It’s been a long journey, so let’s try to wrap up some final thoughts left on the cutting room floor from the main part of this series. If you missed it, make sure you check out Part 1!
OT Sabbath-breaking wasn’t absolute
In part 3 we discussed what it means that Christ is “Lord of the Sabbath.” In this same conversation with the Pharisees, Christ reveals something easy to overlook, but no less revealing about God’s character.
At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples became hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat. But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples do what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath.” But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he became hungry, he and his companions, how he entered the house of God, and they ate the consecrated bread, which was not lawful for him to eat nor for those with him, but for the priests alone? Or have you not read in the Law, that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and are innocent? But I say to you that something greater than the temple is here. But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire compassion, and not a sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. (Matthew 12:1-7)
Here, we see 2 examples of Sabbath-breaking from the Old Testament. David, especially, is important to note. The bread he stole was, by law, meant only for the priests and their descendants. Thus, David clearly broke the law to feed himself. Yet not only was he not punished for it, but Christ uses that as an example to set up his point that the Sabbath was made to serve man, but we aren’t made to serve the Sabbath (John 5:18).
In other words, the Sabbath was clearly a suggestion that was dependent on context, and that’s what makes it so unique from the rest of the commandments. There isn’t a situation where adultery or blasphemy is dismissed. Honoring parents can be “broken,” but only if honoring them would lead a child in sin. The situations for breaking the Sabbath have no such restriction.
In short, no other commandment is so open to breaking. The Sabbath is so unique in that it doesn’t have anything to do with God’s nature, which is how we measure sin as Christians who are free from the Law. Thus it makes sense why we follow the 9 commandments that are a reflection of God, not the one established only for Israel.
“I will give you rest”
Another way that Christ shows that the Sabbath was always a shadow of Himself is what He says in Matthew:
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, 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.” (Matthew 11:28-30)
With our gift of hindsight, what Christ says here is full of meaning that isn’t initially clear. In later New Testament writings, both Christ and others warn us that the way of following Christ is difficult and filled with persecution. In fact, they practically guarantee it. So is Christ contradicting Himself by saying His burden is light, or is there more going on?
As always, we must consider the audience and setting. Christ is talking to people who have spent their entire lives trying to keep the requirements of the Mosaic Law. They were under the impossible task of earning their righteousness through their own works, a task that would be exhausting and perpetually frustrating if truly attempted. And as we’re often reminded throughout the New Testament, even our good works and attempts to keep the Law do nothing to please God.
nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified. (Galatians 2:16)
The freedom found in Christ isn’t just freedom from the requirements of sin, but the burden of attempting to please God on our own. What Christ is saying in Matthew 11:28-30 is that we no longer need to work to earn salvation. Following Him isn’t a matter of law-keeping, but of freedom to love and pursue God through faith. His yoke is easy and His burden is light because He is our Sabbath rest. The Sabbath, with its temporary rest that soon led to picking up work once again, was always meant to be a temporary shadow that would point us to our eternal rest from the requirements of the Law.
It’s okay to keep the Sabbath. Or not.
When I read informal debates on this, both camps fear that the other is in gross sin. Either a fellow believer is in sin because they’re submitting themselves to the Law, or they’ve fallen into sin and delusion because they break a clear commandment. Both sides have their share of arrogance, but also honest concern for the other. Indeed, this entire series could seem like an attempt to free people from resting on Saturdays.
He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God…. But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.(Romans 14:6, 10)
So many of us are convinced that we have it all figured out. We have an entire lifetime that has influenced how we each follow Christ. And though we acknowledge some minor differences, we are aghast at those who worship Him significantly differently than we do.
Yet as Paul points out here, our greatest concern is whether what we’re doing is for Christ. If someone keeps the Sabbath because they feel convinced they should, then that’s what they should do. If another keeps the Sabbath because they want to earn God’s favor, follow their peers, or because it makes them feel a sense of holiness or superiority to others, then they are doing it for themselves, not God. And the same thing goes for those who don’t keep the Sabbath.
What’s important is that we’re honest about why we understand the Sabbath as we do. If we think we’re still under the Law, then there’s a misunderstanding of both the Law’s purpose and Christ’s new covenant. If we think we don’t observe it because we can do whatever we want and it’s covered by the blood of Christ, then we misunderstand sanctification and the purpose of our new nature.
The end
This series was originally meant to be a single article. However, the deeper I studied the Sabbath, the more significant it became. I admit I started this with a functional understanding of it. Yet the more I studied, watched debates, listened to sermons, and read articles, the more I realized how easily the purpose of the Sabbath, and indeed the entire Law of Moses, could be misunderstood.
Understanding why we believe what we believe is so critical to our walk with Christ, and writing this has helped me better understand my own beliefs, as well as those who approach the Sabbath differently than I do. I hope this series has not only been informative, but has given you a solid foundation for your beliefs. Keep studying, keep growing, and keep moving onward in your faith.
Want to read more? Check out Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5.
