Respect God's Day

Jesus' Perfect Work of Salvation for Us Enables us to Honor Him and the Day Set Apart for Him.

During our Wednesday evening gatherings our attention is directed to the Ten Commandments, where Luther famously explains each command with, “We should fear and love God so that...” It is only the First Commandment — regarding not having other gods — where Luther has a different preface: “We should fear, love, and trust God above all things.” The Ten Commandments are God’s good gifts intended for the protection and happiness of His children. They spell out some of the details of what it means both to love God and to love our neighbor. They apply to every part of our lives — not only actions, but also attitudes, feelings, wishes, and words.

This evening we find ourselves dealing with the Third Commandment. The original command for Sabbath rest was to protect the weaker members of Israelite society.

When God inscribed on the tablets of stone he gave Moses these words, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Ex 20:8). Martin Luther suggested that a way to keep this Lord’s Day holy was to worship. He said, “We should fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it” (Luther’s Small Catechism, p. 13).

Luther’s explanation focused on the worship aspect of the Sabbath Day. Originally, however, the command was a law to rest from work to control the masters of households. The more work they could get from their employees, servants, and slaves—including these men’s wives—the wealthier they became. The Third Commandment legislated a day of rest for the master and all his family—including servants, foreign visitors, and even animals.

Throughout the Old Testament, God seeks to impart social justice. This legislation is aimed at controlling greed and oppression.

Every seventh year, debts are canceled and slaves are released.

Every fiftieth year, anyone whose family lands have been lost has them returned. The growing gap between rich and poor was to be contained.

These laws were radical innovations. The Third Commandment was part of these “statutes and rules so righteous” (Deut 4:8) that would make other nations marvel and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people” (Deut 4:6). God understands the plight of the poor and needy. In a day of tyrannical control when might made right, the Third Commandment demonstrated a people under obedience to a God of love, mercy, and righteousness. However,

Sinful Humanity Perverted the Blessings of the Sabbath

Unfortunately, by Jesus’ time this law of mercy and love had become a law of oppression. It had been perverted to one of the “graven images” we talked about last week. Though once a beautiful blessing, Satan had turned it into a curse. Instead of demonstrating a merciful God, the Sabbath protections became gods of their own.

In defining rest, the scribes noted thirty-nine categories of work that must be avoided on the Sabbath. One was the carrying of any burden. Well, what about lifting a child on the Sabbath? Debate finally concluded that this was permissible as long as the child was not grasping a stone. But what constituted a stone? And so it went on and on. A faithful Jew would say, “If I complete a perfect Sabbath, God will bless me now and in eternity.”

Soldiers would rather die than profane the Sabbath. The Book of Maccabees records the heroics of a band of Jewish zealots who refused to raise their weapons on the Sabbath, permitting the Syrian army to slaughter them, their wives, and their children. They died obedient to the Sabbath, and God would reward them eternally. Obedience to the Sabbath was their god.

The Sabbath became perverted because of man’s attempt for self-righteousness. The Pharisees taught that observance of Sabbath rest was obedience to God. Only if you observed the Sabbath perfectly would you be acceptable to God. They said, “If all Israel would observe one Sabbath rest perfectly, the Messiah would come.” God’s love and salvation became dependent on man’s goodness, instead of on God’s.

In the New Testament, this corrupt teaching about the Sabbath is opposed, especially by James and Paul. In Ephesians 2, St. Paul asserts that

Ephesians 2:8–9 ESV

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Jesus said,

Mark 2:27 ESV

27 And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

Jesus boldly healed on the Sabbath (Luke 6; John 9). He allowed his disciples to pick and eat heads of wheat as they walked through a field on the Sabbath (Mark 2), and then he defended their actions before the Pharisees.

Jesus would not let human self-righteousness get in the way of his service of mercy. He reminded the Jews, “Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice’ ” (Mt 9:13; cf. Hos 6:6). “Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations—I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly” (Is 1:13). God is concerned about serving his fallen, suffering world. That was the original purpose of the Sabbath. The Jewish leaders wanted to kill Jesus because, according to their rules, he broke the Sabbath. He said, “My Father is working until now, and I am working” (Jn 5:17).

But, perversion of the Sabbath toward self-righteousness is only one side of the coin of Satan’s manipulation. The other side of that coin is not having a Sabbath day at all.

Christ Restored the Blessings of the Sabbath

God works for us. Jesus worked for us. We are saved by his work of salvation. He suffered hell in our place. He paid for our sins, so we are free. He does not expect us to be perfect as Jesus was perfect in our place. Perfection is his gift to us. We stand before him holy and righteous and free.

The Sabbath was not intended by God to help people become perfect. That is impossible. Our attempts to keep the Commandments leave us guilty, uncertain, and rebellious. We stand righteous before him, not because of our goodness, but because of his goodness, his grace, his gift. The Sabbath perversion was rejected, opposed, and removed.

Therefore, by the second century, Christians were gradually giving up observing the Sabbath, which was on the sixth day, Saturday, according to Jewish rules. They changed it from a day of drudgery and fear into a day of celebration, worship, and fellowship—as God had intended—and moved it to Sunday, the seventh day.

By the fourth century, after Christianity had become the religion of the Roman Empire, this day of rest was officially moved to Sunday, the day of Jesus’ resurrection.

The day was devoted to collections for the needy, receiving tithes and offerings for the Lord. It was a day to concentrate on the Lord’s work, a day to serve in his vineyard. The day was devoted to the study of Scripture, as Jewish law had originally decreed.

How do we observe the Sabbath today?

During the week, we have personal devotions, but on Sundays or Wednesdays we gather with others to grow together around the Word.

We devote the day to reflection, repentance, and renewal.

We jump off the merry-go-round, out of the rat race, and let God confront us about where we are going and what we are doing.

We celebrate family, both biological and spiritual.

The Sabbath was intended to restore those bonds of love and care that we need in order to cope with the ups and downs of life.

It was intended as a day to share with and pray for one another.

Traditionally we observe the Sabbath on Sunday, but because of schedules, your Sabbath could be on Wednesdays. Regardless of the day, our Lord intends that one day each week be set aside for this purpose.

The other six days we use to keep life and limb together. We work to feed our families and keep a roof over our heads. But this one day we concentrate on the deep and enduring parts of life, the things that last all eternity. This is the day we develop our relationships and our character. This is the day we restore our spirit and feed our soul.

Jesus' Perfect Work of Salvation for Us Enables us to Honor Him and the Day Set Apart for Him.

“Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy” (Ex 20:8). Holy means “sacred, special, set apart.” It is the Lord’s Day, the day he intended to hold us close in his unfailing love. He looks forward to it every week. Do we?