So many people talk about observing the Sabbath on Sundays. But isn’t the Sabbath a deeper principle than just a day of the week? How should Christians incorporate the Sabbath principle into their lives?
Old Testament law commanded people of God to refrain from all work from Friday night at sunset until Saturday night at sunset and observe a Sabbath (Exodus 20:8-11). Sabbath means “to stop” or “cease” and was rooted in God’s rest following the six days of creation, when God declared the day “blessed” and “holy” (Genesis 2:1-3). The people were expected to recognize the Sabbath as a “sign” to God’s people and the world of the covenant God had with them (Exodus 31:14-17).
Under the New Covenant, Jesus is our Sabbath. All the various “rests” legislated in the Mosaic Law under the Old Covenant — the weekly Sabbath rest, the annual festival rests, resting the land and the freedom rest of the Jubilee Year — pointed to the ultimate rest we now have in Christ. To “legislate” modern rules for keeping Sunday as the new Christian Sabbath is both theologically unnecessary (Colossians 2:16-17) and ignores the Apostle Paul’s vehement opposition to those who would impose various Jewish laws, including Sabbath keeping, on Gentile Christians (Romans 14:5; Galatians 4:10).
Jesus said in Mark 2:23-28 the Sabbath is made for people, not people for the Sabbath. This suggests timeless values in the Sabbath that supersede its often-superficial interpretation. While we should not institute a new Sabbath legalism, the Fourth Commandment teaches us some important principles:
• The Sabbath reminds us we are to rest in God’s care. Hebrews 4:9-10 tells us: “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God (it is available to us now); for whoever enters God’s rest also ceases from his labors as God did from his.” The secret of the Christian life is to stop depending on our own efforts and learn to rest in dependence on Christ who lives in us (Galatians 2:20, Philippians 2:13).
• The Sabbath instructs us to give priority to times of gathering for worship, teaching and Christian fellowship. The focus of the Sabbath was not supposed to be stopping all work, but rather taking time to give priority to God and spiritual reflection and growth. Going to the synagogue for prayer and study of God’s word was what the Jews did on the Sabbath. Jesus and the early believers did the same, and we are called to follow their example (Acts 2:42-47; Hebrews 10:24-25).
• The Sabbath created space in busy schedules for family and friends. We easily forget life is all about relationship (“people”), not tasks (“things”). The Great Commandment and the Great Commission are both about relationships — not doing, but being. We need to create more space for relationships, and we would have richer lives and be happier, more effective Christians.
Alan D. Stanford is senior pastor of Leesburg Community Church in Leesburg, Va. Right or Wrong? is sponsored by the T.B. Maston Chair of Christian Ethics at Hardin-Simmons University’s Logsdon School of Theology. Contributors include writers in Virginia, Texas, Missouri and other states. Send your questions about how to apply your faith to btillman@hsutx.edu.