Is the Sabbath only meant for the Israelites?
Do we as Christians need to keep the Sabbath today?
Sabbath applies to all man because God instituted it at creation.
After God finished His work of creation,
He set apart the seventh day as a day of rest and blessed it.
This was even before there was a Jewish nation.
In addition, we need to keep the Sabbath because God clearly commands it.
The Sabbath is described as being “commanded” by God 7 times in the Bible.
God cares about the keeping of Sabbath so much
that when the people forgot about it and stopped,
He would remind them of it.
One such example is in Jeremiah 17:22:
“And do not carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath or do any work,
but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your fathers.”
Jeremiah 17:22
Out of the many commandments in the Bible,
keeping the Sabbath is included in the 10 commandments,
which God wrote with His own finger.
Jesus affirmed that it is necessary to keep the 10 commandments in order to receive eternal life.
He mentioned 5 of the 10 commandments as examples
of what one must do in order to enter the kingdom of heaven.
In Matt 15:4, He also cited the fifth commandment,
teaching us that honoring our father and mother is a commandment of God.
It is clear that Jesus upheld the 10 commandments.
Believers of Jesus, therefore, need to keep the Sabbath commandment.
Jesus Himself kept the Sabbath.
In Luke 4:16,
Jesus was at the synagogue on the Sabbath day “as His custom was.”
Through His actions, He set an example for us of keeping the Sabbath.
As followers of Jesus, we need to keep the Sabbath.
Not only did Jesus keep the Sabbath,
but He also proclaimed that He is the Lord of the Sabbath.
In Matthew 12:8, He says:
"For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath."
Matthew 12:8
This shows that Jesus recognizes and validates the Sabbath’s importance,
as Jesus can only be Lord over what is still in effect and relevant.
Jesus also said that the Sabbath was made for man.
In Mark 2:27,
Jesus said to the people:
“The Sabbath was made for man,
not man for the Sabbath.”
Mark 2:27
Since the Sabbath was instituted for man’s benefit,
as long as there is man, it remains applicable and needed.
How did the followers of Jesus act regarding the Sabbath?
When Jesus died on the cross,
it was a moment of extreme grief for His followers,
but they did not break the Sabbath,
even for the sake of Jesus’ burial.
“It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning.
The women who had come with him from Galilee followed
and saw the tomb and how his body was laid.
Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments.
On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.”
Luke 23:54-56
The writer of Luke, as well as the followers of Jesus described here,
saw the Sabbath as a commandment that must be kept.
That is why these women rested from their burial preparations once the Sabbath began.
Paul, who became a disciple after Jesus’ death,
continued the example set by Jesus.
Although his ministry was to the non-Jews, Paul still kept the Sabbath.
Acts 17:2 says
that Paul went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day
“as was his custom”.
This was the exact phrase used for describing Jesus.
There is no record of Paul observing the day of resurrection.
Furthermore, Paul’s letters taught that it is necessary to keep the 10 commandments.
Like Jesus, Paul quotes the 5th commandment in Ephesians 6:1-4
that children should obey their parents,
explaining that “Honoring your father and your mother” is the first command with a promise.
Paul’s letter was addressed to the Ephesians church, which consisted mostly of non-Jews.
So even non-Jewish Christians must keep the 10 commandments.
There is no Biblical proof that the Sabbath commandment was ever done away with.
Rather, Jesus and the disciples kept the Sabbath themselves
and reinforced the 10 commandments in their teachings.
The Sabbath, therefore,
still stands.