Is There a “Lord’s Day”?

DesiringGod.org ^ | October 2, 2005 | Dr. John Piper

[HarleyD]

Romans 14:1-9

As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

Verse 5 raises the larger question of the biblical understanding of the Lord’s Day. Paul says, “One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.” Does this mean that the strong Christian does not regard one day in seven as set apart by God from the others for corporate worship and acts that consecrate the day as the Lord’s day? Does only the weak Christian feel obliged to sanctify one day as special for the Lord? Is he saying that it doesn’t matter if you set aside one day or not as long as your choice is motivated by the glory of God?

To answer this I want us to step back from the text and look at the larger biblical picture of the Lord’s Day. This will be brief and compact in outline form that would take a book to fill out (see D. A. Carson, From Sabbath to Lord’s Day: A Biblical, Historical and Theological Investigation [Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2000]; Joseph Pipa, The Lord’s Day [Christian Publications, 1997]; Paul K. Jewett, The Lord’s Day [Eerdmans, 1971]).

The Creation Week

Start with this observation. The week exists. That is not to be taken for granted. Days exist because that’s how long it takes the earth to rotate. Months exist because that’s how long it takes the moon to wax and wane. Years exist because that’s how long it takes for the earth to revolve around the sun. But why do weeks exist? They do not correspond to any phenomenon in nature. The answer is: the week exists because of Genesis 2:2, “And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.” The Encyclopedia Britannica (1911, article on “Week”) says, “Those who reject the Mosaic recital will be at a loss, as . . . to assign it [the week] to an origin having much semblance of probability.” In other words, other attempts to explain why we reckon time in weeks are not compelling. The week goes back to the story of creation in the Bible. God worked six days and rested on the seventh. That set the pattern of the week.

The Ten Commandments

Then in the ten commandments the link is made to the Sabbath, the day of rest. Exodus 20:8-11:

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, . . . For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Jesus’ Teaching on the Sabbath

When Jesus came into the world as the Messiah and the Son of God and the fulfillment of all that the law and prophets taught, he collided with the Pharisees over the Sabbath. This is a huge issue in all four gospels. John 5:18 says, “This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.” It was a huge issue, all tied up with his divine claims, and Jesus said some radical things that shape the way we should think about our celebration of the Lord’s day. Let’s read Matthew 12:1-14.

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? [At this point in the same story Mark 2:27 records, “And he said to them,‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.’”] Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.” He went on from there and entered their synagogue. And a man was there with a withered hand. And they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” - so that they might accuse him. He said to them, “Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other. But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.

Consider three observations and five things Jesus says:

Three Observations

Observation #1. When the Pharisees accused Jesus’ disciples of law-breaking (in verse 2) because they picked grain and ate it, Jesus did not even attempt to argue that picking grain and eating it was not Sabbath breaking. In fact, the way he answered them virtually assumed that it was against the law.

Observation #2. In verses 3-4 he refers to King David and his men taking bread from the house of God that was not lawful for them to eat, and in verse 5 he refers to priests who work on the Sabbath and profane it. In other words, the needs of David’s men and the needs of the temple service took precedence over ceremonial bread and Sabbath rules.

Observation #3. Jesus heals a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath knowing his enemies are trying to trap him. He intentionally provokes the controversy.

Five Statements

Jesus makes five statements to explain what he is doing.

Statement #1. Verse 6: “Something greater than the temple is here.” And by implication: Something greater than David is here. So David and his men, and the priests who serve the temple are innocent, then all the more so are my disciples. I am greater than David and the temple.

Statement #2. Verse 8: “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.” In other words, I am not just a greater king, than David. I am the maker, owner, and rule-giver for the Sabbath. It’s mine.

Statement #3. Verse 7: “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.” This quote from Hosea 6:6 means that love takes precedence over ceremonial laws. So go learn how the Old Testament itself gives guidelines for how to use the law lovingly.

Statement #4. Mark 2:27: “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” This is another way of saying that doing good for people is not against the Sabbath even if it takes the sweat of your face to pull a man out of a pit. Which is then expressed explicitly in . . .

Statement #5. Verse 12: “So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

The upshot of all this is not that there is no special day for the followers of Christ but that there is certainly a new kind of freedom and a new criterion for what is permissible (foreseen in Hosea 6:6). Jesus did not try to settle whether his disciples’ behavior fit the mold of the law. He put the issue on a new plane: The Sabbath is for expressing Jesus’ rule and authority, not Moses’—it is for worshipping Christ. The Sabbath is for relieving man, not burdening him. The Sabbath is for showing mercy and doing good.

John 5:16-17

Now consider John 5:16-17. Jesus had healed a man on the Sabbath and told him in John 5:8, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” This got the man in big trouble for carrying his bed on the Sabbath. In John 5:16 John writes, “And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.” To this, it says (in verse 17), “Jesus answered them, ‘My Father is working until now, and I am working.’”

What does this mean? I think it means this: When Adam fell into sin, God got up from his Sabbath rest after creation, and started to work again—not this time on creation, but on redemption—toward a new creation. A new humanity. “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” You do not understand what I am doing. I and my Father are creating a new world, a new humanity, and when we are finished, we will celebrate with a new Sabbath.

And that work of redemption and new creation was finished decisively on the cross. And three days later Jesus rose from the dead to celebrate the victory he had won and the new creation he had decisively obtained and inaugurated. Now he could take his seat with his Father on the throne of the universe and enter his Sabbath rest.

The Early Church and the First Day of the Week

This is why the early church took the first day of the week as its day of worship and turned away from the seventh day. The seventh day marked the victory of the first creation. The first day marked the victory of the new creation with the resurrection of Christ. And here are some of the clues:

In all four gospels a very unusual way of expressing the first day of the week is used to describe the day of Jesus’ resurrection. It’s usually translated “On the first day of the week” (John 20:1 and Luke 24:1, Mark 16:2, Tē de mia tōn sabbatōn, or Matthew 28:1, eis mian sabbatōn). Literally it would read, “the number one of the Sabbath.” That is, “the day which is number one in the sequence of days determined by the Sabbath” (Jewett, The Lord’s Day, p. 75). Words for “first” occur over 150 times in the New Testament. And only in reference to the day of the resurrection do we get this unusual usage.

Why is that significant? It’s significant because there are there are only two places outside the gospels where the writers refer to the first day of the week as special for the church, and in those two places this peculiar usage occurs. Acts 20:7, “On the first day of the week (En de tē mia tōn sabbatōn), when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day.” 1 Corinthians 16:2, “On the first day of every week (kata mian sabbatou), each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come.”

This is simply astonishing from a statistical standpoint. 150+ uses of words for “first” (even “first day” when not referring to the first day of the week Matthew 26:17; Mark 14:12; Acts 20 :18; Philippians 1:5) and only in reference to the first day of the week as the Christian gathering-day is there the identical and rare construction used to describe when Jesus rose from the dead.

The point is that the Christian church made the change from the seventh to the first day for worship because it was the day that the Lord Jesus rose from the dead—the day he vindicated the completion of his Father’s redeeming work. The new creation, the new humanity, were purchased and established—but not consummated.

Christ Is Our Final Sabbath Rest

So the final, eternal, blood-bought Sabbath rest has begun. We enter into it when we cease from our works and trust Christ and his finished work for us on the cross. This is the great and final meaning of the Sabbath. Christ has become our rest, our Sabbath. This is what Hebrews 4:9-10 is saying, “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10 for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.” Past tense. We have entered. But then the writer adds in verse 11: “Let us therefore strive to enter that rest.” In other words, we have entered it, and we must yet enter it. Redemption is accomplished. It must now be applied and consummated. Our eternal Sabbath is begun but is not fully present.

This is probably why the early church did not abandon the celebration of one day in seven as a day belonging especially to the Lord. In Revelation 1:10 it is called “the Lord’s Day.” “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day.” They knew that the final rest was still future. A day was still needed to bear witness to a self-reliant, self-sufficient world that our work does not save us or define us, Christ does.

What did Paul mean then, when he wrote to the Colossians (in 2:16-17), “Let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. 17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ”? I think he meant: Christ himself is our final Sabbath rest. “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Christ has come and purchased our rest, and becomes our resting place. The burden of saving ourselves is lifted. There is rest for our souls.

But the shadow remains because Christ has not yet returned. Someday there will be no more weeks because there will be no more night or month or years. The Sun and the moon will not be needed, because “the Lord God will be their light” (Revelation 22:5). There will be only Sabbath and no other day.

But not yet. We taste the final rest only in part as we trust in Christ. Therefore the Sabbath principle was not abandoned by the early church. The shadow of Christ across this weary world still offers shade, namely, the first day of the week—the Lord’s day. And the meaning of that day is that Jesus is risen and Jesus is Lord and Jesus is Creator and Jesus is Redeemer and Jesus is the only place of rest for the soul. It’s a day for worshipping Jesus. It’s a day for saying by what we do and don’t do that Jesus, not our work and not the money we get from our work, is our treasure and our meaning. It is a special day for the honor and the glory of the Lord. A day for mercy and for man.

So Does Romans 14:5 Refer to the Lord’s Day?

So, does Romans 14:5 refer to the Lord’s Day when it says, “One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind”? I answer with Paul Jewett: “It is unconvincing . . . to press Paul’s statement in Romans 14:5 so absolutely as to have considered John [the apostle] a Judaizer for having called one day in the week the Lord’s Day (Rev. 1:10), thus giving it the preeminence.” (The Lord’s Day, p. 78). Jewett takes John’s conviction as having apostolic authority and assumes he is not among the “weak” of Romans 14:2. That is, John does not call one day in the week “the Lord’s Day” as one option among many. He calls it “the Lord’s day” because he and the early church treat it in a special way among all days.

I cannot escape what seems to me compelling evidence that the Lord’s Day remains till Jesus comes and that it is set apart for the glory of Christ and the good our souls. May the Lord give you wisdom and freedom and joy as you display his work and his worth on his day.

[HarleyD]

An interesting article especially for those Christian brethern who feel our Lord Jesus obeyed the Law.

[Don'tMessWithTexas]

Are you suggesting that Jesus Christ did not keep the law?

[texianyankee]

What year did the church decide to change the holy day of worship from the Sabbath (Saturday) to Sunday?

[Teófilo]

33 AD.

-Theo

[texianyankee]

I dont believe you are correct. I believe it was changed much later than 33 AD.
The Christian church kept worshipping and honoring the Sabbath day years after Christ rose from the dead.

[Dr. Eckleburg]

Interesting article, Harley.

"So the final, eternal, blood-bought Sabbath rest has begun. We enter into it when we cease from our works and trust Christ and his finished work for us on the cross. This is the great and final meaning of the Sabbath. Christ has become our rest, our Sabbath."

[Teófilo]

Ok, let me clarify.

I didn't say the Apostles and Co. didn't worship on Saturday, but they clearly distinguished the Lord's Day from the Jewish Sabbath from the beginning. When the Church stopped being predominantly Jewish--that took a generation--the preeminent Sabbath became the Lord's Day, which in English is referred to as "Sunday." ("dominicus diae" in Latin, "Kyriaki" in Greek). The rest is history.

-Theo

[topcat54]

Apart from the practice of the church recorded in Scripture, there is evidence in early church writing to show the apostolic change from the last day to the first day of the week: e.g., the Didache, the Epistle of Barnabas, and the letters of St. Ignatius of Antioch.

"Assemble on the Lord's Day, and break bread and offer the Eucharist; but first make confession of your faults, so that your sacrifice may be a pure one." (The Didcahe)

"We have seen how former adherents of the ancient customs have since attained a new hope; so that they have given up keeping the Sabbath, and now order their lives by the Lord's day instead." (Ignatius' Epistle to the Magnesians 9)

[HarleyD]

The Law wasn't never meant to be a set of rules and regulations.

"'Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?' And He said to him, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets." Matt 22:36-40

What is better; seeing a man in a pit and rescuing him on the Sabbath or leaving him in the pit? What do you think our Lord Jesus would do? (And did.)

Paul states:

Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith." Gal 3:23

Do I believe that our Lord Jesus "Love God with all His heart, soul and mind and love His neighbor as Himself". Yes. Do I believe that our Lord Jesus broke Sabbath Laws. Well, the author highlight several places where this happened.

[sr4402]

What is better; seeing a man in a pit and rescuing him on the Sabbath or leaving him in the pit? What do you think our Lord Jesus would do? (And did.)

My wife is a registered Emergency Room nurse and a friend of ours a State Police officer. Both of them appreciate this verse, otherwise the sick would have no one to help them and crime would be rampant.

Both are required to work weekends as a course of duty and both celebrate a day of rest as unto the Lord. If one says they can't because it's not Saturday or Sunday. Then one would be as guilty of the Pharisees before Christ when they challenged him for healing the lame, blind, and dumb on the Sabbath day.

They should have known the verse in Isaiah, which showed the Messiah would heal the lame, the blind and raise people from the dead (Lazarus, the widow's son, and Jarius's daughter). Are we so blind that we condemn nurses and police officers for helping those stumbling on the Sabbath day and denying them a day to observe the Sabbath another day?

[HarleyD]

"My wife is a registered Emergency Room nurse and a friend of ours a State Police officer. Both of them appreciate this verse, otherwise the sick would have no one to help them and crime would be rampant."

That is an excellent point and one that our Lord Jesus sought to emphasize.

[Dr. Eckleburg]

Amen. Saved by grace, and nothing in ourselves.

[Teófilo]

Back in the early 90s I wrote an extensive article on sabbatarianism, aimed at the claims of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, which I posted in FidoNet's Open Bible Forum, my old stomping grounds. Let me see if I can dig it out. I included the quotes from the Apostolic Fathers topcat mentions.

Anyway, sabbatarianism is an idea that belongs, in my opinion, to the fringes of the churches and communities springing from the Reformation, with rare exceptions--i.e. some Anabaptists.

The Adventist variety sprouted from the climate of disillusionment following the collapse of the end-world predictions of the Millerite Movement back in the 19th century. For Ellen G. White, sabbatarianism provided a refuge from the ensuing doctrinal chaos.

Not that chiliasm--"end-of-time-ism"--isn't chaotic in itself, but the failure drove a lot of people, either away from this kind of Fundamentalism, or to other, more radical kinds. Or, it freed the creative juices of people like Ellen G. White and others.

That's my considered view.

-Theo

[Buggman]

So let me see if I have this straight: The crux of this article's argument is that the Pharisees, Sadducees, and other Jews who accused Yeshua of breaking the Torah--not simply their skewed interpretations of it, but the actual Torah itself--were in fact correct, so we should go and do likewise?

Well, so much for the theory that Jesus Christ was the Messiah and that He was without sin, since sin is Torah-lessness (1 Jn. 3:4).

Sorry, but it's so much more coherant and Biblical to simply recognize that the rabbis of the day had put so many fences around the actual Torah injunction to do no regular work on the Sabbath that they had in fact turned the art of resting into "work," with a thousand niggling little details to keep track of. Messiah Yeshua not abolishing the Sabbath, He was bringing back a balanced Sabbatology by pointing out that the Sabbath was made for Man--that is, as a gift, a day to rest and enjoy the Lord's goodness--not Man for the Sabbath, as if it were supposed to be an onerous religious obligation.

Any other interpretation has God, who gave the Torah at Mt. Sinai, in conflict with God, who walked with us in the flesh. Further, to say that He abolished the Sabbath is to say that God repented of one of His gifts (cf. Rom. 11:29) or that Yeshua lied when He said that the Sabbath had been given for Man.

That would amount to practical Marcionism.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

On what day did the Holy Spirit fill the church and every one in it? Pentecost.
What day were they gathered together? Pentecost.
What day did Penticost always fall on? Sunday.
On the First day of the week elt each one of you lay by in store..

Christ is our Sabbath. We rest in HIM. He is our rest.

[BipolarBob]

The plain truth of the Bible shows that Jesus was a Sabbatarian. He lived according to the law in this respect. He is our Example. That settles it for me. The apostles were Messianic Jews and it follows their converts would be as well. History distorts issues over time as men think to change times and laws. The Bible tells me so. )

[P-Marlowe]

This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath...

If, in fact, Jesus was breaking the Sabbath, then he was a sinner.

Are you willing to accept the implications of that statement, Harley?

[Uri’el-2012]

Bump Marcionism.

b'shem Y'shua

[HarleyD]

"If, in fact, Jesus was breaking the Sabbath, then he was a sinner."

Nonsense. Our Lord Jesus stated clearly the Sabbath was made for us; not we for the Sabbath. Contrary to what the Pharisees thought (and I might add some of the responses I'm getting here) the Sabbath was never intended to be some legalistic ceremony. It was misconstrued and distorted.

According to the author what our Lord Jesus and His disciples were doing in Matthew 12 (picking grain) on the Sabbath was not lawful according to the Pharisees. Our Lord Jesus didn't seem to mind. And our Lord Jesus didn't seem to have a problem with David taking the show bread which was not lawful.

Or how about:

Mar 3:1-5 He entered again into a synagogue; and a man was there whose hand was withered. They were watching Him to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. He *said to the man with the withered hand, "Get up and come forward!" And He *said to them, "Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to kill?" But they kept silent. After looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He *said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored.

According to Mark our Lord Jesus confronted them about their hypocrisy. Do you think our Lord Jesus should have waited one more day? Or how about:

Luk 13:14-16 But the synagogue official, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, began saying to the crowd in response, "There are six days in which work should be done; so come during them and get healed, and not on the Sabbath day." But the Lord answered him and said, "You hypocrites, does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the stall and lead him away to water him? "And this woman, a daughter of Abraham as she is, whom Satan has bound for eighteen long years, should she not have been released from this bond on the Sabbath day?"

Or how about where our Lord Jesus specifically told someone to break the Sabbath rule?

Joh 5:10-12 So the Jews were saying to the man who was cured, "It is the Sabbath, and it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet." But he answered them, "He who made me well was the one who said to me, 'Pick up your pallet and walk.'" They asked him, "Who is the man who said to you, 'Pick up your pallet and walk'?"

Was our Lord Jesus in violation of Jer 17:21-22? There are other examples. Contrary to popular opinions being thrown around, our Lord Jesus was in clear violation of the Sabbath according to the Pharisees. Are you willing to say He was a sinner? Are you willing to accept the implications of that statement PM and Buggman?

[Diego1618]

On what day did the Holy Spirit fill the church and every one in it? Pentecost. What day were they gathered together? Pentecost. What day did Penticost always fall on? Sunday.

Is this scripture.....or tradition?

[P-Marlowe]

Are you claiming that Jesus actually and literally broke the Sabbath?

[HarleyD]

I'm saying the Jewish Rabbis of the time didn't know what they were talking about when they told our Lord Jesus that He was breaking the Sabbath. Wouldn't you agree?

[HarleyD]

Christ is our Sabbath. We rest in HIM. He is our rest.

Amen and amen.

[texianyankee]

I still havent gotten an answer to my question.

When did the Roman Catholic church/pope decree that Christians were to worship on Sunday - in honor of Christ's resurrection?

What was the name of the Pope?

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

***Is this scripture.....or tradition?***

ACTS 2:1 Holy Spirit decends on the apostles and believers gathered together.

leviticus 23:10-21.And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering (first fruits); seven sabbaths shall be complete:
Even to the MORROW after the SEVENTH SABBATH shall ye number fifty days (Pentecost)and ye shall offer a new meat to the Lord...
And ye shall proclaim on the on the selfsame day, that it may be a holy convocation unto you: Ye shall do no servile work therein; it shall be a statute for ever in your dwellings throughout your generations.

Corinthians 16: 1-2 Now concerning the collection for the Saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, so do ye.
Upon the FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK let everyone of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.

Not quite up on your bible knowlege I see. Keep studying.

[Uri’el-2012]

The first edict in favor of the 'Venerable Day of the Sun" (Sunday) was made at
the Council of Nicea. Until this time, both Christian and Jew generally observed
the seventh day Sabbath, according to the Biblical commandment.

Civil legislation enforced the decrees of the Council of Nicea.
This was a victory over the truth by civil legislation. Constantine, as emperor,
presided over the entire council. The decisions of the 318 church bishops
were endorsed by civil law and backed by military power.

b'shem Y'shua

[Buggman]

Absolutely. But that doesn't mean that the Sabbath went away, just that some of the Pharisees (those making the accusations) misunderstood it. If they were misunderstanding the purpose of the Sabbath by putting a thousand legalistic protections around it, and the Lord refuted those without refuting the Sabbath itself, then the Sabbath still exists . . . and it ain't on Sunday.

There are only three questions that need concern us in regards to the Sabbath:

1) Does anyone other than God Himself have the authority to alter or take away the Sabbath? No.

2) Did He do so in the person of Yeshua HaMashiach? Again, no.

3) Is the Sabbath universal? Since God cited the very act of creation as the reason for the Sabbath in Ex. 20:11, yes.

Now, if one were to legalistically impose how one should rest on the Sabbath (beyond pointing out what the Scriptures themselves say), then he might be accused of making Man out to be made for the Sabbath--that is, making the Sabbath an imposition rather than a gift of God. That I would oppose.

(In like fashion, I would oppose those who make the Feastdays of the Lord a legalistic imposition. I myself only invite others to join for their edification.)

Nor do I care whether one worships on Sunday, any more than I would object to a Wednesday night worship service.

What I do object to is calling Sunday the Sabbath (it isn't), and calling the Sabbath a burden to be avoided (again, it isn't). It's a gift, and in my Arminian theology, God will let us turn down an offered gift, even to our sorrow.

[P-Marlowe]

Wouldn't you agree?

The author seems to say that Jesus actually did break the sabbath.

[topcat54]

3) Is the Sabbath universal? Since God cited the very act of creation as the reason for the Sabbath in Ex. 20:11, yes.

Where did this "universal" designation for the sabbath come from in your theology, since you argue that all the law is still binding in some modified way. I thought it was all "universal". Or by universal do you mean binding on unbelievers as well as believers?

(In like fashion, I would oppose those who make the Feastdays of the Lord a legalistic imposition. I myself only invite others to join for their edification.)

Edification? How can following the shadowy forms of the old covenant holy days promulgated by the traditions of the "messianic movement" promote edification? Aren't they another form of pharisaism? Since you cannot celebrate the holy days "just like Jesus" there seems to prior matter to be resolved.

[Diego1618]

leviticus 23:10-21.And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering (first fruits); seven sabbaths shall be complete: Even to the MORROW after the SEVENTH SABBATH shall ye number fifty days (Pentecost)and ye shall offer a new meat to the Lord...

Sorry, wrong Sabbath. Leviticus 23:15 identifies it correctly. From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering count off seven full weeks. Verse 5 says Passover is on the 14th of Nisan, the first Sabbath of the Feast of Unleavened Bread would then be on the 15th, verse 6. The day to begin counting the fifty days to Pentecost would then begin on the 16th, the day after the Sabbath, verse 11.

The original Hebrew in verse 15 is Shabbatot and in verse 16 it is Ha-shabbat. The problem most people have who speak English is not knowing that the Hebrew word "Shabbat" has several different meanings. In verse 11 it is also Ha-shabbat or High Sabbath. These meanings can be "a day of rest", "a Holiday such as the first day of unleavened", "the seventh day of the week", "a week of seven days", "a week of seven years".....the meaning depends on the context. Some Bibles say "after the seventh Sabbath" in verse 16, but the correct Hebrew context is after the seventh week.

Since we are commanded to observe Passover on a specific day of the month....the day of the week will change from year to year. So also will the two Sabbaths of Unleavened Bread and of course the day we begin "Counting the Omer" to Pentecost. And likewise will the Day of Pentecost change from year to year.

For a very good explanation of this look at "Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews" book III, chapter X, verses 5 and 6. Just "Google" it.

[Buggman]

I thought it was all "universal".

Then you haven't been paying attention. To wit: What have I consistantly said about the kosher laws?

How can following the shadowy forms of the old covenant holy days promulgated by the traditions of the "messianic movement" promote edification?

To one whose mind is so closed as yours, not a bit. To those whose eyes are open and who want to see and experience the Messiah and His plan of salvation as given in the Torah, a lot.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

***The author seems to say that Jesus actually did break the sabbath.***

The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the Sabbath day: and it is not lawful for the to carry thy bed.
He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed and walk....

...And therefore did the jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him because he had done these things on the sabbath day.
But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.
Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he had NOT ONLY BROKEN THE SABBATH but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

Addendum to post 33:...John 5:10-18

[P.O.E.]

Can't help but think but that everyday is a day the Lord has made. Each one glorious in its own way.

[P-Marlowe]

So do you think that Jesus literally broke the Sabbath?

[blue-duncan]

"Our eternal Sabbath is begun but is not fully present."

Sounds a whole lot like "Kingdom" theology; manifested (experienced) but not yet consumated (fulfilled).

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

***Sorry, wrong Sabbath.***

Read my post again. I included verse 15 in my Leviticus passages.

But the feast of firstfruits is reconed from the week in which the first grain is harvested, not the Passover sabbaths.
The first grain is harvested. That Sunday is the day it is waved before the Lord and following that the count of the weeks begins through 7 sabbaths then the day after the 7th sabbath is pentecost, always on a sunday.

In fact Resurection Sunday is refered to the Miaton Sabaton, the first day of the first week of the 7 weeks before Pentecost.
In another place the first day of the week, Sunday, is reffered to as the Prote Sabbatu.

and in still another place, Pentecost was at a different date because the FIRST harvest was during a different week. BUT ALWAYS ON SUNDAY.

Interesting point, Christ was resurected on Sunday, the very day of the feast of the firstfruits. This may be why Paul calls Christ '"The firstfruit from out of the dead."

What a weekend! Passsover Sabbath. Weekly Sabbath and firstfruits all in the same weekend that year.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

***So do you think that Jesus literally broke the Sabbath?***

I think he broke their traditional law that the Scribes and Pharsees put on the Sabbath.

But remember, "The Scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses' seat;
All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say and do not.
For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers."
Matthew 23: 1-4

[Diego1618]

I'm very sorry my friend but you are in error. Firstfruits was always on the 16th of Nisan....the day after the High Sabbath of Unleavened bread. I realize that this destroys some of your theology but it is scriptural.....and like I said in my previous post, Google "Josephus" and see what a first century Jewish historian says about it. Book III, Chapter 10, verses 5-6.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

***I'm very sorry my friend but you are in error. Firstfruits was always on the 16th of Nisan....the day after the High Sabbath of Unleavened bread. I realize that this destroys some of your theology but it is scriptural.....***


Well, let's see.
And the Lord spake unto Moses saying,
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them,
When ye come into the land which I give you and shall reap the harvest thereof then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest;
And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord to be accepted of you; on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.

Nothing in here about it being after Passover. Was this changed in later years as other things were?

The passover is a floating day, coming early in the year sometimes and late in some years. When the Passover came early before the harvest what did they wave before the lord?

And it doesn't destroy my theology at all as I don't keep a passover or firstfruits. Christ is my passover and the firstfruits out from among the dead. I will check my copy of Josephus but I still prefer the bible.

[Lexinom]

One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind (Rom 14:5).

Some thoughts: 1) Why needs must this refer to the Christian Sabbath? Could it not refer to holy days (holidays) like Christmas, etc.?

2) If we engage in commerce on the Lord's Day, are we not encouraging others to work, and thereby prevent their opportunity to worship? After all, someone has to wait and bus tables at the local family resturaunt. By buying and selling on Sunday, we cast a vote against the opportunity for public worship and in favor of our own pleasure.

3) "Acts of mercy", such as feeding ourselves or the needy, needn't involve buying and selling.

4) Obedience to God will kindle in our hearts a desire to order our lives in a way that pleases him. This includes a desire (albeit with frequent failure) to keep all Ten Commandments, not just nine of them.

Mark 10:17 And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?
10:18 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.
10:19 Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother.

Verse 19 is interesting because it lists the six commandments in the second table of the law (the last six, pertaining to our relationship with "our neighbor"). The appear in this order: 7th (adultery), 6th (murder), 8th (theft), 9th (lying), 10th (coveting/defrauding), and 5th (honor parents). It does not mention the first table, which pertains to our vertical relationship with God, yet they are inseperable from the second table. Loving God means loving one's neighbor by keeping the last six commandments, and vice versa.

To all: do you feel a deep sense of your sin and utter poverty before the Almighty? Do you feel your deep guilt at having pierced His sacred flesh with your sins? God has provided a safe haven at Calvary, and all weary and heavy-laden are invited and welcomed to flee to cross. This same lovely Savior Whom we have all pierced - you and I - is our surety, our hope, our salvation.

[HarleyD]

When did the Roman Catholic church/pope decree that Christians were to worship on Sunday - in honor of Christ's resurrection? What was the name of the Pope?

I'm not THAT familiar with Catholic history to give you an answer. I'm one that favors the interpretation that one should not esteem one day more than the rest as Paul states. We have entered into the Sabbath rest of our Lord Jesus.

[HarleyD]

The author seems to say that Jesus actually did break the sabbath.

Well given the many incidences in scripture what do you say? To the Pharisees our Lord Jesus was breaking the Sabbath. Do you believe the Pharisees were right in saying our Lord was breaking the Sabbath or do you think our Lord was correct in saying they interpreted the meaning wrong?

[Buggman]

Harley, with all respect, if we're all in agreement that Yeshua did not actually break the Sabbath and violate the fourth commandment thereby, and that it was the rabbis who were trying to trap Him who had misinterpreted the Torah, what exactly was your point in posting this article?

[HarleyD]

"Absolutely. But that doesn't mean that the Sabbath went away, just that some of the Pharisees (those making the accusations) misunderstood it."

It wasn't just that "some" Pharisees misunderstood it. The whole Jewish institution misunderstood it. Like the Passover, many of these practices came in and out of fashion:

2Ki 23:19-23 Josiah also removed all the houses of the high places...Then the king commanded all the people saying, "Celebrate the Passover to the LORD your God as it is written in this book of the covenant." Surely such a Passover had not been celebrated from the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and of the kings of Judah.

Or circumcision:

Jos 5:4-5 This is the reason why Joshua circumcised them:... For all the people who came out were circumcised, but all the people who were born in the wilderness along the way as they came out of Egypt had not been circumcised.

Or intermarriage which was expressly forbidden by God.

Neh 13:26-29 "Did not Solomon king of Israel sin regarding these things?...nevertheless the foreign women caused even him to sin. "Do we then hear about you that you have committed all this great evil by acting unfaithfully against our God by marrying foreign women?" ...Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites.

The fact is our Lord Jesus stated they had misconstrued the entire message of the Law including the purpose of the Sabbath. (Wasn't there fault. Man can't live by the Law.) You say:

Now, if one were to legalistically impose how one should rest on the Sabbath (beyond pointing out what the Scriptures themselves say), then he might be accused of making Man out to be made for the Sabbath--that is, making the Sabbath an imposition rather than a gift of God. That I would oppose.

Then are you saying you reject the teachings of the Jewish Rabbis on how one should rest on the Sabbath? Is this sola scriptura Jewish style? The Jewish Rabbis had no problem telling our Lord Jesus He was wrong. Was our Lord Jesus right or the Rabbitical institution?

[texianyankee]

Interesting.....I have to do some research before I can find the answer myself. I have heard it before, however.

I find it interesting that in the Bible, the only thing that is actually written directly by God is the Ten Commandments. Remember the seventh day to keep it holy, 6 days shalt thou labor & do all thy work. But the 7th day is the Sabbath.......

The cyclic week hasnt changed and so far as I know, God never changes either. It was man who changed the day of worship from Saturday to Sunday.

[DouglasKC]

Observation #1. When the Pharisees accused Jesus’ disciples of law-breaking (in verse 2) because they picked grain and ate it, Jesus did not even attempt to argue that picking grain and eating it was not Sabbath breaking. In fact, the way he answered them virtually assumed that it was against the law.

An incomplete and wrongheaded answer. The Pharisee's had enacted rules and traditions of men that overshadowed and/or supplanted the word of God in scripture. There are abundant examples from the mouth of Jesus:

Mat 15:2 Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread
Mat 15:3 But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?
Mat 15:6 And honor not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.

Mar 7:3 For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders.
Mar 7:4 And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brazen vessels, and of tables.
Mar 7:5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands?
Mar 7:6 He answered and said unto them, Well hath Isaiah prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
Mar 7:7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
Mar 7:8 For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.
Mar 7:9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.
Mar 7:13 Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.

The "law" in many cases is the entire set of law, traditional, oral, scriptural and non-scriptural, that evolved throughout the decades of Judaism. Jesus DID break the sabbath...ACCORDING TO TRADITION, but not according to the word of God.

Judaism then is a type of Christianity today. Traditions and customs of the traditional Christian church have been elevated above scripture. Jesus will return once again and correct this man-centered philosophy.

[DouglasKC]

Now consider John 5:16-17. Jesus had healed a man on the Sabbath and told him in John 5:8, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” This got the man in big trouble for carrying his bed on the Sabbath. In John 5:16 John writes, “And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.” To this, it says (in verse 17), “Jesus answered them, ‘My Father is working until now, and I am working.’”
What does this mean? I think it means this: When Adam fell into sin, God got up from his Sabbath rest after creation, and started to work again—not this time on creation, but on redemption—toward a new creation. A new humanity. “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” You do not understand what I am doing. I and my Father are creating a new world, a new humanity, and when we are finished, we will celebrate with a new Sabbath.

A novel interpretation to be sure. Wisely, the author neglected to quote the next verse, John 5:18:

Joh 5:18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

It's hard to believe that the Pharisees, whom Jesus called "vipers" were apparently right about the sabbath, but wrong that Jesus wasn't God.

The whole point is that the Pharisees were completely blinded by their own traditions both as to the purpose of the sabbath and to the identity of Jesus.

[DouglasKC]

I'm not THAT familiar with Catholic history to give you an answer. I'm one that favors the interpretation that one should not esteem one day more than the rest as Paul states. We have entered into the Sabbath rest of our Lord Jesus.

Rom 14:5 One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.

There's one small problem with using Romans 14:5 as justification for breaking God's sabbath commandment....it never mentions the sabbath day. A while back someone posted a picture of a protestor at a peace rally. It was a closeup of a young girl with a scarf covering her face. The poster posted additional pictures that zoomed out, showing that the original photo grossly misrepresented the situation. Same with using Romans 14:5. Let's zoom out:

Rom 14:6 He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.

We see that the esteeming the day is linked with eating or not eating.

Let's look at a previous verse:

Rom 14:3 Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him.

Now we see that Romans 14:5 is sandwiched by verses having to do with eating.

Let's look at the first two verses of 14:

Rom 14:1 Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.
Rom 14:2 For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs.

More eating! It's obvious that the focus of the chapter isn't on whether or not to keep the sabbath, but on eating practices.

Let's look at the last verse:

Rom 14:23 And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.

There ya have it. Chapter 14 is all about eating practices. It could be referring to traditional fasting on certain days, or to eating meat sacrificed to idols. It never uses the term "sabbath". It never makes the case that the 4th commandment is null and void.