is almost a constant temptation to look for another place for help, a place other than the words of the Lord. This is the struggle that you see in the book of Acts. Eventually the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ is described as ‘unhindered(see Acts 27:48)’, but it takes a long time and a lot of work.

The struggle to look for something more than just words is also the struggle that you see in churches today. In Luke 6:46, the question is asked, ‘Why do you call me “Lord, Lord,” and not do what I tell you?’ That question applies to today.

The progression Jesus gives later in the text is wonderful (verse 22): the blind receiving sight, the lame walking, the lepers being cleansed, the deaf hearing, the dead being raised, and the final thing is that the poor have the good news preached to them. In the Gospel according to Matthew, the middle of the list is the important thing. In the Gospel according to Luke, the end of the list is the important item. And Jesus is putting this good news as something that is extremely important.

This good news continues to be important today.

And the series on the Small Catechism of Dr. Martin Luther continues this Sunday with a look at the Lord’s Prayer. The words of that prayer are also important. 
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