May 6, 2005A Sabbath Day’s Journey
The Book of Genesis says: “Since on the seventh day God was finished with the work he had been doing, he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation.”
In Jesus’ time, the average person had to work every day to eke out a living. But the chosen people had been adopted into God’s royal family. So, even if they were poor, on the Sabbath they did what the rich people did. They dressed up, ate well, and took it easy.
Then came questions about the fine details. What constituted work? Could they feed their animals on the Sabbath? Could they travel?
Legal interpretations were handed down, and a complicated tangle of Sabbath laws developed. The liberating spirit of the law which seemed so simple (“Take a day off.”) gave way to the letter of the law, and a fear of breaking one of the detailed Sabbath rules.
For instance, it had been determined that one could travel only 2,000 cubits on a Sabbath. A cubit (Latin for elbow) was the distance from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow, or about 18 inches. This meant that on a Sabbath one could not walk more than half a mile.
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Yom Shoah
A Jewish day of remembrance that has been added in modern times is observed on this date. Yom Shoah (Hebrew for “Day of Desolation”) commemorates the Holocaust – the systematic slaughter of six million Jewish men, women and children during World War II.
Friday, Sixth Week of EasterThen they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away.
Acts 1: 12
The early Church was now in exactly the same circumstances we are today. Christ – died, risen and ascended to heaven – is no longer visibly present to them and they must deal with organizational issues, internal conflict, questions Jesus never had to face.
When we read the Acts of the Apostles and watch how the early Church dealt with its problems, we get a strong sense of the Lord’s guiding hand leading them through whatever they faced.
To put it another way, we are in exactly the same circumstances as the early Church. Remember…
• The Lord is just as present to us.
• The struggles we face are no more difficult than the ones faced by the early Church.
• Church members today are no different than the early Church – each of us a mixture of saint and sinner.
• It is the Lord who calls us together and sustains us and loves us – just as he loved those first disciples through their ups and downs.
Have a good heart toward our Church. Say a prayer for it, and all of us who are part of it.
Spend some quiet time with the Risen Lord.
