sabbath/Sabbath?

Exodus 20:8
Remember to keep the Sabbath holy.

Most “Christians” go to church on Sunday. Most [practicing] Jewish people go to synagogue on Saturday. Which day is the sabbath? I guess if you want to be legalistic about it, Saturday is the sabbath. Saturday is the last day of the week, Sunday is the first day of the week. Saturday is believed to be the day in which God rested from creating (Genesis 2:3). But I’ll ask the question: does it really matter?

Is God really concerned with a particular day? I like to think that there is more to this, the fourth commandment, than just a simple day in which we “rest” from our work. Honestly, there are the legalistic believers out there who would say that on Saturday (Sunday, Monday, Friday...I don’t really care) while observing the sabbath you shouldn’t do any work. In Jesus’ day these people were called Pharisees. They were the ones who religiously and legalistically observed the sabbath, to the point of getting upset at Christ and His disciples for picking grain to eat or healing the lame on the sabbath (Luke 6:1, Mark 3:2). These people exist today, getting all riled up when we don’t observe a day of rest on Saturday or when we work on Sunday. It’s religion, folks, and Jesus didn’t come to give us religion; He came to give us life (John 10:10).

So what of the sabbath? Well, in order to answer that question we have to first capitalize the Sabbath. You see, with a small “s”, the sabbath is just another day. But the True Sabbath is much more than a day. Going back to Genesis, we learn that God made the Sabbath holy because in it He rested from His work (Genesis 2:3 “And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested from all His work which God had created and made.”) I guess this may be getting a little spiritually deep here, but where else did God rest from His work? The answer is on the cross. It was on the cross where Christ finally found rest from His work, saving humanity.

Christ, before His death, gave His disciples an order: (I guess you could say it was a command) “...this do in remembrance of Me.” (Luke 22:19) He broke the bread and poured out the wine and told them to get together and do the same in order to remember Him. In that word, remember, is hidden the secret to the Sabbath. It’s not a day; it is Christ.

God never intended for us to remember a specific day of the week; He intended for us to remember Jesus. Jesus showed us that the sabbath (as observed by tradition and religion) was just another day, that it was okay to do work on the sabbath. He healed the lame, in church, on the sabbath. He watched as His disciples picked grain on the sabbath and didn’t rebuke them for working.

Jesus not only fulfilled the Ten Commandments, He became them. He is our Sabbath. Remember Jesus? He died on the cross for your sins! Remember Jesus? He bore your sickness on His back! Remember Jesus? He told you He’ll give you rest from your works (Matthew 11:28).

I don’t think God cares one bit what day you go to church, what time you get there, or what denomination to which you belong. I don’t think it bothers Him when you have to work on Sunday morning (as some of us do) or if you tear your toilet paper ahead of time, on Saturday afternoon (yes, I have known people who went this far to avoid work on the sabbath). No, what God is really concerned with is whether or not you remember His Son, Jesus Christ. He’s concerned with your realization that in Christ you can rest from your works and attempts to be justified through them.

Jesus Christ is the True Sabbath.