Should Christians Observe a Sabbath?
The
Law of God (Torah) from the Old Testament and its relationship to Christ and
the New Testament is one of my favorites subjects. I have written several other
articles one the Law in general and a few on its relationship to the New
Testament. In a particular post (click HERE to read the previous post) I gave
pointers for how a Christian should think about the Law and I vowed to consider
some particular aspects of the Law and see if a clearer picture of these laws
could be gained for Christians by using a few of my pointers. Well, I am making
good on this vow (finally) and this article will consider the 4th
commandment (Exodus 20:8-11) to “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.”
Now
Jesus comes into the picture and seemingly messes this nice, concise command
all up. But does he? One of my first pointers (and I think probably the most
important one) is to remember that Jesus came to fulfill the Law, not to
abolish it (Matthew 5:17-20). So what does it mean for Christ to fulfill the
command for Sabbath. Hebrews 4:1-13, a blessing of a passage, helps us
understand what the Sabbath looks like now that Christ has come. What can be seen
in this passage is that placing one’s faith in Christ is equated with entering
into Sabbath rest (Hebrews 4:3). Hebrews 4:1-3 shows us that a Christian
observes this eternal commandment by placing their faith in Christ and rests from
working toward salvation. This is because Christ has accomplished the work that
is needed to be in God’s presence. Faith in Christ is equated with rest.
Furthermore, this passage points to the beginning of rest by faith in Christ and
complete and perfect rest in the future. We enter God’s rest when we place our
faith in Christ but a day is coming in the future when we completely enter the
rest of God in the New Heavens and the New Earth. Hebrews shows us that Christ
fulfills the command for Sabbath rest and Christians fulfill the command for
Sabbath rest by believing in Christ.
But
does that mean the prescriptions of the Old Testament Law for rest should be
completely cast aside? Is there no need to cease from work for a day, to give
our workers and animals a rest, and set aside a day for worship since Christ
has fulfilled the Sabbath commandment? Absolutely not! In my second pointer I
mentioned that the Law teaches us about God’s Holiness, and in my fifth pointer
I mentioned that the Law teaches us about our sin. What God has revealed about
humans is that we need rest and the people and animals that work for us need
rest. Furthermore, God wants us to set aside time to worship him as the Holy
creator of all that is. These original purposes still stand as long as we have
sin ravaged human bodies. We need rest and we need to intentionally set aside
time to worship God. We still need
dedicated time set aside to refocus on the reality of God and his ordering of
the universe every week. And so we are left with a tension between the
fulfillment of the Sabbath command in Christ and the practical needs of a
Sabbath for reasons originally prescribed. What is a Christian to do? Live in
the tension knowing that Christ has fulfilled the Sabbath. Maybe a quick
illustration would help.
Old Covenant Jesus Jesus
Returns
<---------------------------|-----------------------------|
Already/Not Yet
|-----------------------------|------------------------------------>
New Covenant Eternal
State
I
would like to introduce here another pointer for understanding the Old
Testament Law in relation to Christ and the New Testament, and that is The Overlap of the Ages. This pointer
is particularly acute when we think of the Sabbath. Under the Law faithful
followers of God were called to observe a Sabbath for all the reasons
prescribed above. When Jesus came he fulfilled the Sabbath (that is filled it
up, not fulfilled in an abolished sense) in all the way prescribed in Hebrews
4:1-13 above. The Christian is then left in the tension. We fulfill the Law by
putting our faith in Christ. We begin to actually taste the peace and joy of
the New Covenant in Christ now, but we are waiting to enter our permanent
Sabbath rest when Jesus returns and our bodies our glorified. In the mean time
our bodies still need rest, and we need time set aside to worship God, to
refocus our life on the Creator.
*The image above was used in accordance with the licensing agreements of WikiCommons and in no way reflects the views of the artist that produced the image.
Leave a Comment