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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 Just because we have an Old Testament, it does not mean that we call it the 'Outdated Testament'.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 21st, 2023

1/21/2023

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This Sunday, the Third Sunday after the Epiphany, starts with the Gospel text after the temptation of Jesus [Matthew 4:12-25], and for several weeks the Gospel text follows after that one, one after the other, until we get to the second-last Sunday in Epiphany. And the length of the Epiphany season is determined by the date of Easter.

We are also progressing through the Gospel according to Matthew, and we are almost that far. We have been slowing down to look at the historical presents in this account, since they are significantly different in each of the four gospel accounts. And this time we are about to look at all the historical presents in this temptation account.

Here is the full temptation text (Matthew 4:1-11), usually read on the First Sunday in Lent, in a somewhat-literal translation (and some of it was translated last week as well). To help with seeing the significant number of historical presents within such a large text, their English verb has been put in bold print below:

Then Jesus was led up into the wilderness by the spirit to be tempted by the devil. And, having fasted days forty and nights forty, afterward, he hungered. And, approaching, the tempting one, he said to him, “If son you are of the God, say in order that these the stones may become loaves.”

So he, answering, said, “It has been written, ‘Not on bread alone the man shall live, but on the contrary, on every word proceeding through the mouth of God.’”

Then he takes him, the devil, into the holy city, and he stood him upon the wing of the temple, and he says to him, “If son you are of the God, throw yourself down, for it has been written, ‘To the angels of him he will give command concerning you, and on hands they will carry you, so that you do not strike against a stone the foot of you.’”
He said to him, Jesus: “Again, it has been written, ‘Not you shall overtempt Lord the God of you.’”

Again, he takes him, the devil, into a mountain, high, exceedingly, and he shows to him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them, and he said to him, “These things to you, all I will give, if, falling, you will worship me.”

Then he says to him, Jesus: “Go, Satan, for it has been written, ‘Lord your God, you shall worship, and to him only you shall serve.’” Then he leaves him, the devil, and, behold, angels approached and ministered to him.

In Hebrew literature the middle item is often the most important, and this may be the reason that the temptations are in a different order in the Gospel according to Luke. But there is a significant difference in the text above which points to the importance of the last temptation.

Within these temptations, there is a pair of ‘takes’ verbs, and there is also a pair of ‘says’ verbs, but there is a difference in who says them. The first ‘says’ is the devil talking. The next ‘says’ is Jesus talking. And it is significant to note that, within the most reliable manuscripts, the only time the devil’s words are in the historical present is when they repeat what the word of God says, a bible verse from the Old Testament (specifically Psalm 91:11-12).

In some other manuscripts there are more historical presents. And it is not surprising to see that some other verbs are highlighted in that way. But the important ones point to the LORD who has this great throne with a living creature of a man. And it is not surprising to see that, during the temptations, the last historical present is Jesus talking.
The only other verb in the historical present within this section is the verb ‘to show’. This is the last temptation, and this is the devil doing the verb, and it also does fit with the emphasis with this gospel account of the living creature of the man. The devil shows Jesus the kingdoms of the world, and kingdoms come from kings. (There are even kingdoms that people think that they have within a democratic society.)
​

There is One, though, who is truly THE KING. And to show his kingship, his son had a crown of thorns on his cross for us.
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