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 Just because we have an Old Testament, it does not mean that we call it the 'Outdated Testament'.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

March 10th, 2018

3/10/2018

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The context of a text is usually an important thing. And usually it is overlooked when looking at a Sunday reading.
 
The Gospel text for this Sunday contains, I would say, the most well-known verse in the bible—John 3:16. So it is important to get the context for such an important verse.
 
Jesus is talking to Nicodemus, an important man among the Jews. And it is also important to note that Jesus is talking to Nicodemus in a way that is confusing him.
 
It may be helpful to note that Nicodemus, when he begins the conversation with Jesus, talks about how he is a teacher from God and that God is with him. Jesus begins the conversation with Nicodemus about what he needs while here on earth (John 3:3; ‘…unless anyone is born from above/again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’).
 
Nicodemus wants to connect Jesus to God, and Jesus wants to connect Nicodemus to God’s kingdom. There is a significant difference between those two things.
 
When God shows up, THAT is a significant event. Usually the subject switches to fear. When God’s kingdom shows up, that is also a significant event. But the subject can more easily focus on love.
 
I found a unique phrase within the first words of the text, that ‘whoever believes in [Jesus] may have eternal life (3:15).’ The word ‘believe’ usually (I have been told it happens 34 other times this way!) is connected to the preposition ‘into’ and not ‘in’.
 
The word ‘into’ strikes me as more complete, more certain, and more caring. Some manuscripts actually have the preposition ‘into’ instead of ‘in’ here because it is so frequently used.
 
But I can see a case for the preposition ‘in’ here. Jesus just described Moses lifting up the snake IN the wilderness, and Jesus compared himself to that snake. And, if you want to follow the strongest evidence (and, admittedly, the ESV has unfortunately not chosen to do so), Jesus, just before this verse—and this text—described himself as ‘the Son of Man WHO IS IN HEAVEN.’ (See the footnote to John 3:13 that might be in your bible.)
 
I see a wonderful contrast here. Jesus has said that he is not only sitting there, talking to Nicodemus, but that he, being fully God, is also in heaven. He has also connected himself to being in a wilderness.
 
Wherever Jesus is, that is a place where he can be believed ‘in’. And whether you feel like you are in heaven or in a wilderness, Jesus is there, and his gifts are ready to be given out in a kind and loving way.
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