Did Jesus Break the Sabbath?
Ramone Romero - March 17, 2007

“Jesus said to them, ‘My Father is always at His work to this very day, and I, too, am working.’ For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill Him; not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.” (John 5:17-18)

From these verses the writer says He did. And not only that, in response to criticism of breaking the Sabbath, Jesus didn’t merely correct them on “which works” were acceptable on Sabbath (as He did in the synoptic gospels). Instead, here He said plainly, ”Yes, I am at work, and My Father is and has been at work to this very day” (and “this very day” was a Sabbath day).

The other night I suddenly understood that “healing" is an act of creation. It requires the creative power of God. It is possible to split hairs and say it’s only “repairing”, yet when you see that “creation” made “life”, and then “sin” brought “death”, sin essentially “un-did” creation. It requires the same power of creation in order to bring “life” again.

“Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind.” (John 9:32)

This is most clearly seen when Jesus healed the man born blind. His eyes had never worked. This was an act of brand-new creation. And He had done it on the Sabbath!

He spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. “Go,” He told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing. (John 9:6-7)

The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. (Genesis 2:7)

Jesus showed that He was the creator when He healed the born-blind man’s eyes. He took the dust of the ground as God had at creation, and put it on the man’s eyes. He mixed His own saliva in it, perhaps indicating that life was in Him, and the power to heal, restore and create life was in Him. It seems the directness of Christ’s act of creative power here was not lost on the Jews. They didn’t miss the message.

But we did in Adventism.

“By the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing, so on the seventh day He rested [ceased] from all His work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He rested [ceased] from all the work of creating that He had done.” (Genesis 2:2-3)

Somehow in focusing on the 4th Commandment (of the 10), we focused in on the weekly cycle of 7 days and got this idea that God also rested every seventh day. We thought it was God’s day of rest, and somehow assumed that He, too, must be resting on Sabbath.

But Jesus’ actions and words in John 9 show that God did not and does not rest on the Sabbath day.

God the Son did not cease from creating as God had ceased [rested] from creating at creation.

God rested on the first “seventh day”. When the Sabbath days were given later to Israel, He was by that point already “back at work”. He did not rest on their Sabbaths, and He does not rest on ours, either.

So what was the Sabbath for?

“The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27-28)

Jesus said that the Sabbath was made for man. It was not made for God, it was made for man. Somehow when looking at these verses from Mark as an Adventist, I always thought that Jesus was referring back to creation, that He was talking about the purpose of the “rest” in the creation story.

But no! Jesus was talking about the purpose of the Sabbath of Israel!

“A religious festival, a New Moon celebration, or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.” (Colossians 2:16-17)

Jesus said clearly that the Sabbath day was made for man… why was it made for man? It was made to lead us to rest in Jesus! It was a sign of the rest we would have in Him by faith!  We rest in His finished work of salvation—our “works” do not belong in the Sabbatismos of salvation.

In retrospect, it’s completely strange to ask the question, “Did Jesus break the Sabbath”. Why? Because the Sabbath was made to point to His coming! The Jews (and we as Adventists) had all gotten things a bit mistaken… we had missed the message, the purpose of the Sabbath day, and had assumed that we were somehow made for it. So when Christ came, the Light, we wanted the Light to stay in His shadow, to make sure that He didn’t “break it”, so to speak.

This basically shows how as humans we tend to take our eyes off of God (off of the Light) and pick apart His shadows, making laws of them and judging one another by them. And even should God come and walk among us (as He did!), instead of recognizing Him, we would tend to judge Him in the same way, too!

But, “the Son of Man is no lackey to the Sabbath. He’s in charge.” (Mark 2:27-28, The Message)

And He’s no lackey to us, to our judgment, either.

But Adventists don’t say you can’t work on the Sabbath. You must never have been around any good old Sunshine Bands . And while work for pay or gain on the Sabbath is opposed, those in the helping professions get a pass on this. Adventists do teach that you can’t or shouldn’t (there isn’t really any enforcement of this) go the movie-theatre, shopping mall or the sports stadium--that is you shouldn’t use the Sabbath to do you own pleasure (Isaiah 58:12-13):

12 And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.

13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:

-------
Jesus wasn’t breaking the Sabbath in this sense. He was not doing His own pleasure, as He was always doing the work of His Father. Of course, healing others was His pleasure, too. But for sinners, our pleasure is in pleasing ourselves, entertaining ourselves. Jesus did not break the Sabbath in this sense.

So for Jesus, as it should be for Christians and especially SDA’s, the Sabbath is supposed to be a day of good works, and a day of benefit for others, just not works of the flesh. Of course, the Sabbath is also a day of worship and fellowship, a time to come apart from the demands and stimulations of the world to commune with God. That it’s become in many Adventist circles, a day of slumbering until sundown when we can turn the TV on, isn’t necessarily admirable, but the principle of Sabbath rest/work remains.

Yes, good points, glenn.

I believe that Jesus was’t abolishing the Sabbath by an act of what the Pharisee’s called work, I believe that He was trying to change perspective.

Jesus’ words, ‘I am the Lord of the Sabbath’ and ‘It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath Day’ was an attempt to assert His authority of the day as He did in the OT ‘from doing thy pleasure on My holy day. I believe He did this so that His words and actions could be taken seriously to help free people from the mind-numbing legalisim of Jewish observance of the Sabbath.

Were the Sabbath not important at all, then Christ’s words ‘It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath’ makes no sense. That would be like you moving rocks by hand at a construction site from point A to point B, but instead of the foreman telling you, ‘I’m not moving them. You don’t need to move them anymore” he says ‘You know, it’s a lot easier to move those rocks with a wheelbarrow”.

If I don’t need to move them, why establish a change in methodology?

However, I agree with agapetos, that much of Adventism has missed the mark on this and has relegated the Sabbath back to Pharisaical custom. “You know you might be an Adventist if you wear hip-waders in the lake so you know how far you can go before it becomes swimming”

Jesus said, ‘It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath’ If this ‘good’ constitutes ‘work for the Lord’ be it physical or whatever, then by all accounts it is the right way to observe the Sabbath. If my raking the leaves for a little old lady on Sabbath means I can share my declaration of my love for Christ and for her, then how could that be wrong by the principle Christ set?

Quick comment for Glennspring: In the fullest sense of God’s “work” at creation, from which He rested on the 7th day, Jesus worked on the Sabbath days.  He did not rest as God had rested at creation.  Jesus’ activity on Sabbath days is more comparable to the first six days of creation than the seventh day.

(Additionally, John doesn’t qualify Jesus’ “breaking” of the Sabbath.  He just flat-out says, “Jesus was breaking the Sabbath.")

However, all this aside, Hebrews 4:7 says that we enter God’s rest ”today”… and that we who believe do enter His rest (Hebrews 4:3).

The author of Hebrews wrote to Jews who had believed in Christ but were now being lured back to the Old Covenant.  Hebrews 3 and Hebrews 4 essentially show that in Moses’ time, Israel did not enter “God’s rest”.  Neither did they enter “His rest” in Joshua’s time or in David’s time (when the verse from Psalms was written)… even though in all these times the Sabbath day was kept (and those who disobeyed were punished according to God’s command).  Despite all this, they “did not enter His rest.”

But now in Christ, by believing in Him, we do enter God’s rest, that same rest that He had at the beginning when everything was finished—because now in Christ, “It is finished.” We cease from our works and enter His finished work.  Now He lives with us --in us!-- every day.  We no longer need to be dependent on time or location (see John 4) to be close to Him, because He is closer than the very air we breathe.

In Jesus, again we walk in Eden.

*****

P.S. for Guibox: No, Jesus didn’t abolish the Sabbath.  He fulfilled it.  The Sabbath was a shadow of Him.  When He came--the Light---the shadow was fulfilled.  Just like He fulfilled Passover, Yom Kippur, Simchat Torah, etc.

Additionally, every Sabbath day looked forward to the Sabbath year (once every 7 years), and every Sabbath year looked forward to the year of Jubilee (every 49 years).  When the year of Jubilee came, people were supposed to eat grain from the fields.  In Matthew 12, that is just what the disciples are doing with Jesus when the Pharisees got upset!

By having His disciples eat grain from the fields, Jesus was showing that the Jubilee year had come—He was the fulfillment of every “Sabbath”, from the smallest Sabbath day, to the Sabbath year, and to the grand climax of the Sabbath cycle, the Year of Jubilee.

Not abolished, but fulfilled.  The Sabbath-rest Himself had come.  This is why the author of Hebrews says that by believing in Christ we can and do enter God’s rest today.

oops..I double posted. It would be nice if we could delete our own posts.

Can that be done?

[quote author="Ramone"]But now in Christ, by believing in Him, we do enter God’s rest, that same rest that He had at the beginning when everything was finished—because now in Christ, “It is finished.” We cease from our works and enter His finished work. Now He lives with us --in us!-- every day. We no longer need to be dependent on time or location (see John 4) to be close to Him, because He is closer than the very air we breathe.

But in what sense would going to church on Saturday (Sabbath) and observing that day holy by refraining from secular activities, constitute not entering into His rest?

What do you think Christians should do on Saturday or Sunday?

If I work in my occupation five days a week, that’s five days a week I’m running around commuting, running errands, shopping, watching TV, reading the newspaper, etc. Do you think it makes sense that Christians would set aside one day out of seven to focus on God? Of course you’re quite correct that God is present throughout the week, and we are implored by Paul to “pray without ceasing”, but given the demands of making a living, it only stands to reason that the regular work week will not provide a lot of time to fellowship with other Christians, worship God, and study His Word.

So what’s the problem with keeping a Sabbath in this sense of the word?

Hi Glennspring,

But in what sense would going to church on Saturday (Sabbath) and observing that day holy by refraining from secular activities, constitute not entering into His rest?

In this sense: If we are not recognizing the Biblical meaning of “Sabbath”—that is, if we are looking elsewhere for ‘rest’ than Jesus Christ.  If we miss the fact that Sabbath was a shadow, then we likely will not understand the substance of it.  For many people, “Sabbath” means physical rest, and they argue about which “day” it is.  But the Sabbatismos (Sabbath-rest) is not merely physical.  The physical rest of old was the shadow of a greater rest—one that begins from the inside out.  It starts in your spirit and works out to every part of your life.

Some people have devotions in the morning.  Some have them in the evening.  Some don’t have them at all.  As Romans 14 says, everyone needs to be convicted of what you need to do.  You follow God, you listen to His Spirit for yourself. 

But because the Sabbath was a shadow of the Messiah, there is no need for anyone to keep “keeping” it.  However, if you choose to, that’s up to you & God, just like some have devotional times.  No one can judge that.  Yet when you make that choice, it is also important to recognize in Romans 14 that it is a private choice, and cannot be imposed on others.  As Colossians 2 says, we are not to judge anyone by a Sabbath day because it was a shadow.  Thus, God does not judge us by the shadows (Sabbath, etc.), but by the reality (Christ).  If God does not judge us about these things (Sabbath, et al) then we cannot judge one another about them.

What do you think Christians should do on Saturday or Sunday?

I don’t know.  It’s up to you & God.  Spend time with your family, relax, go shopping, go to an amusement park, take a walk in the park, go fishing, have a devotional, get together with friends, go to a church, have a Bible study at Starbucks, read a good book, etc.  Or if, like me, you have to work on the weekend, then work.  God is with you in your work, and you, too, can be with Him in your work.

If I work in my occupation five days a week, that’s five days a week I’m running around commuting, running errands, shopping, watching TV, reading the newspaper, etc. Do you think it makes sense that Christians would set aside one day out of seven to focus on God?

I don’t know how to get through one day at work without focusing on God through it all.  Not that I’m judging you or others by my experience, but rather I’m suggesting that perhaps our “work” needs to be sanctified a little more—meaning that God can be with us during our work.  And of course we know He’s with us, but we have often limited Him because we have focused on the body’s actions of “work” and “rest”.  When you understand that His Sabbath-rest is deeper, and when you understand how fully and completely His Holy Spirit is living in you, then you can begin to “commune” with Him all the day long in any situation.

Paul and Silas could have sat in prison lamenting how busy and occupied they were with everything going on ... fresh lashes bleeding on their backs, worrying about what to say to the magistrates, not to mention that they had no jobs and would probably be moving onto another city as soon as they got out of jail.  On top of it, it was the middle of the night!  They needed sleep!

I’m saying that Paul & Silas had plenty --by our standards-- to “occupy” their time, and they could have legitimately craved “a Sabbath day” by our rationale.  But they did not wait for that.  They sought God at that time, where they were, in spite of all the different types of ‘chains’ in their lives.  And as they sought Him, the earth shook and their chains fell off.

We, too, feel like we have a lot of “chains”—work, responsibilities, obligations, errands, things we want to do or read, etc.  There is so much that we feel we must compartmentalize.  The chains in one area, “God” in the other.  The chains on the weekdays, “God” on the weekend (or one day a weekend).  No!  If we will seek God and allow Him out of the boxes we cram Him into, then we’ll find that He breaks our “chains” and sets us free, even in the midst of our work.

Adam and Eve are said to have “worked” in the Garden of Eden, yet by every definition of our kind of “work” today, they did not work at all!  What was “work” for them would be vacation & paradise for us (or at the least, retirement life).  In the same way, when we enter Sabbath-rest in Christ, we enter and live ‘in Eden’ seven days a week.  Outwardly our work may look the same, but because of the internal change, all the difference has been made, and it is not ‘work’ apart from communing with God.  The burden is lessened.  Charles Wesley wrote it well in a hymn:

Talk with us, Lord, Thyself reveal,
While here o’er earth we rove;
Speak to our hearts, and let us feel
The kindling of Thy love.

With Thee conversing, we forget
All time, and toil, and care;
Labor is rest, and pain is sweet,
If Thou, my God, art here.

*****

Of course you’re quite correct that God is present throughout the week, and we are implored by Paul to “pray without ceasing”, but given the demands of making a living, it only stands to reason that the regular work week will not provide a lot of time to fellowship with other Christians, worship God, and study His Word.

So what’s the problem with keeping a Sabbath in this sense of the word?

For fellowship with other Christians, the New Covenant has no set times that must be observed.  Christians are free to gather together whenever they can.  This is why in Acts you often see people meeting every day.  Other times (such as with Jews), they continued meeting at the synagogue.  Still others, such as the Corinthians, appeared to get together on Sundays.  But we’re not sure.  God didn’t write in “meet at such and such time” into the New Covenant.  Instead He said, “Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I with them.” He is with us individually, and any time we get together.

The problem with superimposing the Old Covenant “Sabbath” onto Christian meetings is that it is not a Biblical concept.  The early Christians did not meet together because it was “Sabbath”.  They met together as often as they could because they loved each other and loved breaking bread together (that is, having the Lord’s Supper together, a.k.a. “Communion") as often as they could.

Biblically, “keeping Sabbath” means something a lot different than “going to church”!  The Law is very specific about how to “keep the Sabbath"… don’t do any work, don’t make your animals do any work, don’t light a fire, don’t make any food, don’t do any monetary transactions, etc.

If privately we want to call whatever tradition we’ve inherited “Sabbath”, well, no one can argue about that.  But such traditions are not the Biblical “Sabbath day”, nor are they the mandate for New Covenant Christians’ meetings.

Hope that explains a bit.

Blessings in His rest,
Ramone

Hi Ramone,

I just saw your thread on this same topic on FAF, and I saw where you linked to 4TG--we appreciate that very much.

I take the position that Jesus only broke the Sabbath in the eyes of the Pharisees, but to fulfill every aspect of the Mosaic Covenant, he by necessity had to keep the Sabbath as well as Passover, and all the other feasts. He was circumcised on the eighth day, and there are multiple other instances where Jesus was subject to the Mosaic Law. If He had done carpentry work on the Sabbath, then He would have been guilty of breaking it. Christ’s work was mostly spiritual.

I don’t see why there is so much hang-up about keeping a day in the New Covenant economy. Since the Sabbath was the most prominent command in the decalogue, and was so central to Israel’s worship system, I find it amazing that NONE of the apostles who wrote the epistles not even ONCE mentioned the Sabbath as an ongoing obligation. Since Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles, would one not think that he, being a pharisee about the Sabbath in his past life, not even remind or admonish the Gentiles to keep the Sabbath even one time??

I mean, here is the one commandment that SDAs claim will either make or break one’s salvation as a final test, and it centers on the commandment that no apostle even mentions as important, and not even Jesus, when He dictated the last message to the seven churches through John, NOT ONCE reminded evem ONE of the seven churches that they had become careless about keeping the Sabbath?

And why did God wait 1800 years to give Ellen White a vision with a halo around the fourth commandment, as suddenly the Sabbath was to take on great importance and become a final test of salvation?? I would be curious how either Guibox or Glenn would answer the above questions?

If God wanted no confusion about the Sabbath, the Holy Spirit would have inspired just one NT writer to remind people about the great importance of the Sabbath day?

Instead we find that Paul wrote Romans 14:5,6 and Colossians 2:16,17?

The SDA or even the Reformed position on either Saturday or Sunday just doesn’t make sense.

Having said all the above, I still don’t see why some former Adventists will be critical of those who still want to regard the day, as Paul says it is entirely legitimate to do. I think the FAF position on this may have some valid concerns about transitioning or former SDAs still looking to the Sabbath as a hedge bet just in case Ellen’s vision of the halo around the fourth command was a true vision. If a former or current SDA is keeping the Sabbath with a view of it contributing or subtracting from his salvation, then I agree that is problematic.

However, there are so many positive benefits from setting aside a special day for rest, worship, more time with family, that it is difficult to be too upset about that. There are huge health benefits from resting one day in seven. But the New Testament likely avoided a specific command on this issue, because in a global world economy, and not an agrarian theocracy like in Israel, the gospel would be hindered. When the apostles in Acts 15 met to decide issues related to the law of Moses, they expressly did not want to make it difficult for Gentiles who were coming to Christ.

Think how difficult, it is, when a newly baptized SDA is told that when the sun sets early in the winter, then you have to tell your employer that you need the time off. I have seen incredible burdens placed on people when this type of legalism is taught.

Stan

[quote author="Stan"]I take the position that Jesus only broke the Sabbath in the eyes of the Pharisees, but to fulfill every aspect of the Mosaic Covenant, he by necessity had to keep the Sabbath as well as Passover, and all the other feasts. He was circumcised on the eighth day, and there are multiple other instances where Jesus was subject to the Mosaic Law. If He had done carpentry work on the Sabbath, then He would have been guilty of breaking it. Christ’s work was mostly spiritual.

Stan, I agree with your take above.

[quote author="Stan"]I don’t see why there is so much hang-up about keeping a day in the New Covenant economy. Since the Sabbath was the most prominent command in the decalogue, and was so central to Israel’s worship system, I find it amazing that NONE of the apostles who wrote the epistles not even ONCE mentioned the Sabbath as an ongoing obligation. Since Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles, would one not think that he, being a pharisee about the Sabbath in his past life, not even remind or admonish the Gentiles to keep the Sabbath even one time??

I mean, here is the one commandment that SDAs claim will either make or break one’s salvation as a final test, and it centers on the commandment that no apostle even mentions as important, and not even Jesus, when He dictated the last message to the seven churches through John, NOT ONCE reminded evem ONE of the seven churches that they had become careless about keeping the Sabbath?

And why did God wait 1800 years to give Ellen White a vision with a halo around the fourth commandment, as suddenly the Sabbath was to take on great importance and become a final test of salvation?? I would be curious how either Guibox or Glenn would answer the above questions?

If God wanted no confusion about the Sabbath, the Holy Spirit would have inspired just one NT writer to remind people about the great importance of the Sabbath day?

Instead we find that Paul wrote Romans 14:5,6 and Colossians 2:16,17?

I find all of this a bit curious as well. I don’t buy the explanation some have offered that the apostles didn’t talk about it because it wasn’t controversial. I can’t imagine that would have been the case, anymore than it is the case in our day.

I former SDA turned Roman Catholic wrote an article I read recently that talked about the Sabbath issue in light of John 19:42. In this verse, John mentions the Jewish Day of Preparation; the inference being that if the Day of Preparation was regarded by John as a peculiarly Jewish rite, than the Day the Day of Preparation was preparing for could probably be seen as a mostly Jewish rite as well. In all the Sabbath controversies, I had not really noticed this passage before. Nor do I think Dr. Sam B has made note of it either, based on the newsletters I’ve read anyway. Is this verse determinative by itself? Probably not. But together with those you mentioned, and in addition to the absence of attention by Paul and the other apostles can only lead me to conclude that strict Sabbath observance was not an apostolic era requirement or pillar.

The basis of keeping the Sabbath, and the Seventh Day Sabbath in particular, stems from two main foundational pillars: it’s creation-week origin; and it’s place in the Decalogue.

As to the first, I think John Reisinger’s take on this makes some sense and I find it at least partially compelling. As to the second, I’m not sure. The Ten Commandments are referred to in the NT; but the emphasis in the NT, as I think has been brought out in Greg’s Law and Gospel series, was on the one hand, concerned about Belief in Jesus, and on the other hand, on the deep, inner-spirituality of the law. Did Jesus and the apostles “keep” the Sabbath? Well, it’s clear they went to the Synagogue on the Sabbath. But it isn’t equally clear what we should draw from that. As you pointed out, Stan, Jesus faithfully adhered to the Jewish Mosaic laws across the board; some of which, like circumcision we are not obliged to keep. And Paul and the apostles regularly went to the Synagogue, one presumes on Sabbath, in order to meet the people where they were. But it isn’t particularly clear to me that Paul attached any significance to the day itself, as requiring some specific act of devotion.

I do believe, however, that a Sabbath rest is important, and that in a desire to commune with our Lord, the principle of a Sabbath rest makes sense to me.

I agree with what you wrote here, Stan--

[quote author="Stan"]However, there are so many positive benefits from setting aside a special day for rest, worship, more time with family, that it is difficult to be too upset about that. There are huge health benefits from resting one day in seven. But the New Testament likely avoided a specific command on this issue, because in a global world economy, and not an agrarian theocracy like in Israel, the gospel would be hindered.

I guess I’m not really doctrinaire about the Sabbath issue anymore. And personally, I don’t really “keep” the day anymore, other than to attend church. But again I do believe that a Sabbath rest, in principle, makes sense if one is to know God better. So while I don’t want to force it or a particular type of observance on others, I don’t adopt the view of some that a Sabbath day of rest is inconsequential. I’ve even begun to think that I could stand to make a better use of that day, and to cut down on some of the more secular things I let myself do on that day, chiefly because I recognize my need to section off more time for Bible study and Christian fellowship.

Glenn,

We are in basic agreement on this issue.

I wonder if Guibox has a different take?

Stan

My take is basically that there is nothing in the NT that makes me feel that Sabbath was no longer a requirement for NT Christians. I believe that Paul’s meeting with the Gentiles and the Gentiles alone on Sabbath in two recorded instances in the NT is quite telling. To me the complete lack of mention of any abrogation of Sabbath or substitution of Sunday in all his discourses on the resurrection speaks volumes to me as well. Both of these things together tell me that there was no issue because it was taken for granted that the Sabbath still existed.

As Glenn feels that this is not really a valid argument, I feel that the argument of ‘Well, the disciples and the Gentiles were at the synagogue on Sabbath because that was the only time people met’ is equally a very weak justification to explain away the above mentioned Gentile Sabbath keeping.

Also add to this the complete lack of controversy from the Pharisees if Paul was indeed tossing away the importance of the Sabbath, when he was fighting them tooth and nail over circumcision and food sacrificed to idols and I feel that Sabbath was a given amongst NT Christians.

Do I keep the Sabbath as I should? No. I don’t. I am bothered about it because I feel I am a hypocrite. I tell my band and barbershop chorus that I ‘can’t’ perform concerts on Sabbath but I sit at home and fiddle on the computer, usually ending up playing video games.

How much sense does that make?

What is the solution?

The easy thing would be to simply jump on the ‘sabbath abrogation’ bandwagon and hope that what I’ve been raised to believe is wrong and everything I read in the Bible and have fought over is incorrect. At this point in my life, a decision to discard the Sabbath would be more out of convenience compared to biblical mandate. I just don’t see anything in the Bible to convince me that Sabbath keeping by Christians is not expected by God.

The answer is to find ways to properly keep the Sabbath in principle and start finding Christ in the Sabbath instead of becoming a Pharisee. My conscience cannot allow me to toss it out all together.

‘sigh’

Guibox,

I appreciate your candor on this. As Romans 14:5,6 says ‘let every man be convinced in his own mind.’

Stan

Guibox --

Thank you for sharing your feelings, especially your personal ones, about Sabbath.  That takes guts of honesty.  Bless you, brother! (You are a brother, right? not a sister?)

My take is basically that there is nothing in the NT that makes me feel that Sabbath was no longer a requirement for NT Christians. I believe that Paul’s meeting with the Gentiles and the Gentiles alone on Sabbath in two recorded instances in the NT is quite telling....

As Glenn feels that this is not really a valid argument, I feel that the argument of ‘Well, the disciples and the Gentiles were at the synagogue on Sabbath because that was the only time people met’ is equally a very weak justification to explain away the above mentioned Gentile Sabbath keeping.

Also add to this the complete lack of controversy from the Pharisees if Paul was indeed tossing away the importance of the Sabbath, when he was fighting them tooth and nail over circumcision and food sacrificed to idols and I feel that Sabbath was a given amongst NT Christians.

The answer to this is simply that “Sabbath” was never commanded to any nation except for Israel. Gentile nations were judged in the Old Testament one after another for every moral crime imaginable, but none was judged for Sabbath violation except for Israel.  Keeping Sabbath meant nothing if you were not part of the group of the circumcision.  A comparison of the regulations for circumcision & Sabbath shows that the exact same language is used—both are “a sign”, violations of both result in being “cut off” from the covenant people, etc.

In particular, Isaiah 56:3-7 shows that foreigners only kept Sabbath if they became part of the covenant people (Israel) and held fast to the covenant (the Old Covenant, that is).

The commandment for circumcision was the sign of entrance into the community of the covenant people (Israel).  It was given before Sabbath was (Sabbath was first commanded in Exodus 16 on the way to Sinai).  Because “Sabbath” was only for people who were circumcised, the apostles effectively removed the whole issue of the Sabbath by declaring that the Gentiles did not need to be circumcised.  Prior to that, Gentiles did not have to keep the Sabbath unless they also were circumcised and kept the Old Covenant.  By declaring a New Covenant that did not require circumcision, the Sabbath issue was made a non-issue.

To me the complete lack of mention of any abrogation of Sabbath or substitution of Sunday in all his discourses on the resurrection speaks volumes to me as well. Both of these things together tell me that there was no issue because it was taken for granted that the Sabbath still existed.

As Stan pointed out, Colossians 2:16-17 does indeed speak of the Sabbath; also, Romans 14:5-6 and Galatians 4:10 most likely refer to controversies such as the Sabbath.  Additionally, Hebrews 3-4 give the promise of entering God’s rest “Today”—completely apart from seventh-day observance—just by believing in Christ.

I said earlier that the Sabbath was first given in Exodus 16, which leads to your comment…

The basis of keeping the Sabbath, and the Seventh Day Sabbath in particular, stems from two main foundational pillars: it’s creation-week origin; and it’s place in the Decalogue.

I used to believe it started at creation, however after looking through Scripture, I can’t find evidence of this.  When studying the Biblical regulations for Sabbath-keeping, it becomes apparent that all the instructions on how to “keep Sabbath” would have meant nothing to Adam and Eve.  For them, every day was “Sabbath”.

A year ago I wrote a little about this on one of my blogs: http://sabbath-rest.blogspot.com/2006/04/work-in-garden-of-his-rest.html

On the second point ("it’s place in the Decalogue")—as we’ve seen on another thread, the Ten Commandments are the very “words of the [old] covenant” (Exodus 34:28, Deuteronomy 4:13, Hebrews 9:4, etc.).  Given that it is in the center (counting by words) of the Old Covenant document, and that Scripture refers to those tablets as “the letter that kills… the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone… the ministry of condemnation” (2 Corinthians 3:6-9), I wouldn’t say that the positioning of the Sabbath aides the argument that it ought to continue being kept.

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In ten-point sum:

1 - The command to observe the Sabbath was given only to Israel, never to Gentiles.

2 - Keeping the Sabbath had significance only if you were part of the circumcision.

3 - No nation except for Israel was ever penalized for failing to observe the Sabbath, yet they were penalized for violent and immoral behaviors.

4 - Paul calls the Sabbath day a “shadow” of Christ; the shadow was not the substance or reality, rather, it pointed to Christ, just as did Passover (etc.).

5 - The book of Galatians condemns returning to relying on the observance of holy days for blessing—Sabbath is likely included but not explicitely stated

6 - The book of Romans tactfully says, “Keep the matter to yourself”, indicating that it is not a blanket requirement (or moral requirement) for Christians, just as eating meat vs. vegetarianism is also not a general requirement or command for Christians

7 - The book of Hebrews declares that “God’s rest” is entered by belief, and is entered “Today”.  It declares these things after mentioning generations of Sabbath-keeping Israelites who did not enter His rest.

8 - There is no Scriptural record of anyone observing Sabbath prior to Exodus 16.  Nehemiah 9:14 speaks of its introduction at Sinai.

9 - The commands on how to observe Sabbath would have meant nothing to Adam & Eve in the Garden of Eden before sin.

10 - The positioning of the Sabbath in the Ten Commandments reinforces it as being part of the Old Covenant, because the Ten Commandments are “The tablets of the covenant” and the “words of the covenant”.  According to Deuteronomy 5, this covenant was not made with Israel’s ancestors (such as Adam, Noah, Shem, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph & his brothers, etc.).

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Finally, in conclusion, by declaring that no one is to judge you about the Sabbath---which is a shadow, not the substance---in Colossians Paul is indicating clearly that God does not judge us by the Sabbath, either.  The importance of recognizing that it is a “shadow” is profound if we look at other shadows such as “Passover”.  If someone wanted to continue “keeping Passover”, it would be their scriptural right to do so.  However, how tragic would it be if that person did not know that Christ was the Passover Lamb!  In the same way, “Sabbath” had a meaning that looked forward to the coming of the Messiah.  If we want to continue observing it after we understand its substance, that’s cool (but not mandatory).  However, it is tragic if we miss the meaning—the fulfillment of the shadow.

And once we understand the meaning, WOOHOO!  The meaning of the Sabbatismos---the Sabbath-rest---is flat-out AWESOME!  I can’t get enough of Sabbatismos.....TODAY!  God is so awesome!

In His rest,
Ramone

Guibox, I also appreciate your honesty.  It took courage to share your thoughts with us.

Ramone, thanks for that well thought out post.  Your understanding of Sabbath rest is very similar to mine.  If the Jews who were “keeping” the Sabbath faithfully every week did not enter into true Sabbath rest (Hebrews 4:4-10), we should not attempt to re-create their observance.  Instead, we should look for the substance of the Sabbath shadow and enter into Sabbatismos today.  Today is the day of salvation and rest (2 Corinthians 6:2).  We don’t need to wait until Saturday to enter it!

Resting daily in the finished work of Christ is true Sabbath rest, however, this spiritual rest does not preclude a one-in-seven physical rest from secular work and a time for communion with God, fellowship, and reaching out to others in need.  But this is nowhere near the “end-time test of obedience” that Adventists have claimed.  Each one should be convinced in his own mind (Romans 14:5-6), but each one should realize that we stand and fall to our own master (Jesus), not to each other (Romans 14:4, Romans 14:7-12).  Let us therefore stop using the Sabbath as a way to measure the obedience of others and instead, leave them safely in the care of the Master, our true Sabbath rest.

Greg

Exodus 16 introduces a variety of issues.

Exodus 16:4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not.

5 On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.”
6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, “At evening you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt,
7 and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against the Lord.

27 On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they found none.
28 And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws?
29 See! The Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Remain each of you in his place; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.”
30 So the people rested on the seventh day.

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On the one hand, this chapter appears to indicate that a giving or awareness of the Law before it was officially given at Sinai. At the same time, in verse 28, is God referring to an eternal Law that the Israelites should have already been aware of from the days of their ancestors or is He using the words “commandments” and “laws” just to refer to what He decreed earlier in the chapter.

Also, this chapter includes God’s decreeing that the giving of the Sabbath was intended, in part, to be a “test” of whether Israel would “keep” or “walk” in God’s laws.

And the Day of Preparation, the sixth day, also appears to have had a miraculous component--see verse 5. Does this verse sound to anyone like God would miraculously double what the Israelites brought in, or were the Israelites just supposed to gather twice as much on the sixth day?

Guibox, how do you understand John 19:41-42, where it talks of the Jewish Day of Preparation?

II Corinthians 3 is a remarkable passage. I still have a hard time fully understanding it.

Exodus 16 is very telling and wonderfully symbolic. This is the first mention of the Sabbath formally in the Bible, and it is associated with the giving of the manna. Who is the manna or Bread of Life? Where is the last place that Sabbath is mentioned in the Bible? This is Colossians 2 where it is Christ that is the SUBSTANCE rather than the SHADOW. In the Lord’s supper we are to eat the bread--Jesus says ‘Do this in REMEMBRANCE of me’ So we are to remember Christ every day. We are not commanded to Remember the Sabbath day. We are to focus our attention on the SUBSTANCE, Christ, who is the true bread of life.

I have seen the experience time and again, where a slavish adherence to Sabbath keeping, and the pride that accompanies the historical SDAs who believe they are really unique in that they are the only ones keeping all the commandments. This spirit does nothing but SUBTRACT from the SUBSTANCE who is Christ. As I said above, Jesus had every opportunity in His last letter to the churches in Revelation to at least give them a gentle reminder to not be careless in Sabbath keeping. Since He didn’t think it was important enough to mention then, or inspire His apostles like Paul, who Jesus communicated directly with in Arabia (Galatians 1), then I cannot accept that He communicated this to Ellen White 1800 years later.

Stan