Christ and the Sabbath
Samuel Smith
23 Jan'19
5
LESSON 3
CHRIST AND THE SABBATH
You are welcome to another edition of Insights from God's Word, a Bible study programme that is committed to sharing God's Word by allowing the Bible to speak for itself.In this edition, we continue with our series on The Sabbath Question. The topic for this study is: Christ and the Sabbath. In this study, we are going to consider the attitude that Christ expressed in relation to the Seventh-day Sabbath. I will want us to find answers to questions such as:
i) Did Christ regard or honour the Seventh-day Sabbath?
ii) Why did Christ have numerous contentions with the religious leaders in relation to the Sabbath?
Beloved, I believe by the time we are through with this study, the Lord will have given us clear insights from His Word in relation to these questions.
1) AN IMPORTANT BACKGROUND
When Christ was matured enough, He did not receive training from the orthodox Jewish schools. Our Saviour noted how widely the religious leaders of Israel have shifted from many of the clear truths of God's Word. Among the truths that have been grossly misrepresented was the observance of the Seventh-day Sabbath. In fact, by the time Christ began His ministry in A.D. 27, the religious leaders had instituted a manner of Sabbath observance that had become a burdensome yoke to the people. Numerous man-made rules were now used to govern the keeping of the Sabbath. Christ experienced frequent agonies as He saw how the devil had led the Jewish leaders to obtain and exercise a wrong view of observing the Sabbath; a day that He had instituted to bring rich blessings to the children of men (see2) THE POINT OF AGREEMENT
Between Christ and the Jewish religious leaders, there seemed to be only one point of agreement in relation to the Sabbath. This point of agreement is the clear biblical fact that the Sabbath was to be remembered and kept Holy by God's people (seeFriends, in regard to this point of agreement, Christ gave His followers an example. From
Beloved, the Bible is clear. Christ had a custom or manner of attending church, so to speak, every Sabbath. He did not think it a burden to honour God as far as the Sabbath commandment was concerned. It was Him who had created all things, and had taken a rest on the Seventh day (see
3) THE POINT OF CONTENTION
We have just noted from Scripture that Christ did not have a problem with the Jewish religious leaders in relation to the Seventh-day Sabbath which was inscribed in God's Moral Law. However, when it came to the manner of observing the Sabbath, our Lord had a radically different view from that which was held by the religious leaders at the time.The issue of contention between Christ and the religious leaders was not about whether the Sabbath was to be kept or not. The issue of contention was about the way in which the Sabbath was to be kept.
Friends, with this knowledge of the issue at stake, it becomes easier to understand some of the supposedly harsh statements of Christ in regard to the keeping of the Sabbath. For instance, the leaders of ancient Israel had instituted laws that prevented the people from receiving treatment of certain diseases on the Sabbath day. In defiance of this man - made regulation, we find Christ conducting several healing sessions on the Sabbath day against the clear traditions of the Jewish leaders (see
In another account in the gospels, we find Christ defending His disciples when they were accused by the religious leaders for plucking ears of corn to eat on the Sabbath day (see
4) CHRIST AFFIRMED THE CONTINUITY OF THE SEVENTH-DAY SABBATH
In His numerous vivid contentions with the religious leaders in regard to the manner of observing the Sabbath, there was no place where Christ taught His audience that they should look with disdain on the Sabbath. There was no place that Christ taught His disciples that the keeping of the Seventh-day Sabbath was to cease after His death.In regard to the prophecy concerning the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, Christ asked the disciples to pray so that their escape would not be in the winter or on the Sabbath day (see
Friends, I believe that if there was a group of people who were qualified enough to refrain from keeping the Seventh-day Sabbath because Christ had given such a command, that would have been the early disciples of Christ. But as we will discover more fully in our next study, the disciples including even Paul, kept on keeping the Seventh-day Sabbath several years after the Lord had ascended to heaven.
Beloved, as I bring this study to a close, I want us to remember that the controversies that often ensued between Christ and the Jewish leaders in regard to the Sabbath, bordered primarily on the manner or way in which the Sabbath was to be observed, and not the Sabbath commandment itself. W. D. Killen, an Irish Presbyterian who proved to be one of the great minds in the gospel ministry wrote the following:
"The Great Teacher never intimated that the Sabbath was a ceremonial ordinance to cease with the Mosaic ritual ... Instead of anticipating its extinction along with the ceremonial law, He speaks of its existence after the downfall of Jerusalem. [SeeExhortation: I want to follow every example of Christ, including the keeping of the Seventh-day Sabbath. If this is also your prayer, please send an AMEN to any of our WhatsApp numbers below so we can keep you in our prayers.Matthew 24:20 ] " - W. D. Killen, The Ancient Church (1883 Ed), p. 188.
In our next study, we will consider the topic: The Disciples and the Sabbath. The Bible Study references for this study are
Stay blessed and keep shining for King Jesus.
Maranatha!
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