New Testament Sabbath
Sabbath in the New Testament
The idea of sabbath has been contentious in some parts of the Church. In the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament, or Covenant) the Sabbath was a cessation from labor of any creative kind. According to Rabbinic tradition, this included things such as weaving or separating two threads, tying or untying, writing or erasing two letters, kindling or extinguishing a fire, and taking an object from the private to the public domain.
Some argue that the Sabbath is still in effect for us today, though we are under the New Covenant. Others say that though we no longer observe the Sabbath day, we are to rest from work and commerce on Sunday. The idea is that the resurrection of Jesus on Sunday rids us of the Friday evening through Saturday evening Sabbath but replaces some of its provisions with “the Lord’s Day.”
According to Spiros Zodhiates in The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament, Sabbath σάββατον sábbaton; <4521> which is transliterated from the Hebrew shabāth (7676) means rest, a cessation from labor; the Jewish Sabbath, the seventh day of the week, kept originally by a total cessation from all labor as even the kindling of a fire, but apparently without any public solemnities except an addition to the daily sacrifice in the tabernacle and the changing of the shewbread.
With that understanding, let us look at how Jesus viewed the Sabbath. We will begin with Matthew 11:28–30 (AV) “28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
The word rest - ἀναπαύω anapaúō; <373> means to cease, to give rest, to quiet, recreate, or refresh. Jesus promises rest for our souls. Soul is the Greek word Psuche <5590>. It is the seat of the feelings, desires, affections, aversions; our soul, heart, etc. (Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament.)
Jesus said that He would quiet, recreate, refresh, give rest to, the seat of our feelings, our mind, will, and emotions, our psyche. In the next verse of Matthew we find this:
Matthew 12:1–2 (AV) “1 At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat. 2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day.” The Pharisees were upset because the disciples were harvesting on the Sabbath and their tradition said that harvesting was not lawful.
Jesus responded beginning in verse 3. Matthew 12:3–5 (AV) “3 But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him; 4 How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests? 5 Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?”
As a kid I always wondered why pastors, who worked every Sunday, told everyone not to work on Sunday. Somehow it seemed, it was okay for them. Growing up in the country I also observed that farmers worked on Sunday. Milking had to be done, livestock had to be fed, manure had to be removed. In this passage, Jesus begins to answer that question.
Carrying on with Matthew 12:6–8 (AV) “6 But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple. 7 But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.”
Jesus says that the disciples were guiltless. More than that, He indicates that He is the one who sets the rules for the Sabbath. He also quoted Hosea 6:6 (AV) “6 For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.”
We find a similar statement in Micah 6:6–8 (AV) “6 Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? 7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”
Jesus reminds the Pharisees that God is looking for a relationship—the knowledge of God—not rules, rites, and rituals.
Later Jesus went into the Synagogue and demonstrated this new understanding of the Sabbath again. We will pick up our text with Matthew 12:9–13 (AV).
“9 And when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue: 10 And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him. 11 And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? 12 How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days. 13 Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other.
Mark also records the corn harvesting event. His account adds this: Mark 2:27 (AV) “27 And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:”
Luke 13:10–17 (AV) records a similar incident. There we read, “10 And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. 11 And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself. 12 And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. 13 And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. 14 And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day. 15 The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? 16 And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day? 17 And when he had said these things, all his adversaries were ashamed: and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him.
Jesus was beginning to teach a new understanding of Sabbath. In Hebrews we see it in fruition. Hebrews 4:1-2 (AV) “1 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. 2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.”
The NIV renders this, “because those who heard did not combine it with faith.” Many manuscripts have “because they did not share in the faith of those who obeyed.” The NET has “since they did not join in with those who heard it in faith.”
I think this is important because ultimately it is the lack of faith, the lack of trust in God, that resulted in the Israelites failing to enter His rest, and the same is true of people today.
Hebrews 4:2–6 (AV) makes this idea clear. “2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. 3 For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4 For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.
5And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest. 6 Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief:”
Here we see that we who believe enter into rest and those who are disobedient and do not believe do not enter that rest.
Where we read “unbelief” many translations have “disobedience”. This is because the Greek word used is ἀπείθεια (apeítheia); which means disobedient; an unwillingness to be persuaded, willful unbelief, obstinacy.
Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament
Such an attitude comes from the belief that we know better than God what is best for us—and that is a failure of trust. We can see this in Psalm 95:10–11 (AV) 10 Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways: 11 Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.
They err, or go astray, in their hearts. As we saw in Hosea and Micah, our hearts are exactly what God is looking for.
Coming back to Hebrews 4:7–8 (AV) “7 Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.”
After Moses died, Joshua led Israel into the land of promise and, as we are going to see later, God subdued all their enemies and they did have rest in the land. Even so, the writer of Hebrews is pointing out that this was not the rest God promised.
In verse 9 of Hebrews 4, he goes on, “9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. 10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.”
God finished His work of creation, and then many years later Jesus proclaimed from the Cross, “It is finished!” In the first case, He created mankind and showed them His love in the garden. In the second case, He repaired the damage their distrust had caused, redeemed them from the one to whom they had given themselves, and reconciled them to Himself in Christ.
And now in Hebrews 4:11 (AV), we read, “11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.”
NIV: “make every effort to enter that rest” spoudazō from (spoude); to use speed, i.e. to make effort, be prompt or earnest :- do (give) diligence, be diligent (forward), endeavour, labour, study. (Strong's 4704)
When we are not diligent about entering the Sabbath rest of the finished work of Christ we fall back into fleshly attempts to work for our righteousness. This is like trying to break back into jail. Here is a picture of how the enemy treats those who are in bondage, thinking they can be righteous by works:
Exodus 5:1–9 (AV) “1 And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. 2 And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go. 3 And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days’ journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the LORD our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword. 4 And the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, let the people from their works? get you unto your burdens. 5 And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land now are many, and ye make them rest from their burdens. 6 And Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying, 7 Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8 And the tale of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish ought thereof: for they be idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God. 9 Let there more work be laid upon the men, that they may labour therein; and let them not regard vain words.”
This is precisely what many of us have heard in church over the years. “If you are not feeling close to the Lord it is probably because you are not doing enough for Him.” We have had fewer resources provided and more work laid upon us so that we do not have time to think about the freedom and rest found in Jesus Christ.
Let me close with some pictures of the way it looks to live life in Sabbath rest:
Deuteronomy 3:21–22 (AV) “21 And I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, Thine eyes have seen all that the LORD your God hath done unto these two kings: so shall the LORD do unto all the kingdoms whither thou passest. 22 Ye shall not fear them: for the LORD your God he shall fight for you.”
Deuteronomy 12:10–11 (AV) “10 But when ye go over Jordan, and dwell in the land which the LORD your God giveth you to inherit, and when he giveth you rest from all your enemies round about, so that ye dwell in safety;”
The shadow of the Sabbath rest found in Christ Jesus looks like this.
Joshua 21:43–45 (AV) “43 And the LORD gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein. 44 And the LORD gave them rest round about, according to all that he sware unto their fathers: and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand. 45 There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.”
The reality that cast this shadow is our life in Jesus Christ. Life in the Kingdom of God is peace and rest. It is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. (see Romans 14:17)
