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The Lost Meaning(s) of the Seventh Day

The Lost Meaning(s) of the Seventh Day. Victoria Conference March 1, 2012 sktonstad@llu.edu. 5. Sabbath and the Revealer – 2. “Pistis Christou : Reading Paul in A New Paradigm,” AUSS 40 (2002), 37-59.

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The Lost Meaning(s) of the Seventh Day

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  1. The Lost Meaning(s) of the Seventh Day Victoria Conference March 1, 2012 sktonstad@llu.edu

  2. 5. Sabbath and the Revealer – 2

  3. “Pistis Christou: Reading Paul in A New Paradigm,” AUSS 40 (2002), 37-59. • “Theodicy and the Theme of Cosmic Conflict in the Early Church,” AUSS 42 (2004), 169-202. • “The Limits of Power: Revisiting Elijah at Horeb.” SJOT 19 (2005), 253-266. • Saving God’s Reputation: The Theological Function of Pistis Iesou in the Cosmic Narratives of Revelation(London and New York: Continuum, 2006). • “‘A Blessing in the Midst of the Earth:’ Traveling the Prophetic Highway in Isaiah,” Spectrum 34 (2006), 46-53. • “The Revisionary Potential of “Abba, Father” in the Letters of Paul,” AUSS 45 (2007), 5-18. • “The Restrainer Removed: A Truly Alarming Thought (2 Thess 2:1-12),” Horizons in Biblical Theology 29 (2007), 133-151.

  4. “’The Father of Lies,’ the Mother of Lies, and the Death of Jesus,” in The Gospel of John and Christian Theology, ed. Richard Bauckham and Carl Mosser (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008), 193-208. • “Creation Groaning in Labor Pains,” in Exploring Ecological Hermeneutics, ed. Norman C. Habel and Peter Trudinger (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2008), 141-149. • “Modern Neuroscience and the Notion of Freedom,” Spectrum 36 (2008), 35-40. • “Appraising the Myth of Nero Redivivus in the Interpretation of Revelation,” AUSS 46 (2008), 175-199.   • “The Message of the Trees in the Midst of the Garden,” JATS 19 (2008), 1-16. • The Lost Meaning of the Seventh Day (Berrien Springs: Andrews University Press, 2009).

  5. Sabbath Verbs Sabbath in John • “My Father is working” • “I am working” (5:17) • “We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; • night is coming when no one can work” (John 9:4). Sabbath in theTorah • God rested on the seventh day (Gen 2:2) • God rested from all the work (2:3) • The Lord …rested the seventh day (Ex 20:11) • On the seventh day he rested (Ex 31:17

  6. Questions • Does the rest of God in the Torah and the work of Jesus in John expose a conflict in the very heart of the Sabbath? • Could the rest of God in the Torah and the work of Jesus in John signify something other than a contradiction?

  7. Possible Answers • Jesus abrogates the Sabbath to the point of flaunting it. • Jesus makes the case for less stringent Sabbath observance. • Jesus takes Sabbath theology and practice in a new direction. • Jesus reveals the meaning of the Sabbath more fully.

  8. What It Does Not Mean • Since the authorities of this world ask, with reasons of their own, "Why did he do it?" Jesus must explain himself. In doing so, he does not abrogate or contradict Sabbath law. Anyone who looks for justification of a casual observance of the fourth commandment will not find it here. The Sabbath is written into the order of the universe, and Jesus does not challenge or change that order. Pidcock-Lester, “John 5.1-9,” 62.

  9. Intimacy, Imitation, and Identity • But Jesus answered them, "My Father is still working, and I also am working.“ For this reason the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because he was not only breaking the sabbath, but was also calling God his own Father, thereby making himself equal to God. Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise.” (John 5:17-19)

  10. Intimacy • But Jesus answered them, "My Father is still working, and I also am working.“ For this reason the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because he was not only breaking the sabbath, but was also calling God his own Father, thereby making himself equal to God. Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise.” (John 5:17-19)

  11. Imitation • But Jesus answered them, "My Father is still working, and I also am working.“ For this reason the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because he was not only breaking the sabbath, but was also calling God his own Father, thereby making himself equal to God. Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise.” (John 5:17-19)

  12. Identity • But Jesus answered them, "My Father is still working, and I also am working.“ For this reason the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because he was not only breaking the sabbath, but was also calling God his own Father, thereby making himself equal to God. Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise.” (John 5:17-19)

  13. Discernment:The Lesser and the Greater • Moses gave you circumcision (it is, of course, not from Moses, but from the patriarchs), and you circumcise a man on the sabbath. If a man receives circumcision on the sabbath in order that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because I healed a man's whole body on the sabbath? Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment. (John 7:22-24)

  14. Appearance and Reality in the Messianic Age • Isaiah 11:3-4 His delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.

  15. Sabbath Healings in John • They are deliberate, and they are central to the plot. • They reveal the meaning of the Sabbath on the level of theology and practice. • And the meaning is…..

  16. Sabbath as Revelation

  17. The Sabbath and the Revealer

  18. From ‘I’ to ‘We’ • Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. (John 9:3-4) • The ‘I’’ precedes the ‘we.’ • Sabbath mediates revelation. • “We must work” means that we are participants in the revealing intent of the Sabbath. • The Sabbath makes God’s presence felt in the world.

  19. It Is Finished • And on the seventh day God finished [sunetelsen] the work that he had done (Gen 2:2) • “It is finished [tetelestai] ” (19:30).

  20. It’s Friday But… • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcbKWT10z34

  21. A War Fought and Won • “Christ did not yield up His life until He had accomplished the work which He came to do, and with his parting breath He proclaimed, ‘It is finished.’ (John 19:30) The battle had been won. His right hand and His holy arm had gotten Him the victory. Was there not joy among the angels? All heaven triumphed in the Savior’s victory. Satan was defeated, and knew that his kingdom was lost.” - Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, 758.

  22. It is Friday – No ‘But’ • “To the angels and the unfallen worlds the cry, ‘It is finished,’ had a deep significance. It was for them as well as for us that the great work of redemption had been accomplished. They with us share the fruits of Christ’s victory.” - Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, 758.

  23. Sabbath and the Revealer • In the Gospel of John, the cross is not a melody played in minor key and the resurrection in major. • The theology of the Sabbath is a theology of the cross; ‘it is Friday, with no ‘but.’ • In the Gospel of John, the Sabbath is a signifier of joy, abundance, and surplus; only at the cross has this meaning come home to itself.

  24. Obedience Plus • This is a very clever argument that deserves close attention. Jesus puts forward a case where one works on the Sabbath in order to keep the patriarchal law central to fidelity to the covenant. The implication is that Jesus works on the Sabbath in order to be obedient to God, one of the essential aspects of righteousness. In doing so, he does not accuse the crowd of breaking the law. He accuses them of making an issue of what is not an issue. Jesus ends the argument with an imperative that makes his point explicit: ‘Do not judge based on sight, but [with] righteous judgment judge’ (7:24). If they persist in treating his actions as a violation of God’s will, they exercise poor judgment.” – Brant , John, 137-138.

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