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 Just because we have an Old Testament, it does not mean that we call it the 'Outdated Testament'.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

January 14th, 2017

1/14/2017

0 Comments

 
It is a good thing to connect some parts of the church’s liturgy to the writings of the bible. When someone says the same phrase over and over again, it’s pretty important that those words are not just some words that someone made up quite quickly. As those words point us to the bible, the bible points us to God, and that’s an important place to be.
The phrase ‘Lamb of God’ is in the text for this Sunday. It’s actually in the text twice (John 1:29, 36). It’s a short phrase. It’s also known in Latin (Agnus Dei). And it has a lot in it.
​

You might think this a bit strange, but I’ve been thinking about the word ‘of’. It’s also a short word. But it’s also an important one.
You might think that this is a bit strange as well, but there are two main divisions of that tiny word. Generally speaking, it can be used to define something, or it can be used to show a separation from something. In the first case, it still has the meaning of ‘of’, but in the second, it could mean something like ‘from’.
I noticed that scholars have written several articles written about this phrase, and I can only imagine the variety of opinions. This is literally an amazing thing to have such a strong confession so early within a gospel account. (That topic must be saved for another time.)
And perhaps you may differ, but I think that, with this confession being so close to the beginning of the account, and with the progression of the introduction going from the Word being with God, to the Word being God, and then to the Word dwelling with us, I am leaning towards an understanding of the word ‘of’ as a separation. This Lamb of God is the Lamb from God.
Actually, either way, the phrase is an amazing gift. For God to have a lamb seems to be a normal thing; everything really belongs to him! But for that lamb to be a man is a true miracle, and on the basis of that miracle, it looks like more miracles are headed our way.


It is a good thing to connect some parts of the church’s liturgy to the writings of the bible. When someone says the same phrase over and over again, it’s pretty important that those words are not just some words that someone made up quite quickly. As those words point us to the bible, the bible points us to God, and that’s an important place to be.


The phrase ‘Lamb of God’ is in the text for this Sunday. It’s actually in the text twice (John 1:29, 36). It’s a short phrase. It’s also known in Latin (Agnus Dei). And it has a lot in it.
You might think this a bit strange, but I’ve been thinking about the word ‘of’. It’s also a short word. But it’s also an important one.
You might think that this is a bit strange as well, but there are two main divisions of that tiny word. Generally speaking, it can be used to define something, or it can be used to show a separation from something. In the first case, it still has the meaning of ‘of’, but in the second, it could mean something like ‘from’.
I noticed that scholars have written several articles written about this phrase, and I can only imagine the variety of opinions. This is literally an amazing thing to have such a strong confession so early within a gospel account. (That topic must be saved for another time.)
And perhaps you may differ, but I think that, with this confession being so close to the beginning of the account, and with the progression of the introduction going from the Word being with God, to the Word being God, and then to the Word dwelling with us, I am leaning towards an understanding of the word ‘of’ as a separation. This Lamb of God is the Lamb from God.
Actually, either way, the phrase is an amazing gift. For God to have a lamb seems to be a normal thing; everything really belongs to him! But for that lamb to be a man is a true miracle, and on the basis of that miracle, it looks like more miracles are headed our way.
It is a good thing to connect some parts of the church’s liturgy to the writings of the bible. When someone says the same phrase over and over again, it’s pretty important that those words are not just some words that someone made up quite quickly. As those words point us to the bible, the bible points us to God, and that’s an important place to be.



The phrase ‘Lamb of God’ is in the text for this Sunday. It’s actually in the text twice (John 1:29, 36). It’s a short phrase. It’s also known in Latin (Agnus Dei). And it has a lot in it.
You might think this a bit strange, but I’ve been thinking about the word ‘of’. It’s also a short word. But it’s also an important one.
You might think that this is a bit strange as well, but there are two main divisions of that tiny word. Generally speaking, it can be used to define something, or it can be used to show a separation from something. In the first case, it still has the meaning of ‘of’, but in the second, it could mean something like ‘from’.
I noticed that scholars have written several articles written about this phrase, and I can only imagine the variety of opinions. This is literally an amazing thing to have such a strong confession so early within a gospel account. (That topic must be saved for another time.)
And perhaps you may differ, but I think that, with this confession being so close to the beginning of the account, and with the progression of the introduction going from the Word being with God, to the Word being God, and then to the Word dwelling with us, I am leaning towards an understanding of the word ‘of’ as a separation. This Lamb of God is the Lamb from God.
Actually, either way, the phrase is an amazing gift. For God to have a lamb seems to be a normal thing; everything really belongs to him! But for that lamb to be a man is a true miracle, and on the basis of that miracle, it looks like more miracles are headed our way.
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