The Sabbath played a big role in the worsening relationship between Jesus and the Pharisees. Matthew gives us only these two stories. By the end of the second story, we learn that Pharisees are planning to kill Jesus partly because of his views on the Sabbath.
How did Jesus had to our understanding of what should we do or not do on the Sabbath? He taught that Sabbath is a rest that is given, not earned, and that our “job” is to enjoy it, not to live up to it.
Sabbath rest is yet to come —the rest we enjoy today anticipates the real Sabbath rest that awaits us in the kingdom. That future rest is granted to those who have saving faith in Jesus Christ.
How do we keep the Sabbath? The simple command is not to work. We stop the activities we do that sustain our lives and instead we do the things that most foster our relationship to, understanding of and dependence on God.
Sabbath is about who God is. It’s not about what we need to live healthy lives. It’s not about making sure we get our rest so that we can be productive at work, be nice to our family and stay awake during Bible Studies (though none of those things are bad things). Sabbath reminds us who God is. Because as we’ll see, on the Sabbath, we rest to remember God.
We know we need real rest and we know the answer is Sabbath. But what is the Sabbath? Why does God command it? When do we enjoy it? And how can we rest when so much work remains to be done?
Tools and resources you need to do a word study on the Greek word for Sabbath, sabbaton.
I suspect many of believers today are convinced that Sabbath still means something but have no idea what it is. You take the Bible seriously, you sincerely want to follow and obey God, but in this particular instance you have no idea how to begin, what to do or what not to do. What can we learn from Jeremiah about Sabbath?
Krisan Marotta is a Bible teacher and host of Wednesday in the Word, the podcast about what the Bible means and how we know.