Not Even a Hint – The Sabbath Part 4
Many assume that Jesus has become the Sabbath rest and therefore believe that when a person receives Him they are no longer required to observe the Sabbath command because they are perpetually resting in Him. There are a number of reasons why this is false. First of all, the Bible says that it was His custom to keep the Sabbath day holy (Luke 4:16). Surely if He sought to pave the way for such a change in something as so significant as the Sabbath it wouldn’t have been customary for Him to keep it. Secondly, as nice as it may sound to see Jesus as our Sabbath rest there is no biblical basis for such a belief. In fact, out of 116 verses from the New Testament in the KJV where the word Sabbath appears, not one of them refers to or even hints at Jesus being the Sabbath.
Granted, Jesus did say, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28 KJV). However, the word for rest here is not the same word used for the Sabbath. The rest that Jesus was speaking of here is anapauo, which essentially has to do with lifting burdens from us that are there as a result of faithless living. What comes to mind here is 1Peter 5:6-7, which says, “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”
In other words, the Lord wants us to humble ourselves before Him and stop taking matters into our own hands, that is, He wants us to start living in complete obedience to Him. For by taking matters into our own hands we only create more burdens for ourselves. But when we cast our cares on Jesus Christ and live in obedience to His commands we find freedom from worry, guilt, and fear. Thus we soon discover that obedience to God is not burdensome, but enlightening and invigorating. “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.” (1 John 5:3 KJV). Hence the rest that Jesus gives us is one that results in keeping God’s commandments with pleasure; not one that throws them out or replaces them with something else.
Furthermore, notice how Jesus had said that He would give us rest; He did not say that He is the Sabbath day or the rest that fulfills the purpose of the Sabbath command. Jesus’ saying that He will give us rest is present tense, which means the rest that He sought to give to those to whom He was speaking was rest that they could, by faith, experience immediately–simply by embracing Him as the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). Moreover, Jesus had said that He is Lord of the Sabbath (Mark 2:28), which means He is greater than the Sabbath. So to say that He is the Sabbath is to say something that is not consistent with His declaration of being Lord of the Sabbath. For how can He be both Lord of the Sabbath and the Sabbath at the same time and in the same sense? It doesn’t follow reason.
And let’s not forget that Jesus also said,
“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” – Matthew 5:17-19 KJV
By the way, if Jesus intended to abolish the Sabbath command then why would He have said the following in reference to the destruction of Jerusalem:
“But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day” – Matthew 24:20 KJV
Keep in mind that this prophecy was fulfilled in A.D. 70–long after Jesus was crucified and had risen from the dead. Therefore, Jesus obviously had no plans of abolishing, changing, or becoming the Sabbath day. For He told those who were present to pray that their flight wouldn’t happen on the Sabbath. If they were no longer required to keep the Sabbath day holy after His death, there would have been no point in Him telling them to pray that their flight wouldn’t take place on the Sabbath, because the Sabbath would have ceased to be so. Incidentally, Jesus’ words also suggest that the Sabbath is still to be acknowledged as a 24 hour period, that is, the rest itself is not timeless or eternal as some like to think. For if it were every day there would have been no sense in Jesus telling those to whom He was speaking to pray that their flight wouldn’t take place on the Sabbath. In other words, the idea that the Sabbath is timeless or eternal presupposes that there couldn’t be a distinction in days relative to its rest, as all days would then constitute the Sabbath. But according to Jesus this can’t be possible, as He clearly made a distinction!
Please click on the link below to read part 5 of this series.