Much has been made of the attitude of Christ in speech and deed toward the Sabbath. Some have even gone to the extent of saying that He abolished it. But we need the Bible, not men, to tell us the true relation between Christ and the Sabbath. We will answer a few questions, which will help us get the true relation.
1. Did Christ Observe the Sabbath?
And He came to Nazareth where He had been brought up and as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up for to read. Luke 4:16
At the beginning of His ministry, Christ entered the synagogue where He made His mission statement (Luke 4:16-19). The sacred historian makes it plain that, that day, was the Sabbath day. To add weight on the thought, it was His Custom. A custom, is a habit that has often been repeated. Thus Jesus used to keep the Sabbath, not occasionally but habitually. If Christ would not have observed the Sabbath, He could not have said "I have kept my Father's commandment" John 15:10. And if we profess to be followers of Christ, then we too should have a custom of keeping the Sabbath. (1 John 2:6)
2. What did Jesus do on the Sabbath day?
As we saw in our previous discourse, the Sabbath was given to man to be a memorial of the work of creation, to keep God uppermost in the thoughts of men. And when men departed from Jehovah, the Israelites were chosen to preserve the knowledge of God and the Sabbath distinguished them from the surrounding nations.
When Jesus came to the earth, He found Himself in the midst of extremely strict Sabbath keepers. The state of things was so bad that the sick would be neglected on the sheer ground of Sabbath observance. Therefore, Jesus had to restore to this holy day its original meaning and intent. On one occasion He said "The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath: Therefore, the son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath." Mark 2:27,28. By so saying, He did not diminish the importance of the Sabbath, rather He magnified it. The Sabbath was made for the benefit of man, that he might find delight, rest and joy in it. To make it a day of penance and legalistic observance would be to miss its purpose.
The savior as we have seen used to go to the synagogue on the Sabbath. He also performed many miracles on the Sabbath day and they were all done for the purpose of relieving the afflicted; there was the man with a withered hand, the blind man in John 9, the lady with a hump on her back, the guy at the pool of Bethesda, the demoniacs at the synagogue and many more who were helped by Christ, the intent of the Sabbath is to rest and that is what the savior offered and still offers today; rest.
3. Which day did Jesus observe as the Sabbath?
Although the Jews had a wrong attitude towards the Sabbath, they were right about the day. It was still the seventh day of the weekly cycle that God had established in the beginning. If it had not been so, then surely, Jesus would have told them. Is the Bible clear on which day is the Sabbath? Yes. It is not left for us to guess, it is plain.
According to Luke 23:52-56
- Jesus died and was buried on "the preparation day, and the Sabbath drew on" vs 54 (the sixth day).
- The women who followed him "rested the Sabbath day, according to the Commandment" vs 56 (the seventh day).
- Then He resurrected on the "first day of the week" "when the Sabbath was past" Mark 16:1,2.
All Christians know of Good Friday as the day that Jesus died and Easter Sunday as the day that Christ arose. The Sabbath is in the midst of Friday (the sixth day) and Sunday (the first day). Which day is that? SATURDAY. Christ and His disciples kept Saturday as the Sabbath, the women who followed Him kept it, the Jews kept it and the scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday.
Did the early Christians after the resurrection still observe the Sabbath? Yes. Indeed, they kept it. From Antioch (Acts 13:14); to Philippi (Acts 16:12,13); at Thessalonica "Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures" (Acts 17:1,2). It is so clear, even after the death and resurrection of Christ, Christians still observed the seventh day Sabbath. Paul, himself had a habit like Christ of going to the synagogue on the Sabbath commonly called Saturday.
4. Could it be that Christ Changed the Sabbath?
Impossible, for Christ said "Think not that I am come to abolish the law or the prophets; I am not come to destroy but to fulfill" Matthew 5:17. The Sabbath is an everlasting memorial Ps 135:13, and if Christ did not abolish or 'relax it', or change it, who else could? Certainly not the apostles, for as we have seen they also kept it, even Paul kept the Sabbath. So who is this that brought the change?
Our next study will be on that mystery of iniquity, the origin of Sunday observance and the attempted change of the Sabbath. Until that time, may the good Lord bless you and keep you.
Marvelous Grace