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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 Just because we have an Old Testament, it does not mean that we call it the 'Outdated Testament'.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 29th, 2017

7/29/2017

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​This Sunday is the last time the text is from Matthew 13. Jesus has seven parables within this chapter--a nice, biblical number. And I think it is unfortunate that the middle parable, the fourth one, has been overlooked in the lectionary. 

Admittedly it is quite small and is also introduced in a very normal fashion. When Jesus is giving the crowd the parable of the weeds, the text says that he 'put another parable before them....' The text says the very same thing regarding the parable of the mustard seed. But when it comes to the parable of the leaven, the text just says that he spoke to them another parable (13:24, 31, 33). Perhaps, with this normal introduction, it has some greater significance.

Leaven (or yeast) is an amazing thing. It works its way into all the bread. I think it is interesting that the text says the woman 'hid' it in the flour. And that word and idea appears elsewhere in this chapter.

There is a treasure that is hidden in a field. There is a man who FINDS a pearl of great value. Jesus, at the end of all these parables, says that 'every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old (13:52).' Something brought out of the treasury has been previously hidden from sight.

That God's kingdom is a hidden one, now THAT is significant. God could make his kingdom quite obvious--he is God! But he has chosen a different way in which to work. He is choosing to be known in a different way.

If one would allow a connection between the five sermons in the Gospel according to Matthew and the five books of the Pentateuch, this sermon in Matthew 13, the middle one, would be connected to Leviticus, the middle book. And Leviticus has a way of being overlooked in the Old Testament.

There are lots of rules and guidelines--wear this, kill that. But all through the book God is dishing out his holiness, and he is dishing it out in a very hidden way.

This God is not like the others. God chooses to be stay with his chosen people while they were wandering around in the wilderness. He chooses to give out forgiveness when an innocent lamb is killed. When blood has been shed, God says that sins have been forgiven. He chooses to remain, for the most part, hidden, so he can be known for his love, not his power.

I am hoping you see a theme here.
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