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 Just because we have an Old Testament, it does not mean that we call it the 'Outdated Testament'.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

February 5th, 2023

2/5/2023

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This Sunday is the Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany. We are getting closer to the end of this season. And we continue in our progression in the Gospel according to Matthew. The text for this Sunday is Matthew 5:13-20. Last week we looked at the last historical present that will be in the text for a while, that Jesus SAYS to Simon and Andrew to come follow him.
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Jesus’ words continue to be important within the first sermon that he gives, what is usually known as the Sermon on the Mount. There have been books written just about this sermon, and the Concordia Commentary on this gospel account has approximately 200 pages given to this sermon.

What may be helpful is to see how Jesus refers to God, the Father, within this account. Below are the first verses of this section, the texts from this past Sunday and the present Sunday. To help you out, all the references to God, the Father, are in bold.

Now seeing the crowds, he went up into the mountain. And he, sitting, they came toward him, the disciples of him. And opening the mouth of him, he taught them saying:
“Blessed the poor in the spirit, because of them is the kingdom of the heavens. Blessed the mourning, because they themselves shall be comforted. Blessed the meek, because they themselves shall inherit the earth. Blessed the hungering and thirsting the righteousness, because they themselves shall be satisfied. Blessed the merciful, because they themselves shall receive mercy. Blessed the clean in the heart, because they themselves shall see the God. Blessed the peacemakers, because they shall be called sons of God. Blessed the having-been-persecuted ones for the sake of righteousness, because of them is the kingdom of the heavens.”

“Blessed are you when they reproach you and they persecute and they say all evil against you, lying for the sake of me. Rejoice and be glad, because the reward of you, much in the heavens; for thus they persecuted the prophets, those before you.”

“You yourselves are the salt of the earth; now if the salt be tasteless, in what shall it be salted? Into nothing it is strong, still except being thrown out to be trampled down by the men.  You yourselves are the light of the world. Not it is able, a city, to be hid on a mountain situated. Nor do they light a lamp and place it under the grain-measure, but on the contrary, on the lampstand, and it lightens all those in the house. Thus, let shine the light of you before the men, so that they may see of you the good works and they may glorify the Father of you in the heavens.”

“Think not that I came to destroy the law or the prophets; I came not to destroy, but on the contrary, to fulfill. For amen I say to you, until pass away the heavens and the earth, one iota or one point will certainly not pass away from the law, until all things happen. Therefore, whoever loosens one of the commandments of these, the least, and he teaches thus the men, least he shall be called in the kingdom of the heavens. Now whoever does and he teaches, this one great shall be called in the kingdom of the heavens. For I am saying to you that except shall exceed the righteousness of you, more than of the scribes and Pharisees, by no means you shall enter into the kingdom of the heavens.”

The transition from God to Father is interesting. Nowhere does Jesus call himself the salt of the earth. But he certainly calls himself the light of the world in the Gospel according to John (see John 8:12). And the light we have as Christians certainly comes from our Father in heaven. 
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