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 Just because we have an Old Testament, it does not mean that we call it the 'Outdated Testament'.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

July 21st, 2018

7/21/2018

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Is this a good time for you to read this blog? What is your idea of a ‘good’ time?


For two successive Sundays, the word that could be translated as ‘good time’ has been used in the Gospel text. The Greek word means, literally, ‘good time’, but it is never translated that way.


Last Sunday, the text said that Herod’s wife wanted John the Baptist dead, but she was not able to do that. And then, the text says, ‘an opportunity’ came (Mark 6:19-21). This Sunday, Jesus’ disciples had been so busy that, the text says, ‘they had no LEISURE(!) even to eat (ESV; Mark 6:31).’


There is obviously a wide range of things that could make for something that people would consider to be a ‘good time’. On the one hand, there was a good time for someone to be dead. On the other hand, there was NOT a good time for some people to eat.


It seems that, in both circumstances, time is working against the Christians. And the only other use of ‘good time’ in this account is when Judas was looking for a good time (an ‘opportunity’) to betray Jesus (Mark 14:11).


That gets to the heart of a ‘good’ time. A good time is not when things go well for an individual, whether Christian or not. A good time is when things go well for God. And God’s calendar is significantly different from ours.


John the Baptist dies. That is okay with God. The disciples do not have enough time to eat. That is also okay. Judas betrays Jesus. That is more than okay; that is exactly what he wanted.


The cry may go up, ‘Don’t you care that your disciples are hungry?’ The type and amount of God’s care is significantly better.


The critical point in this Gospel account is when Jesus is called the Son of God. He is given that title at the very beginning of the account. But it takes fifteen chapters for the Roman centurion to call Jesus that. And it is at the point where he is hanging dead on the cross.
​


We have more details about Jesus’ time on the cross in the Gospel according to Mark than all the other accounts (cf. Mark 15:25). I do not think that to be a coincidence.
Is that your idea of a ‘good time’? Yes, it is. At least, it should be. At least, it should be given a chance.
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