Though I have already written a bit about the days of creation, I have often found the Christian view of the Sabbath a bit strange. The Old Testament passages about it consistently reference the command to rest as bound up with the order of creation. It seems very reasonable that since that our Lord stopped creating on the seventh day, in the same way, we too ought to rest from our works. This Old Testament explanation would seem to contradict our Lord's words that "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). While it's true that the Sabbath was made after mankind was, its basis in the order of creation would circumvent our Lord's argument.
In actually, He is making a much more mysterious and subtle argument than it appears. For one thing, we could simply talk about the fact that he claims authority over the Sabbath (Mark 2:28), and since He's God, He can simply abrogate that Old Testament law. However, there's much more to it than that. If we look at Exodus 31, the Lord actually gives His purpose for the Sabbath law:
"You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, ‘Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you. You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you...Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord. It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’” (13-15, 17)
Here it is! The Sabbath is sacramental! It is how the Lord preaches and gives His own holiness to His people. We can see it thus: the Sabbath day is sanctified by the Lord's rest, and the Sabbath is the means by which the Israelites entered such rest. As a result, they not only became holy, but they were able to be "refreshed" but the holiness. This is akin to Christ's words that his "yoke is easy" etc. or the order to believe, be baptized, and whatnot. Though it is indeed a command, really it is a delivery of a benefit--life and salvation.
This still begs the question, if the Sabbath is so important, what gave us the right to stop following the Sabbath laws to the letter? Are the Jews and Judaizers (Seventh-Day Adventists) right after all? By no means! St. Paul very clearly expounds on this idea in Hebrews 4 (pardon the long quote):
'Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. For we who have believed enter that rest, 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. For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” And again in this passage he said, “They shall not enter my rest.”...So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.' (1-5, 9-12)
This is exactly what I'm talking about. The intention of the Sabbath was that through it, the people of God would enter into such a rest. However, they were stopped by original sin--concupiscence and unbelief--and thus could only do so partially. However, we Christians are united to Christ through faith and thus enter the Lord's rest in Him. This is why we are no longer bound to such regulations, because as St. Paul describes elsewhere, 'Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of...a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.' (Col 2:16-17) Christ is the fulfillment of the Sabbath, and thus we Christians are always at rest in Him. From this, we see that the actual day on which we rest is irrelevant, because for us every day is a Sabbath. In addition, Sunday is an especially fitting day because it was the day on which we entered such a rest through Christ's resurrection.
With all that said, this still doesn't seem to match our Lord's response to the Jews. Taking a look back with all this in mind, though, I think we can see some of the lines fall into place. First of all, this explains His mysterious words that "the Sabbath was made for man." It was not simply made for him to rest his body, but it was made that he would experience a slice of the eternal rest. Then what of the Son of Man's lordship over it? Well, He is Lord because it was then that He rested in death as a true Sabbath, and it was then that He broke open the tomb to free His saints from death's gloomy chains. And all of this, like the Sabbath itself, was done "for man," that is, for you. He rested in the tomb so that you would not die eternally, and He rescued mankind's souls because He wanted your soul. Thus, we can be assured that we too will enter that rest and be refreshed, just as our Lord promised.
Comments