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 Just because we have an Old Testament, it does not mean that we call it the 'Outdated Testament'.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

May 13th, 2017

5/13/2017

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​The timing of the Gospel according to John is significantly different from the other accounts. That Gospel account used the Roman time system, whereas the others followed the Hebrew time system. Having a different time system obviously may throw a person off, and I think that is meant to be the point.

The three similar accounts--Matthew, Mark, and Luke--all work together in a very similar way. And the living creatures that are most often connected to those three accounts are ones that are usually found on the ground--man, lion, and ox. But the symbol connected with the Gospel according to John is the eagle, and that is in a completely different category. As I have said before, this Gospel account starts at very beginning of time, and it ends with the writer talking to the reader or listener--the present. The timing of this account is significantly different.

So I am not too surprised when Jesus says the hour has come and he is not yet on the cross. The point at which this happens is even quite unusual, that some Greeks have come to Jerusalem to worship and they ask to see Jesus (John 12:20ff).

And it seems like time slows down significantly after that. After a person reads the first three accounts of Maundy Thursday, he or she can get the idea that Jesus does not have a lot of time to waste. The Lord's Supper has to get instituted, and Judas has to get sent on his special mission. But Jesus says some significantly different things in this account on that special evening--an evening that seems to drag on for several chapters. Again, I think time is getting all messed up.

But I do not think that to be a bad thing. A person can be proud to know the exact time, down to the very second, but what good is that? I remember writing previously about the expression 'to HAVE time', and I think that expression can be easily misused by people; they can easily think that they are in control.  

I think I have mentioned before that Luther wrote an excellent sermon on time, based on the saying in Matthew, 'Do not be anxious'; it is not a matter of how much of it a person has, but what the Lord blesses that makes the difference.

The Gospel according to John, with its special 'farewell discourse' (John 14ff), disrupts our shameful ideas of time and builds a stronger foundation. In the first parts of that chapter, Jesus is helping his disciples to get a better perspective, one that will last through all the bad things ahead.

Peter will end up betraying him (and does not think he will), Thomas admits he does not know where Jesus is going, and Philip is wanting to see the Father. Jesus could have done a few miracles. Instead he says a few words. And that should be enough for now--for them and for us.
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