Sabbath at Easter

Matt Pearce

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Sabbath & Rest

Last night we covered what happened to Jesus leading up to his crucifixion. At this point in time when it comes to the Sabbath it would appear the Satan has won victory is his.

However this is as we know is not the case. He is alive. But the question is why did Jesus rest and just rise again.

A question that comes to mind is why did Jesus have to stay in the tomb for the length of time . Did it have to be over the Sabbath couldn’t he rise he next day? Maybe but then the Bible tells us that he would die and rise on the third day.

One aspect is that Jesus dying and staying in the tomb is to continue to show the importance of the Sabbath. So the Question that comes to mind is what is the Sabbath all about is it full of rules of what you can and cannot do. Well that could depend who you talk to.

In 2009 I have the privilege of visiting Israel and spending Two Sabbaths there. The Jews are interesting in what they do. What I found fascinating was that when you went to use a lift on Sabbath you had to be careful what one you went into. Because you would find a sign in Hebrew and said this is the Shabbat lift in the hotel. I did this in one of the hotels we were staying in I pressed the button the lift came and I walked in. Once in I pressed the button and quickly realised the lift was not going anywhere. I waited and someone came and pressed the button. I walked out and quickly decided that I was going to take the stairs. I dare not think how long I would have been in the lift. There are 2 lifts but what they do is step into it and wait for it to go from floor to floor. without touching a button. Why because they saw that it was work. Turning on a light on Sabbath is seen as work.

I also noted around the city flags on the powerlines, I asked the guide and he explained that they were makers as to how far a Jew could walk on the Sabbath. It seems to me that there were rules for everything and that some times we even get caught up in rules.

But What does the Bible say about the Sabbath.

There are several points that need to be considered. Turn with me to our first text this morning.

There a sign in Hebrew and said this is the Shabbat elevator, and Shabbat started over an hour ago with the sun setting. (Shabbat is Hebrew for Sabbath). The man went onto explain that the Shabbat elevator stops on every one of the 32 floors of this hotel, and then stops at every floor one the way back down, so no one had to break Shabbat by pushing a button on the elevator, as that would constitute work.

Gen 2:1

Genesis 2:2–3 ESV

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. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

First, the situation in the Garden of Eden implies that the Sabbath was designed for worship and communion with God. The Sabbath was sanctified by God as soon as the sixth day of creation was completed (). The Ten Commandments remind us that the example set by God at that time constituted a permanent pattern for mankind. The Sabbath was given to Adam and Eve prior to the fall and initially had no respect either to sin or to redemption.

Ryan M. McGraw, “Five Reasons Why the Sabbath Is Designed for Worship,” ed. Joel R. Beeke, Puritan Reformed Journal Volume 1 1, no. 2 (2009): 219.

It was not given as a type of Christ as the Redeemer, since there was no sin and death to be redeemed from, and it was not given as a type of a salvation, which was an irrelevant concept to an unfallen man and woman. In the Garden, Adam and Eve lived every day as worship and service to God, yet part of their joyful service was the labor that God had given them. When the Sabbath arrived, they had nothing left but direct acts of worship and communion with Him. What more would a sinless man and woman have desired, and what other purpose could the Sabbath have served in Paradise?

God made the sabbath so that we do not need to work.

God “sanctified” the Sabbath

Second, the fact that the Lord “sanctified” and “hallowed” the Sabbath day means that He set it apart for the purposes of worship. (). So when God sanctified the Sabbath and made it “holy,” He set it apart for worship exclusively. In other words, the operative phrase in the fourth commandment is, “keep it holy,” not, “you shall do no work.”

The Children of Israel tried to even collect food on the Sabbath and they found none.

God made the sabbath so that we do not need to work.

Exodus 16:27–28 ESV

On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they found none. And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws?

Puritan Reformed Journal, Volume 1 God “Sanctified” the Sabbath

Second, the fact that the Lord “sanctified” and “hallowed” the Sabbath day means that He set it apart for the purposes of worship. Leviticus 27 addresses the subject of people, animals, various objects, and offerings that were dedicated as “holy” to the Lord. These people and objects were dedicated to the service of the tabernacle, and were used in the worship and service of the Lord exclusively. Objects that were holy to the Lord belonged to Him in a peculiar manner. The Lord said, “no devoted offering that a man may devote to the Lord of all that he has, both man and beast, or the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed; every devoted offering is most holy to the Lord” (Lev. 27:28). So when God sanctified the Sabbath and made it “holy,” He set it apart for worship exclusively. In other words, the operative phrase in the fourth commandment is, “keep it holy,” not, “you shall do no work.”

Exodus 16:28–29 ESV

And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? See! The Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Remain each of you in his place; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.”

Puritan Reformed Journal, Volume 1 God “Sanctified” the Sabbath

Second, the fact that the Lord “sanctified” and “hallowed” the Sabbath day means that He set it apart for the purposes of worship

What they were doing is work that could have been done during the week.

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The Commandment’s position among the Ten Commandments

Third, the position of the fourth commandment among the Ten Commandments points to an emphasis upon worship. The first four commandments are generally acknowledged to address immediately our relation to God with respect to His worship and service, and the last six address our service to God by way of serving our neighbour. The first commandment concerns the object of worship, the second the manner of worshipping Him, the third the proper attitude of worship, and the fourth the time that has been set apart for worship.

Exodus 20:8–11 ESV

“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, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Character of the commands to keep the Sabbath

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Fourth, the varied duties explicitly connected to Sabbath observance are duties related to worship. Every Sabbath, Israel must hold a “holy convocation” to the Lord (). The morning and evening sacrifices, which were an integral part of temple worship in the Old Testament, must be doubled upon the Sabbath.

Mark 2:27–28 ESV

And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

In short, the bulk of the requirements attached to Sabbath-keeping in both testaments relates to some duty of corporate or private worship. If we consider these commands in isolation, we may be tempted to conclude that the Sabbath is a day of rest with duties of worship attached to it. However, when we connect the character of these commands with the three inferences drawn above, we must conclude that the Sabbath is a day of worship. Rest from our weekly employments is a necessary prerequisite to keep the day holy. The presumption is that the purpose for which the Lord set apart the entire day was for His people to hold communion with Him in worship.

God’s Sabbath Rest is also available to us by virtue of our salvation in Christ. In this rest, we get to rest from our works, just as God rested after He worked on creating the world.

We love God we would keep his commandments

Hebrews 4:8–11 ESV

For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.

We no longer have to attempt to strive toward acceptance through good works, as we are accepted by God through the work completed on the cross by our Lord Jesus Christ.

Now one can continue to talk about the Sabbath and consider and also be come like a Pharisee. Or one can look at the example of Jesus and do likewise.

There are many things that can be done on the Sabbath that can bring joy to us and not be hung on the does and don’ts. Here are some things to consider.

Puritan Reformed Journal, Volume 1 Connection of the Sabbath to the Hope of Heaven

Fifth, the Sabbath is designed to be a type of heaven, and the biblical picture of heaven is a place solely consumed with the worship of God through Jesus Christ. We must not merely think of the Sabbath as looking forward to heaven, but we must regard the Sabbath as being patterned after heaven

Visit sick in hospital.

Visit a nursing Home.

Go for a bush walk or beach walk

Adopt an elderly person or a young person.

Hangout with the youth.

Host a small group

Visit a neighbour

Connection of the Sabbath to the hope of Heaven

What a glorious privilege and blessing such a day ought to be! What a mercy from God that we should have one day in seven to enjoy God without the distractions that encumber us throughout the week! Does this not make neglecting the Sabbath appear to be base ingratitude?

If Adam and Eve needed a day of worship before the fall, do you not need such a day? When you disregard the Sabbath by bending your conscience to the will of employers, or to the lusts of the flesh rather than the Word of God, do you realize that you are actually despising the privilege of worship?

You are not simply disobeying a commandment of God; you are spurning one of His greatest gifts to mankind. If the Sabbath is designed simply for “rest,” then our rule shall invariably be, “What is restful for you is restful for you, but what is restful for me is restful for me.”

However, if the Sabbath is designed for worship, we shall gratefully confess, “The Sabbath is to be sanctified by an holy resting all that day, even from such worldly employments and recreations as are lawful on other days, and taking up the whole time in the public and private exercises of God’s worship, except so much as is to be taken up in the works of necessity and mercy”

When Jesus walked this earth he helped people, he healed and taught, he walked with his disciples. My challenge and question for you today is what is stopping you from resting and sharing Jesus on the Sabbath?