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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 Just because we have an Old Testament, it does not mean that we call it the 'Outdated Testament'.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 19th, 2021

12/19/2021

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This Sunday is the Fourth (and last) Sunday in Advent. This time the epistle text is Hebrews 10:5-10. And that is a significantly different text from the previous readings.

We are not even sure who wrote this letter to the Hebrews; many believe that Saint Paul also wrote this one. Whoever wrote it meant it to be anonymous. So our focus should be even more on the content rather than the author. The letter has the structure of a ‘word of exhortation’ [see Hebrews 13:22], and it was originally written to the Jews who were followers of Christ. Incidentally, those Jews in Jerusalem are described in Acts as numbering ‘thousands’ or, literally, myriads [see Acts 21:20].

We have been looking at how Christianity was ‘spoken against’ in the book of Acts, and it was certainly spoken against by the Jews at various places in that book. It starts relatively close to the beginning of the book, on the Day of Pentecost, with a relatively jovial accusation. When the Spirit comes down and the followers of Jesus begin to speak in tongues which they did not know, we are told that some people around them mocked them and said that they were filled with ‘sweet wine’ [Acts 2:13; the word ‘sweet’ is basically the word ‘glucose’].

When the followers of Jesus end up in Rome, the accusations that end up are significantly greater. Note in the following quotation spoken by the Jewish people in Rome that St. Paul himself is not accused of anything bad. What they have heard bad things about is that ‘heresy’, that ‘sect’, this Christianity (and this is a somewhat-literal translation):

We ourselves received neither letters about you from Judea, nor anyone of the brothers, arriving, told or spoke anything evil about you. And we think it worthy from you to hear what things you think, for, indeed, concerning this heresy, it is known that everywhere it is spoken against [Acts 28:21-22].

There are many more details about the ‘speaking against’ after what was just spoken (and, again, this is a somewhat-literal translation):

And arranging with him a day, they came to him in the lodging, more, to whom he set forth, solemnly witnessing the kingdom of God, and persuading them the things concerning Jesus from both the law of Moses and the prophets, from morning until evening. And, on the one hand, some were persuaded by the things being said; and, on the other hand, some disbelieved, and being with one another, they disagreed, they were dismissed, Paul, having said one word:

Well the Holy Spirit spoke through Isaiah, the prophet, to your fathers, saying, ‘Go to this people and say: in hearing, you will hear, and not at all understand, and looking, you will look, and not at all see. For the heart of this people was thickened, and with the ears, they heard heavily, and their eyes, they closed; lest at any time they see with the eyes and hear with the ears, and understand with the heart and turn, and I will cure them. Therefore, let it be known to you that to the nations the salvation of God was sent; and they will hear [Acts 28:23-28].

The contrast is interesting. At Pentecost the Jews from around the known world say, ‘We hear them speaking in our tongues the great deeds of God [Acts 2:11].’ When the followers of Jesus finally make it to Rome, St. Paul says at the very end of his ‘one word’ that ‘the salvation of God was sent to the nations, and they will hear’.
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