Keeping the Sabbath?

Weekly Update – January 23rd, 2025 

Last Sunday, we saw Jesus interacting with the teachers of his day about the Sabbath.  The Sabbath was the seventh day of the week, began at sundown and ended at sundown the next day.  Yet, in Luke 6:1-11, Jesus and his disciples are castigated by these so-called teachers of the law for their supposed Sabbath breaking principles.  The problem is that the principles Jesus and his disciples were breaking were the additional laws and traditions that were added to the Torah just a few hundred years before.  The intentions of those who added these additional rules were initially good as they sought the purity of God’s people, but corruption took over, as the teachers of Jesus day used the law to their own advantage to arrogantly place themselves above those whom they were called to serve.  

It was their lack of awareness that Jesus uses to show the true nature of these teachers of the law.  For though his disciples were plucking heads of grain on the Sabbath (Luke 6:1), and though Jesus healed a man with a withered hand (Luke 6:10), the law written by Moses remained unbroken.  Yet, it wasn’t Exodus 20:8 that the teachers were worried that Jesus and his disciples had broken.  No, it was the additional laws and traditions, the oral law or Mishnah.  In fact, the additional law, kept by the teachers of Jesus’ day, had 39 clarifications that the Jews had to follow to keep the biblical law of the Sabbath.  Even so, I don’t want to jump any deeper into this, for we covered Jesus and his interaction with the teachers on Sunday.  Instead, the question that I did not answer was, what is our relationship now, as New Testament believers, to the Sabbath?  Therefore, let me summarize for you how we, as believers in Jesus Christ, should think about the Sabbath. 

First, the Sabbath and the Law.  On Sunday, we saw how the principles of rest began in Genesis 2:1-3 with God resting on the seventh day of creation.  In six days, God created the world with all its creatures, including the pinnacle, that being mankind.  Yet, the seventh day, God rested from his work (Gen. 2:2), blessed it and called it holy (Gen. 2:3).  There were no further provisions given.  Early followers of God did not observe a Sabbath, including men such as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  Even the Israelites in Egypt were not called to follow a Sabbath.  It wasn’t until the law was given that the Sabbath was considered a day in which all work was to cease.  The reason for this command, was to distinguish Israel from all the other nations around them.  For as the nations labored, Israel would rest one day a week, displaying their trust in the Lord. 

Second, Jesus fulfills the Sabbath.  In Luke 6:5, the way that Jesus responds to the teachers of his day when they want to accuse him of Sabbath breaking is telling them that “the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”  Now, I don’t think that Jesus says this to justify Sabbath breaking, because the reality is, he did not break any law.  He says this to indicate that the Sabbath principle of rest ultimately finds its fulfillment in him.  As God rested on the seventh day of creation, displaying his satisfaction with the work he had done, so too we as believers in Jesus Christ rest in our savior because of the work he has achieved for us, through his life, death and resurrection.  If the law was really our “guardian” or our “tutor” until Christ came, as Galatians 3:24 says, then we are no longer under the law, as Paul says (Gal. 3:25).  Instead, our Sabbath rest entails a resting from our works, as we trust in a savior, Jesus Christ, who died to give us eternal rest (Heb. 4:9-10). 

Third, Believers observe the Lord’s Day. Though we are not obligated to keep the Sabbath as New Testament believers, there is a precedent set by the early church to gather together for worship on the Lord’s Day (Acts. 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2; Rev. 1:10).  The Lord’s Day is the first day of the week, the day after the Sabbath.  The early church would actually observe both the Sabbath and the Lord’s Day on two different days.  Eventually they ceased meeting on the Sabbath and continued to meet on the Lord’s Day.  Either way, as church historian Justo Gonzalaz says, “the notion that Sunday has taken the place of the Sabbath is notably absent from early Christian literature.”  In other words, the principles of the Sabbath were not seen as transferable to how we ought to think of the Lord’s Day.  In fact, much of how we think about Sunday now is influenced by the Puritans and their desire to create a Christian Sabbath.  Instead, we ought to view the Lord’s Day as early believers did.  It is a day to remember the resurrection of Jesus Christ, as we gather together as new creations (2 Cor. 5:17), who have entered into God’s rest (Heb. 4:10). 

Should we seek to have a day of rest?  I would argue that we should.  But not as a way to keep a law or fulfill a command.  Instead, our rest should we defined by a renewed focus upon God and his saving of us through his son Jesus Christ.  Our rest comes as we gather with other believers to hold fast to our confession and stir one another on to love and good works (Heb. 10:23-24).  Seeking times of physical rest will also benefit our souls, as we are reminded that we are dependent upon God to sustain us, yet we should be hesitant to apply rules or principles to what this should look like.  Instead, let us be reminded that we are free in Christ, not to indulge the flesh, but to serve others (Gal. 5:13), by pointing them to our savior, the Lord of the Sabbath. 

Serving Him with You,
Pastor Michael Nelson