PILGRIM LUTHERAN CHURCH
  • Home
  • About Us
    • What We Believe
    • History
  • Pastor's Blog
  • Bulletin
  • Contact

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 Just because we have an Old Testament, it does not mean that we call it the 'Outdated Testament'.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

January 8th, 2022

1/8/2022

0 Comments

 
This Sunday is the start of the Sundays after the Epiphany, and most of those Epistle readings will have a careful look at the latter chapters of 1 Corinthians. For the first Sunday of this season, the reading will be from Romans, and for the last Sunday, it will be from Hebrews.

What is known as ‘The First Sunday After the Epiphany’ is actually better known as ‘The Baptism of Our Lord’. This Sunday’s text is from Romans 6[:1-11], and within this ‘Sabbath Day’s Journey’ we will start to look at Rome—actually at some of its leaders—to see what those leaders had to say against Christianity. This is part of the big climax within the book of Acts, since it ends with the kingdom of God being proclaimed in an ‘unhindered’ way within the Roman empire [see Acts 28:31].

The focus of this writing for the next several weeks will essentially be ‘Christianity versus Rome’. And this perspective may be helpful for today’s popular perspective of Christianity, as Christians have to deal with both people and ideas that are considered by many to be very great.

It is a great underestimation to say that Rome was simply a great city. Last Sunday, with the text from Ephesians, we looked at the great city of Ephesus with its ‘Wonder of the World’, the Temple of Diana (Artemis). But to call Rome simply a ‘great’ city is almost an injustice. This massive city was by all accounts the center of the known world at that time.

Last time an overview of Ephesus was given from the Concordia Self-Study Bible. What follows is an overview of Rome from the same work:

Rome: In the Time of Paul

In terms of political importance, geographical position and sheer magnificence, the superlative city of the empire was Rome, the capital.

Located on a series of jutting foothills and low-lying eminences (the “seven hills”) east of a bend in the Tiber River some 18 miles from the Mediterranean, Rome was celebrated for its impressive public buildings, aqueducts, baths, theaters and thoroughfares, many of which led from distant provinces. The city of the first Christian century had spread far beyond its fourth-century B.C. “Servian” walls and lay unwalled, secure in its greatness.

The most prominent features were the Capitoline hill, with temples to Jupiter and Juno, and the nearby Palatine, adorned with imperial palaces, including Nero’s “Golden House.” Both hills overlooked the Roman Forum, the hub of the entire empire.

Alternatively described as the glorious crowning achievement of mankind and as the sewer of the universe where all the scum from every corner of the empire gathered, Rome had reasons for both civic pride in its architecture and shame for staggering urban social problems not unlike those of cities today.

The apostle Paul entered the city from the south on the Via Appia. He first lived under house arrest and then, after a period of freedom, as a condemned prisoner in the Mamertime dungeon near the Forum. Remarkably. Paul was able to proclaim the gospel among all classes of people, from the palace to the prison. According to tradition, he was executed at a spot on the Ostian Way outside Rome in A.D. 68 [St. Louis, Missouri, USA: Concordia Publishing House, 1986; page 1714].


There are two events, prior to St. Paul’s coming to Rome, that are worthy to point out. The first was shortly after Paul was in Ephesus. He was there for two years, and there is a brief summary statement of the Lord’s words spreading and increasing. But then the following statement is made [and what is given here and what follows is a somewhat-literal translation]:

And when these things were fulfilled, Paul purposed in the Spirit, passing through Macedonia and Achaia, to go into Jerusalem, saying ‘After I become there, it is necessary me, also Rome, to see [Acts 19:20-21].’


The second event is amazingly similar. After St. Paul is arrested in Jerusalem in Acts 21, he is allowed to speak in front of a Jewish crowd, but they refuse to listen to him, and they want him dead after he says that the Lord Jesus told him to go to the Gentiles. Then he is allowed to speak in front of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish leaders; but a great ‘standing’ [against authority; see Acts 23:7 & 10] happens, and the commander thinks that Paul might be torn apart by them, so he is protected by him, and Paul has the following happen to him:

And in the following night, coming to him, the Lord, said: ‘Be of good courage; for as you did solemnly witness the things concerning me into Jerusalem, so it is necessary, you, also, to witness into Rome [Acts 23:11].’

What makes these two events even more interesting is that Jesus, in the Gospel according to Luke, has two ‘necessary’ statements that deal with the purpose of Jesus on this earth. One is at the beginning of the work, when the writer records the words out of Jesus’ mouth. Here is Jesus’ response to Mary, his mother, when she states the great distress while searching for him for days:

Why that you were seeking me? Did you not know that in the things of my Father it is necessary for me to be [Luke 2:49]?


At the end of that gospel account, when Jesus is with two of his followers, and they are ‘on the way’, and they point out to Jesus how disappointed they were with what recently happened regarding Jesus’ death and resurrection. And then Jesus responds with the following words:

These things it is necessary, is it not, for the Christ to suffer and to enter into his glory? And beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, he explained to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself [Luke 24:26-27].


There are some things that are necessary. We usually put those things on ourselves and not God. That is usually because we think of things in a negative way, in a ‘law’ way. And this is the typical perspective of Christianity, that it just is a bunch of laws for people to follow.

Sometimes we try to make things better, to make things more positive. But the only one who can truly do that is the Lord. It does not matter that St. Paul said that it was necessary for him to go to Rome before the Lord did. The Lord of heaven and earth was involved in the entire act of salvation from beginning to end. And he made an important stop along the way at the cross to make a payment for all sin.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • About Us
    • What We Believe
    • History
  • Pastor's Blog
  • Bulletin
  • Contact