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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 Just because we have an Old Testament, it does not mean that we call it the 'Outdated Testament'.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 22nd, 2021

5/22/2021

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This Sunday starts the season of Pentecost, and we will again turn out attention toward the Old Testament. And we will stay there for a while. Looking at the Old Testament is helpful for seeing the great significance of Jesus’ humble activity while in this world.

The text for Pentecost Sunday is from Ezekiel 37[:1-14]. With this chapter, we are not only near the end of the Old Testament and near the end of the section of so-called Major Prophets, but we are also near the end of the book of Ezekiel. This is the last reading that is taken from that book that contains forty-eight chapters. It is also the most popular reading, and the same text will appear, not only within the Easter Vigil, but also in the Fifth Sunday in Lent in the ‘A series’.

The text that we have here is sometimes connected to the end of time, since it speaks of a resurrection from the dead, and this is sometimes connected to the end of the book, since it deals with a significant vision of a ‘new temple’, and this is often connected to the new heavens and the new earth.

I have mentioned at other times the importance of the Greek translation of the Old Testament, usually called the Septuagint. A comment could be made about it here as well, since in some manuscripts, this chapter is right before the section on the new temple in chapter 40. But this resurrection is also appropriate here since the bodies that are resurrection are called a very great ‘army’ (in verse 10), and this fits well with the ‘final battle’ that is described in chapters 38 & 39.

In the Concordia Commentary on Ezekiel 21-48, Dr. Horace D. Hummel puts together how this new temple also and especially points to Christ. He quotes various commentaries. He also points out that the guide Ezekiel has as he shows him this new temple calls Ezekiel ‘son of man’, and this is the same title that Yahweh calls Ezekiel. [For more details, see page 11149-1160 et al., but especially 1158; St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2007.]
​

For the next few weeks we will be looking at the ways in which the Lord has chosen to deliver his messages. Sometimes we pass over the mention of an ‘angel’ all too quickly. A messenger has a critical job. The gospel is a critical message. 
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