The Gift of Shabbat

            Although I am thankful for many things, I was especially thankful this year for the gift of Shabbat, or, sabbatical.  I am also thankful that I was able to visit the Holy Land again and to be spiritually nurtured by the staff of St. George’s College in Jerusalem.

            Even though I had been there before, there are always new people, new places and new experiences.  There are also the Biblical stories that come alive in new and profound ways.  A few examples:

            In John 5:1-15 we find the story of a man who had been ill for 38 years.  We are not told the exact nature of his affliction – just that he was probably blind or lame or paralyzed.  He was at the pool in Jerusalem that was called Beth-zatha, or Bethesda.  This is the pool where sometimes the water was stirred up, and it seems that the one who got into the pool first was healed at those times.

            Imagine, however, how the story changes once we know that this pool was about 100 feet deep.  Can you even imagine entering a pool like that if you are blind or lame or paralyzed?  Perhaps now we can understand why it might have taken somebody over 38 years to be healed!

            A second example is the Way of the Cross (or Stations of the Cross).  In all four gospels the story is told of how Jesus is condemned to death, flogged, mocked and crucified.  We hear about Jesus carrying his cross and also Simon of Cyrene being forced to carry the cross.  We also hear that they go from the governor’s palace to the Place of the Skull, or Golgotha.

            When you actually walk the Way of the Cross in Jerusalem, almost the entire journey is an uphill climb.  How tortuous that must have been for somebody who had already been flogged and given a crown of thorns.  It also soon becomes clear that Jesus was not crucified “on a hill far away,” but right

outside the city wall at the time.  The Romans did this so that as many people as possible would see what happens to criminals and traitors.

            Finally, there is the story of Zacchaeus, which we read in Luke 19:1-10.  The story takes place in Jericho, which has never really had much of a Jewish community.  We are also told that Zacchaeus was not just a tax collector but a chief tax collector.  No self-respecting Jew would ever hold such a position.  Add to these things the fact that Zacchaeus is a Greek name rather than a Hebrew name, and he was more than likely a Gentile and not a Jew.

            How, then, does the story change when Jesus says, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham”?  And then there’s the fact that Jesus actually entered his house and ate there, which Jews were not supposed to do.  All of a sudden, this becomes a far more inclusive story than it might be otherwise.

            I am thankful for these insights and for many more experiences.  I will be sharing some of these experiences on two different dates: Oct. 27 and Nov. 17.  This will be over coffee after worship.  These will be two different presentations – Land of the Holy One, Part 1 and Part 2.  I hope that as many as possible will be able to come to one or both presentations.

            Thank you for the gift of Shabbat, and thank you for the gifts that you share each and every week!                        

In Christ,

Pastor Lynne Hutchison