Keeping the Sabbath - Jesus Style

This is probably going to be one of the more controversial posts I have (or will have) written, but in my studies recently it has become so reinforced to me that I wanted to share it with all of you. It has to do with the Sabbath. Given that the Sabbath relates to the Ten Commandments, we could easily get into a heated debate as to what extent New Testament Christians are subject to the Ten Commandments. I’m not talking about whether or not they should be on the courthouse walls, but whether or not you, as a Christian, are bound to obey them. Some will say absolutely we must obey the Ten Commandments. Others will say Christ abolished the old law and replaced it with a new command. Still others will say that while he fulfilled the law, we should still obey it. We could go on forever about that, but I want to talk about the Sabbath. Presuming we are to obey the Ten Commandments, to what extent do we obey the commandment to observe the Sabbath? Some will say we should do so on the Sabbath itself (i.e. the 6th day of the week – Saturday). Others will say that we observe the Sabbath on Sunday. Still others will say that of all the commandments, the Sabbath is the only one that Jesus did not specifically re-enforce – in fact he “broke” it. Therefore, we do not need to observe the Sabbath. Then, of course, there are those who simply ignore it and pretend like the issue doesn’t exist – or more probably, have simply never thought about it. How should we resolve what seems to be a contradictory situation? Well, I believe the issue of keeping the Sabbath is not so complicated as we might expect. What I am about to proclaim is the result of my own recent studies on this topic and I realize that some of you might not agree with it. That's Ok.

To start this discussion, we should first examine the command itself from Exodus 20:

(8) "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. (9) Six days you shall labor and do all your work, (10) but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. (11) For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

At first, it seems fairly straightforward. If we are to keep this command, we should not work on Saturday. However, closer inspection might give us a different perspective. First of all, the command itself is verse 8, which simply says “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy”. The clarifications that follow (i.e. to not work) are merely the Old Testament implementation of the command. The remainder, verse 11, is God's explanation for having established the command. Let us begin our examination by starting first with the explanation. What does it really mean to say that God “rested” on the 7th day? Did he cease to work altogether on that day? Hardly; if he had completely ceased to work, the universe itself would have ceased to exist. Rather, his “rest” was a time of reflection and honoring of the accomplishments of the prior week. Working backwards from there, the Old Testament implementation of the command to not work on the Sabbath was to ensure that the Israelites took time out to reflect upon God, honor God, and also to physically and spiritually rest.

Prior to the issuance of the Ten Commandments, the Israelites were slaves. They had no concept of rest and they had no opportunities to simply stop and reflect on spiritual matters. We can do even better than that. Prior to Egypt, there was no Israel. There was no “law”. There was no Sabbath. In fact, the word “Sabbath” does not even appear in scripture until Exodus chapter 16, when God gave the Israelites manna from heaven for 6 days a week and ordered the children of Israel to rest from their journey on the 7th (Sabbath) day. With the exception of the creation, there is not even a mention of a seventh day rest in scripture until after Israel is freed from Egypt.

What does this mean and how does it affect us? Unfortunately, we really have to get back to our earlier discussion about whether or not the Ten Commandments really apply to us and to what extent – a discussion we are not likely to get full agreement on. My belief, however, is that Paul answered this question very clearly. In Romans, he tells us that the law makes us conscious of sin. In Galatians, he tells us that the law used to be our “supervisor” until we received Christ. In both Romans and Galatians, he tells us we rely on (live by) faith – not the law - but that the law has not been abolished. We are to “uphold” the law even though we do not “keep” the law. Does that sound contradictory? If so, let me try it this way. When your kids are young, you place very strict rules on them to keep them safe and to teach them. As they get older, the rules are changed and/or relaxed. Does that mean the old rules were no good? Of course it does not. As the child becomes an adult, some of the rules get incorporated into their basic value system so that there is no need to RELY upon them any longer as part of the child’s basic discipline. For example, we may impose a rule on our child not to cross the street without supervision. Is it wrong to cross the street? No, but until the child learns how to do so safely, he is prohibited from doing so on his own – so that you can take the necessary precautions for him. As he gets older, the child learns the importance of precaution and so the rule becomes an innate part of his value system as they take the proper precautions in life. Other rules actually mature and transform into something completely different. For example, we strictly enforce a 9pm bedtime so that our child gets enough rest. As the child grows older, she no longer needs this rule. The rule is not invalid. Its purpose still holds true. However, the adult child has learned that proper sleep is important to good health and self imposes upon herself the requirements necessary for a good night's sleep. The purpose of the rule is met, but through a completely different context. Hopefully, if all goes well, the child becomes a morally pure, socially responsible adult.

The same is true with the law. It is not that the law (i.e. the Ten Commandments) no longer applies. Rather, the law has become a basic part of our value system. For the most part, we don’t have to be told not to lie or murder or steal. Christ in us compels us not to live that way. On the other hand, as we mature, the law itself actually matures with us. Christ explained this to us throughout his ministry if we would only listen to his words. One of the greatest places he did this was in the Sermon on the Mount, where he gave numerous examples of these “matured” rules. For example, the vast majority of us would never consider murder, but Christ told us instead to remove all hate, because hate was essentially equivalent to murder in God’s eyes. Similarly, most of us would never consider living an adulterous lifestyle, but Christ told us instead not to even entertain lustful thoughts in our minds. The rules have matured and become part of our internal value system rather than imposed on us externally. So while we are not bound by the law nor are we dependent on the law, we still have basic moral “regulations” that Christ has instilled upon our hearts that we “must” obey if we are being led by the Holy Spirit. This is why we can say without contradiction that we no longer live according to the law by obeying its 430 scriptural regulations (not to mention everything that the Pharisees added by tradition) associated with the Mosaic law, but yet we still “uphold” the Ten Commandments.

OK. For those of you whom I haven’t lost because the above discussion offended your Ten Commandment fetish, the next question we must now ask is how this applies to keeping the Sabbath? During his ministry, there were certain things that Jesus did that the Pharisees claimed were a violation of the 4th commandment. Jesus disagreed with their interpretation of that commandment and went so far as to claim that he, himself, was the Lord of the Sabbath. Fine, but that still doesn’t tell us whether or how we keep the Sabbath. First, let me say this. Going to church on Sunday is NOT how we keep the Sabbath. Sunday worship has nothing at all to do with the 4th commandment. We worship on Sunday because that is day Jesus resurrected from the dead. In the early church, many Christian Jews actually went to Synagogue on Saturday and then to “church” on Sunday.

We do, however, keep the Sabbath – or at least we should – but not in the way you might think. The secret to understanding how to keep the Sabbath is found in the 4th chapter of Hebrews. The short answer is this… Jesus is our Sabbath. That may not make sense at first, until we think it through. Each of the Ten Commandments had a purpose, and upon His fulfillment of the law Christ gave us “commands” that help us fulfill those purposes. Actually, he tells us we can fulfill the whole law by obeying two simple commands, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength” and “Love your neighbor as yourself”. From that basic foundation, we can then examine the Sabbath. As stated above, the purpose of the Sabbath was simply to set apart time to reflect upon and honor God and thus find spiritual rest and restoration through our submission to Him. Hebrews 4:9-11 says

There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.

And Hebrews 4:3 says, speaking previously about the Sabbath rest

Now we who have believed enter that rest.

And so it becomes clear, then that our Sabbath – i.e. the rest and restoration that comes from reflecting upon and honoring God – does not come through abstinence from work on Saturday or any other day. Neither does it come through church attendance on Sunday or, for that matter, Saturday. Rather, our Sabbath comes when, through our faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, we have so completely surrendered to God that Jesus Christ himself becomes for us a peaceful, restful, respite – not just on Sunday, but every day. As Jesus says,

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."