An overview of the Fourth Commandment
By Khen Lim
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When Sabbath is the topic, it’s either going to be nothing to
talk or too much to cover. On the one end, people maintain that Sabbath is
Sabbath. There is nothing to read into it. It’s an old routine and it doesn’t
mean much today. It’s merely a word but it’s not practical for today’s
lifestyle. On the other end, people are saying that Sabbath defines who we are
and the more we lose touch of it, the more we fail to understand its purpose in
our lives.
So who is right and who is wrong? Or is it a matter of how one
sees things in life? Maybe it’s a case of where one’s preferences lie in terms
of what we gain out of life. To properly understand the Sabbath is to go beyond
just skimming the surface. The Old Testament alone has enough to bury us in a
pile and adding the New Testament reveals how much there is that we need to dig
into.
I guess the immediate point of interest about the Sabbath is whether or not it is relevant today. Those who do not understand its significance are likely to say ‘no.’ Those who don’t like anything to come in the way of their lifestyle will also say ‘no.’ If we can get away with spending one less day pretending to be holy, so much the better. And if Sabbath fits that bill, most will be inclined to spurn it. At this point, what do people really think about the Sabbath?
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Some don’t know what to
make of it and hence, don’t know what to do with it
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Some treat Sabbath like
they treat any holy festive day, that is, as a holiday
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Some believe it to be a
day to be holy because God says so
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Some assume Sabbath has
nothing to do with us if we aren’t Jews
So how should we look at the Sabbath then? What are the
available options? Any of these could make sense:
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Firstly, the modern secular world thinks it as totally
irrelevant
As we are all immersed in globalisation, the
business of making money has shaped society. Saturday has become an important
working day. People do work on holidays. For many, there is no rest if you want
to keep your job. For many therefore, the Sabbath is an irritation and an unnecessary
interruption to business planning.
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Secondly, only the Orthodox Jews seem to think it’s important
Fundamentalists like the Hasidic, Haredi, Sephardic, Mizrahi
and the Ashkenazi Jews revere the teachings of the Torah and the Oral Torah
(Talmud). These authoritative texts shape Jewish doctrine for more than a
millennia and they are central to the ancient Jewish laws that still apply
today. For them, the Sabbath is as holy as any of the Yom’s in their calendar.
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Thirdly, the entire Jewish diaspora reveres its importance
The Sabbath is remembered and celebrated by every Jew
regardless of where they are in the world. They may not be as radical in their
outlook as their Orthodox siblings but they nonetheless honour the Shabbat as a
day of rest and because it is the seventh day of the week. Jews in general
remember the Biblical creation, recalling God’s declaration as early as the
Book of Genesis.
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Fourthly, the importance of the Sabbath may apply to
Christians
Christians clamour on what Jesus had said in the Sermon on the
Mount: “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not
come to abolish but to fulfil” (Mt 5:17, NASB). From this understanding, the
Sabbath should be retained and remembered. It is therefore argued that if Jesus
did not ‘abolish’ the law, items like Sabbath must still be binding and
operative.
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Fifthly, it’s personal and therefore open to interpretation
Particularly, there are Christians who believe that the
Sabbath is a personal matter of conviction. If you feel you need to use Sabbath
to reflect and meditate, you have as much right to do so as someone who decides
to use it for purposes other than to rest and think of God. After all, they
argue that Jesus said, Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath (Mk
2:27, NASB).
Of course unbelievers have no concern whatsoever. Sabbath
never meant a thing to them. It is a non-issue just like Christmas or Easter
Sunday. Therefore what the secular world thinks is as relevant to Christians as
what Richard Dawkins represents. On the other hand, Jews in general observe the
Shabbat throughout the world. Orthodox Jews are surely more radical in their
standpoint but ordinary Jews do remember it every Saturday although they tend
to be a little more secular in their approach.
Christians, on the other hand, are a divided lot. Hence the
fourth and fifth options are where we focus on the issue of Sabbath. Is it a
matter of interpretation or should we check what Scripture has to say about it
and how it is or isn’t relevant to our Christian lives?
The Jewish centrality of
the Sabbath
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The Jewish are told for the thousands of years that Sabbath is
central to their existence. It is the key to their relationship with the God of
Abraham. It is the reminder of who they are, who God is and how the world is
put together. It is also the testimony of God’s Creation claim. But there’s
more.
The Sabbath is also the marker for God saving His people from
Egypt. The exodus itself is at the very epicentre of the Shabbat itself because
it was on the day of rest that the Jews remember Elohim and His six days of
Creation. It was the exodus itself that God used to ingrain His people into
witnessing His awesome powers, beginning with the ten plagues all the way to
the parting of the Red Sea and then the water from the rock, the manna and many
more.
God’s declaration of the Sabbath is a command to His people to
refrain from work and to seek rest. He did so for two reasons.
Firstly God wanted to use the Sabbath as a reflection of His
Creation. For He is the Creator, He brought everything
into existence including the Jews, whom He had chosen to be His Own. He
wanted to use the Sabbath to drive home the authenticity of His act of Creation
and He wanted His people to know it.
Secondly God wanted the Sabbath to remind the Jews of His love
for them. It was He who brought them out of Egyptian bondage. And it was that
moment in history that changed the Jewish position forever. Without God’s Hand
in it, the Jews may not be where they are today. The Sabbath, therefore,
carried two clear motives for the Jews and both define God’s true blessing.
Interestingly, up till the point of the Ten Commandments, the
Sabbath was never exactly mentioned. Though God made the world in six days and
then rested on the seventh, this fact was not brought to attention as a day of
rest itself until God instructed Moses to deliver the commandments to His
people. Then it was very clearly mentioned.
However biblical history tells us that perhaps God did
intimate the point after they were released from captivity in Egypt. It may not
be very clear or apparent but the makings of the Sabbath were there. The first
point of recognition was when the Jews whined about their hunger and God
provided manna every morning except for the seventh day.
The point of interest is in God’s two-pronged instruction:
Firstly they were to finish consuming the manna every day and not leave any
remaining for the next day and secondly they were to collect enough manna on
the sixth day for two consecutive days because they were commanded not go out
on the seventh (day). The abstinence of work on the seventh day is the Bible’s
earliest idea of a Sabbath in the making.
Naturally the people rebelled and then God complained to Moses
saying, “How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My instructions?”
(Ex 16:28, NASB)
Verse 29 reveals God’s reiteration of the command:
“The Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore He gives you
bread for two days on the sixth day. Remain every man in his place; let no man
go out of his place on the seventh day.” (Ex 16:29-30, NASB)
That Jewish preoccupation with ‘seven’ could have started then
but it reverberates as a custom and legacy in many ways. ‘Seven brothers’ is
one example, the ‘seven lamps’ of the menorah is another, and in this case, the
‘sabbatical seven’ is also another. According to Wikipedia, the number
‘seven’ is associated with God
The Jewish preoccupation with ‘seven’ could have started then
in the Bible but it has always been associated with God. According to Wikipedia, the number
typifies the “covenant of holiness and sanctification” and all that is holy in
purpose. In the wake of several thousand years of Jewish tradition, we can now
see the ‘seven brothers,’ the ‘seven lamps’ of the menorah, the ‘sevenfold’
sprinkling in atonement and purification and in the divine articulation of
completeness, the Sabbatical Seven, which includes the year of jubilee. In
other words, other than merely the recognition of the seventh day, Biblical
instructions compel the Jews to come to terms with the seventh and also the
fifteenth year as well.
The Christian standpoint
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The controversy over the Christian legitimacy of the Sabbath
continues till today. Martin Luther weighed in with his opinion that Christians
only need to acknowledge it but observance was strictly voluntary though he
admitted that the Sabbath was a good way to uphold the Christian duty of reading
Scripture, worshipping God and to be more passionately indulgent in prayer.
And Luther isn’t alone with this thought. John Calvin
considers that if Sabbath is a day to do the things that Luther suggested, then
every day should be a Sabbath. His belief is that abrogation does not mean
abstinence from Christian obligation. Even though the Sabbath should be a
voluntary observance, the fulfilment of Christ within us should direct us to be
filled with the life of God not for one but for all the days of our lives. Both
Luther and Calvin maintained that no day can be made holy simply by resting
alone. The importance to the Christian individual is to by holy by “washing
himself in God’s Word.’
The problem however is that this may not be practical or
realistic. The weakness of the flesh makes it very difficult to fulfil these
holy obligations. Strict Jewish traditions with their obsessive attention to
formality details can be too challenging for the non-Jew but there is nothing
too difficult about hearing God’s word, pursue spiritual nourishment, receive
the sacraments and seek understanding in the purpose of the Sabbath itself. In
itself lies an opportunity to better appreciate the intercessional commitment
to help one another as a family under God.
By and large, Sabbath is a very low-profile day in the
calendars of the modern Protestant Christian, let alone the secularists and the
modern epicureans. The modern-day viewpoint is that the Sabbath is obsolete.
Out of step with modern realities. Have no place at all in the fast-moving
rush-hour business world. Completely out of sync with the expectations of the
uber lifestyle. Perhaps it may then be true that God had no expectation for us
to worship Him the way His people did thousands of years ago. As Gentiles,
maybe we can look past it.
The Sabbath is, after all, a covenant God made with the Jews
through Moses (Ex 34:28, Dt 4:13). Against that, Hebrews 8:13 suggests fairly
clearly that this covenant is no longer relevant and Acts 15 pretty much
confirms that Christians do not have the obligation to maintain the Mosaic laws
including those that govern the Sabbath. Paul’s harsh words about the Ten
Commandments may even underline the counter-significance of the Sabbath to
Christians:
“…who also made us
adequate as servants of a new covenant, not
of the letter but of the Spirit; for
the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. But if the ministry of death, in letters engraved on stones, came with glory, so
that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of
the glory of his face, fading as it was,
how will the ministry of the Spirit
fail to be even more with glory? For if the
ministry of condemnation has glory, much more does the ministry of
righteousness abound in glory. For indeed what had glory, in this case has no
glory because of the glory that surpasses it. For if that which fades away was with glory, much more that which remains,
is in glory.” (2 Cor 3:6-11, NASB, emphasis added)
If you consider the words Paul used in the above verses –
“ministry of death,” “ministry of condemnation,” “letter kills” or “glory which
fades away” – they are critical remarks. It is obvious that he doesn’t hold the
Ten Commandments in particularly high regard and since he doesn’t, the Sabbath
would be similarly treated. Paul asserts that while the Sabbath is God’s gift
to the Jews and an important sign of uniqueness to them (Ex 31:17), these laws
are made redundant by the cross of Christ:
“Therefore remember that
formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called ‘Uncircumcision’ by the
so-called ‘Circumcision,’ which is performed in the flesh by human hands – remember that you were at that time
separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel and
strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the
world. But now in Christ Jesus, you, who
formerly were far off, have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For
He Himself is our peace, who made both
groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity,
which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in
Himself, He might make the two into one
new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having
put to death the enmity. And He came
and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near; for through Him, we both have our
access in one Spirit to the Father.” (Eph 2:11-18, NASB, emphasis added)
Jesus’ position on the
Sabbath
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The controversy behind the Sabbath surfaced in the time of
Jesus. The Sabbatical tradition has never been in dispute prior to that. It was
slavishly adhered to and as a part of the intimidating Mosaic law, the
Pharisees saw to it that no one would breach it. To breach it was to break the
law. And to break the law would make one a sinner.
In the tradition of the upside-down kingdom, Jesus was
renowned for His ‘recklessness.’ No mindless laws were going to be left
undisputed and the one that rose to prominence was the Sabbath. The Bible
records plenty of instances when Jesus immersed in activity on a day that the
Pharisees forbade. And that of course would rub the legalists up the wrong way,
setting up a confrontation that, as we know, would only worsen things.
Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for their naïve and ignorant views
on the Sabbath. And the interactions between there were quite an eye-opener.
Luke 6 describes a time when the Pharisees observed His disciples picking the
heads of grain on a Sabbath as they were passing through some grainfields
(v.1). They questioned Jesus:
“Why do you do what is not
lawful on the Sabbath?” (v.2)
To which Jesus replied:
“Have you not even read
what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him, how he
entered the house of God and took and ate the consecrated bread, which is not
lawful for any to eat except the priests alone, and gave it to his companions?”
(vv.3-4)
Jesus’ quizzical response was obviously rhetorical. In other
words, the Pharisees are compelled to contemplate the fact that this had
happened in the house of David as well. Luke adds on another example in the
subsequent verses, telling of the time when Jesus was at the synagogue, only
that the Pharisees saw another opportunity to trap Him in accusation (vv.6-7).
Knowing what they were up to, Jesus’ response was deliberate and sharp. He
orchestrated His reaction by commanding the man with the withered hand, saying,
“Get up and come forward!” and he complied (v.8) but before the Pharisees could
say anything, Jesus was already bringing all of them into sharp focus and
retort.
“I ask you, is it lawful
to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to destroy it?”
(v.9)
Jesus was not waiting for their reprisal. Standing before Him,
the man was commanded to bring forth his hand and as he did so, “his hand was
restored” (v.10). Not surprisingly, the Pharisees were hardly amused. It might
be worth noting too that in John 9:14-16 (NASB), the Pharisees accused Jesus,
saying, “This man is not from God because He does not keep the Sabbath.” In
fact they were seething with anger when He said to them, “My Father has been
working until now and I have been working” (Jn 5:17-18). In Jesus’ recklessness
of declaration, His enemies had enough to work up a froth to murder Him. By now
it was no longer just the issue of the Sabbath. They were going to kill Him for
heresy.
The Pharisaic Sabbath
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But why kill Jesus just on the issue of the Sabbath? Why this
pettiness? Or is there something much larger than just the Sabbath?
In strict rabbinical tradition, Jesus and His disciples had
broken the law. By breaking the Sabbath, they had seriously breached the laws
that they hold so closely to. During Jesus’ days, the Pharisaic tradition had
been developed around a very complex labyrinthine of minute but convoluted
rules and laws and all of these were focused on pure physical works that had
nothing to do with the spirit or the intent of the law.
It was the scribes among the Pharisees who, in crafting these
traditions, set into motion a body of law called the Halakah that is preserved
in the Mishnah. The extra-biblical Halakah provided the necessary power and
authority to the Pharisees to check the conduct of all Jews even if it is not
directly substantiated by Scripture. The Pharisees knew this but their
intention with the Halakah was to deploy it as a means of preventing any of the
traditional laws being broken. However in acting as a “hedge,” the irony is
that the Pharisees were themselves breaking the law.
In fact the Halakah itself is proof of breaking God’s
commandment. And they should know it because the Book of Deuteronomy is
integral in their Torah. Therein lies the following indicting words from God:
“You shall not add to the
word which I am commanding you nor take away from it, that you may keep the
commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you.” (Dt 4:2, NASB)
Since the Halakah is an adjunct to and separated from
Scripture, it is not Scripture per se. Instead these are additions to God’s
word. By burdening God’s commandments with their rabbinical traditions and
mores, they “tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders (although)
they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger” (Mt 23:4,
NASB).
Jesus had also uncovered the hypocrisy of the Pharisees in the
manner in which they exact their laws on to others but not unto themselves.
Galatians 6:13 (NASB) records Him saying, “For those who are circumcised do not
even keep the Law themselves but they desire to have you circumcised so that
they may boast in your flesh.” For the Pharisees therefore, traditions of men
were more important to which Jesus remarked, “You are experts at setting aside
the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition” (Mk 7:9) after they
were proven to have “transgressed the commandment of God” (Mt 15:1-9).
Alfred Edersheim talks about the absurdity of all the
Pharisaic laws and pinpoints the Sabbath observance as a very apparent one. He
cited twenty-four chapters in the Mishna just on the subject of observing all the
“endless burdensome rules” of Sabbath:
“In
not less than twenty-four chapters (of the Mishna), matters are seriously
discussed (regarding Sabbath observance) as of vital religious importance,
which one would scarcely imagine a sane intellect would seriously entertain.
…in all these wearisome details, there is not a single trace of anything
spiritual – not a word even to suggest higher thoughts on God’s holy day and
its observance.” (Book II, 2.52, 2.53, 2.778-779)
If Edersheim is correct (and he was), how stifling is the
Pharisee’s interpretation of Sabbath?
The Jewish law defines highly detailed regulations in terms of
what constitutes a ‘burden’ that cannot be carried on the Sabbath. The word
‘burden’ is taken to mean anything that is as weighty as an insignificant piece
of dried fig or any content that is enough to be considered useful to man. In
other words you can say that even a scrap of paper that can be used as a note
or to wrap something will be regarded as a burden by the Pharisees. Some
examples of ‘burdens’ in accordance to Jewish law back then would include
pieces of paper, horse’s hairs, wax, pieces of broken earthenware or animal
foods.
In the event that your house is on fire, the Sabbath law would
determine what you can and cannot rescue from the burning heap. You would
assume that one can save the clothes from the fire but the law says only those
that are termed ‘absolutely necessary.’ Could socks, corsets or pyjamas qualify
then? But the law then says that you may rush into the burning house, select
and then put on the dress while facing the threat of being engulfed in fire and
then save it as you run out. Having saved that dress, you remove it and run
back in to save another. And while you’re doing all that, Gentiles aren’t
allowed to help put the fire down; however if any of them volunteered, the law
says they should not be told not to.
When it comes to eating on a Sabbath, only foods that are
specifically prepared during the weekday for the day of rest are admissible. In
other words, you can’t eat eggs that are laid on the Sabbath. The law then
turns around and tells us that there is an exception – if the hen is bred for
fattening and not laying, then the egg can be eaten because it is considered
part of her body that has dropped off!
As Jesus and His disciples had encountered, farm work was forbidden
including picking grains, removing their husks, rubbing their heads (which the
disciples were doing), bruising the ears or winnowing. The late Edersheim,
himself a rabbi who converted to Christianity, took note of David in the same
way that Jesus brought the issue up with the Pharisees, noting that as he and
his followers were hungry and in great need for food, ate the shewbread when
there was none others to eat even if that was supposedly strictly reserved for
only the priests to eat (Mt 12:3-4, Mk 2:25-26, Lk 6:3-4, 1 Sam 21:1-6).
Edersheim noted that Jewish law was actually in agreement,
forcing the Pharisees to back down from their argument with Jesus (Book II,
2.58) who said:
“But
I say to you that something greater than the temple is here. But if you had
known what this means, ‘I desire compassion, not a sacrifice,’ you would not
have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath’ (Mt
12:6-8, NASB).”
Fulfilment, not abolition
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One of the key cornerstones of the Christian position on
Sabbath is what Jesus said to the Pharisees. In John 5:17-18, He declared that,
“My Father has been working until now and I have been working,” a statement
made about the Sabbath. This alone fuels the position that the Christians are
indeed free to break with the Sabbath tradition.
We do not find anywhere in the Bible of Jesus resting on the
Sabbath. Instead we have quite a few instances where Scripture records Him
immersed in activities on that day and rebuking the Pharisees for their view on
the Sabbath. In contrast with the Pharisaic position, Jesus neither commanded
nor praise anyone who kept the Sabbath. Although that may appear ambiguous on
His part, He was actually derisive of those who used the Sabbath to judge the
integrity of others. Jesus’ position concerning the traditional Jewish laws was
not exactly all-inclusive – He was strict with some but He wasn’t with the
Sabbath:
Jesus’ strict stand with certain such laws is apparent in
these two verses:
“You have heard that the
ancients were told, ‘You shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder
shall be liable to the court.’” (Mt 5:21, NASB)
“…but I say to you that
everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery
with her in his heart.” (Mt 5:28, NASB)
But all of these must be tempered by Jesus’ words on the
Sermon on the Mount where He said:
“Do not think that I came
to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfil.
For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest
letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” (Mt
5:17-18, NASB)
If that
is the case, does it mean that the laws still stand? Does it imply the Sabbath?
Could the Sabbath and all its legal elements be operative? From the way it
could be conveniently construed, it would appear to be the case but doing so
would make us misconceive and misconstrue Jesus’ message and intent. He didn’t
say or imply that the Mosaic laws should remain intact. He made no overtures
for the laws to be forever unblemished. If He were to mean that, then our whole
understanding of the New Testament would be in jeopardy (Rom 10:4, Gal 3:23-25,
Eph 2:15).
From
the two verses alone, the key work to understand is ‘abolish.’ In the King
James Version, the word is ‘destroy.’ The original Greek translation is καταλυσαι (katalusai) wherein the root word is καταλυo
(kataluo), which literally means ‘to loosen down.’ This word is used
seventeen times in the New Testament such as in Matthew 26:61 (NASB) where two
false witnesses testified against Jesus, saying, “This man stated, ‘I am able
to destroy the temple of God and to rebuild it in three days’.” The word
‘destroy’ used here is the same as ‘abolish’ as is also the case with Matthew
27:40 and Acts 6:14.
In 2
Corinthians 5:1, the NASB translation says, “For we know that if the earthly
tent, which is our house is torn down, we have a building in God, a house not
made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” The phrase ‘torn down’ bears the same
original Greek word as ‘abolish’ as well. In this example, the house torn down
in question is the dissolution of the human body at death. In koine Greek, to
‘abolish’ (to use the NASB choice of the word) is ‘to invalidate’ and is
commonly used with institutions or laws.
Matthew
uses the word ‘abolish’ as a direct opposite of ‘to fulfil’:
“Do not
think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfil. For truly I say to you,
until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass
from the Law until all is accomplished.” (Mt 5:17-18, NASB)
Jesus
did not come to invalidate the law or to render it void. He did not set out to
oppose it or to prevent its fulfilment. Instead Jesus revered it, obeyed it and
brought it to fruition. Remind yourself what Jesus said in Luke 24:44 (NASB):
“These
are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things
which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms
must be fulfilled.”
Jesus
had not come to render any of the laws null and void but to accomplish them. Certain
words in the above verse makes that quite clear – “while I was still with you”
and “must be fulfilled” are to be put in the same frame as the “Law of Moses et
al.” Stringing them together provides a good picture of what Jesus came to do
and how He would go about doing it. So it should be beyond debate that Jesus
fulfilled the prophetic nuances of the traditional Jewish laws concerning Him.
If, on
the other hand, the Mosaic laws continue to command the same relationship to us
today as they did before Jesus came, binding us to the burden of its legalistic
nature, then Jesus has failed in terms of what He had set out to do in coming
to us. He would have, in fact, not fulfilled prophecy. And if that is the case,
much of the New Testament would also make no sense to us. They would be useless
for us, not worth reading and can no longer be central to our faith. In fact our
faith would also be undermined.
But the
Bible tells us that Jesus had come to accomplish what He had set out to do. The
prophecy is fulfilled and there is no binding legalism today. The Sabbath
cannot and will not be a legalistic obligation. It will neither compel nor
burden us. But Jesus also said that, “not the smallest letter or stroke”
(which, according to other translations, it is “not one jot or tittle”) will
fail until everything is finally in place in accordance to the kingdom of God:
“Do not
think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish
but to fulfil. For truly I say to you, until
heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from
the Law until all is accomplished.” (Mt 5:17-18, NASB, emphasis added)
Jesus fulfilled not just the law of the Sabbath but all the
laws of Moses and the Prophets.
The modern Christian perspective
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From
the Christian perspective, discussions centring on the Sabbath should make us
take note of the following eleven principles:
1. To fulfil but not
invalidate
Jesus came to fulfil the laws. He did not come to invalidate
them. This means the laws – including the Ten Commandments – remain as it is
also said in Revelation 12:17 (NASB):
“So the dragon was enraged with the woman and went off to make
war with the rest of her children, who
keep the commandment of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.”
While the verse does not offer details as to which commandment
this is, we also, by the same token, cannot assume that it means the Ten Commandments
since God.
2. Jesus’ interpretation of
the law
By fulfilling them, Jesus offered His interpretation of how
the laws are supposed to work. He did this so we may know and understand how to
preserve the laws and yet not be burdened by them.
Christian Sabbath observance isn’t so much about the rules as
it is about orientation. We should view it as an opportunity to be away from
the hectic busyness that shapes our working week. We should instead view it as
an excellent time to focus on the Creator who rests on this day and in so
doing, we may then be able to appreciate and understand the true sense of
Shabbat Shalom (Sabbath Peace).
3. Sabbath made for man, not
the reverse
Remember clearly that, it was Jesus who said, “The Sabbath was
made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mk 2:27, NASB). This alone fortifies
our attitude that the law is to serve us and not the other way round. And if
Jesus said so, it must be right.
4. Don’t stop helping the
needy
The Sabbath must never be a day when we cease to avail ourselves
to others who may need our help. The Bible provides plenty of evidence of this
to help us to understand. Remember it was the Sabbath that, Joshua marched his
army around Jericho for seven consecutive days (Josh 6:1-27). It was also on
the Sabbath that, the chief priest Jehoiada plotted a successful palace coup in
removing queen Ataliah and replaced her with Joash, the rightful heir to the
throne (2 Kgs 11:1-21). And perhaps one of Jesus’ rebukes against the Pharisees
is a good reminder: “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the
Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable
is a man than a sheep!” (Mt 12:1-14)
5. Sabbath should nonetheless
be respected
While it is not necessary anymore, it is still noteworthy to
try to avoid working on a Sabbath. Instead do the things that gives you and God
joy. Talk meaningful long walks with friends. Spare some time to reflect on Him
and do some Bible study. Spend time praying and giving thanks to God. These
should not be a meticulously rigid formula but it’s a good guide as to how
Sabbath should be useful. But if there are things that need to be done on the
day, do them. This is especially so if healing is central to what you need to
carry out.
6. Sabbath’s moral compass
The basic principle behind Jesus’ interpretation of the laws is
that there are kept for their moral astuteness and not for their ceremonial
pomp. The best citation of this is when He talked of the need for David and his
men to eat what they could find on the Sabbath and if that meant the shewbread
in the temple, so be it (Mt 12:3-6).
7. Ditch the ceremonial
aspect
As a ritual, the Pharisaic position for Sabbath was that one’s
conduct can be perfect on the right day but not so on another. What one does is
acceptable on one day but forbidden otherwise. All because the earth keeps
revolving. Jesus’ focus on law being a moral and not a ceremonial code is that
morality does not change from one day to the next but instead should be a
constant.
The Sabbath should be viewed as a barometer that points
towards our final salvation. It in itself is not a saving grace but just a
symbol that tells us that inevitably, salvation is only possible in and through
Christ. It is in Christ that we truly find rest that we so desire (Mt
11:28-30).
Paul said as much about Sabbath observance not contributing to
salvation in his letter to the Colossians:
“Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or
drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day – things which
are a mere shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.”
(Col 2:16-17, NASB).
8. The symbolism of Sabbath
How you view the Sabbath is what you make of your relationship
with God. Hebrews 4:1-16 in fact speaks of a ‘future rest’ (“…while a promise
remains of entering His rest”) as it is said that the people themselves had not
rested in Joshua’s days and neither when Psalm 95 was first written (vv.8-11).
These chapters were not talking about the weekly Sabbath but a
rest that is entered only by faith in Christ (Heb 4:2-3, emphasis added):
“For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they
also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by
faith to those who heard. For we who
have believed enter that rest, just as He has said, ‘As I swore in My
wrath, they shall not enter My rest,’ although His works were finished from the
foundation of the world.’”
And so in that sense, the use of the word ‘rest’ suggests
strongly that the weekly Sabbath is but a symbol of the real rest that God
wants His people to enter. Like how the Levitical sacrifices of the Old
Testament were symbolic of the work of Christ, the weekly Sabbath is a vision
of our final salvation.
Insofar as the Sabbath is symbolic, there are two contentious
views – one suggests it is inapplicable, unrealistic and outdated; the other
says there is some usefulness in it. For example, circumcision is now symbolic.
We do not talk about the actual physical undertaking (Rom 2:29) but the
circumcision of the heart. We are to keep this law but to do so in the spirit,
and not the letter.
Christ, on the other hand, has not abolished the law but
perhaps through His transforming, He has made it obsolete in its original form
but He still fulfilled them and in that sense, the laws are still to be
respected and needed.
9. Silence in the New
Testament
Christians point to the premise that the New Testament does
not place any emphasis on the prerequisite of the Sabbath. There is mention of
other commands – from holy kisses to avoiding idolatry but is practically
silent on the significance of the Sabbath. It is also uncritical about people
breaking it.
Paul’s letters deal with much about proper Christian living
and even lists the kinds of sins that would keep a person out of the kingdom of
God but, interestingly, has not mentioned how to keep the Sabbath. In other
words, if the Sabbath is really very important to uphold, why is the New
Testament astoundingly silent about it?
10.
Don’t judge a person’s view of Sabbath
The Sabbath is not for judging. Whether or not a Christian
uses the Sabbath as a day of rest, to reflect and study the Bible or chooses to
work on the day does not provide any basis for judging one another. In
Colossians 2:16-17 (NASB), Paul says:
“Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or
drink or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a
Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality,
is found in Christ.”
Paul has lumped the Sabbath with a whole group of other
festivals and ritual observances and considers them to be unimportant in light
of “the reality (that) is found in Christ” and therefore does not offer any
legitimate basis to judge one another. In his letter to the church in Colossae,
he is asking them not to allow others to judge them by what they do or don’t do
on Sabbath and in the same way, they also should not do the same to them.
11.
Keeping the Sabbath means little to God
Keeping or not keeping the Sabbath does very little to or for
God. Instead God accepts us on the basis of who we are in the light of Christ.
It has nothing to do with how we keep a certain day of the week. We are not to
regard the Sabbath as a means of looking good before God. People may assume
that, “I please God because I keep the Sabbath. I am counted as one of his
people because I keep the Sabbath” but that’s just not true.
God knows us as His people through Christ. Remember that Jesus
says, “I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but
through Me” (Jn 14:6, NASB). From this alone, we should know that the Sabbath
is not the way to God. At the same time, the Bible also says that when we
please God, it is because the sole reason is Jesus:
“He saved us, not on
the basis of deeds, which we have done in righteousness, but according to
His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom
He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour so that being
justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal
life.” (Titus 3:5-7, NASB)
Take note the part that says, “not on the basis of deeds.” In
his letter to Titus from Nicopolis in Epirus, Paul is right in saying that God
saves us not because He recognises the deeds and good works but because of His
merciful grace and that we are reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit, which He
freely made available through Christ. It is entirely correct to suggest that
adhering to the Sabbath is an example of the deed Paul talks about. We may have
performed the deed in true righteousness – just as the Pharisees like to think
they have – but it pales into total insignificance as a path to salvation
because it is only through Christ that we gain that.
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