The Old Testament
8 “Remember the Sabbath day to set it apart as holy. 9 For six days you may labor and do all your work, 10 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, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your cattle, or the resident foreigner who is in your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, and he rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy. Exodus 20:8-11, NET©
In the old testament, God created the seventh day, so that you could rest and sanctify that day for God.
In the New Testament
In the new testament, the Sabbath has a new and much deeper meaning.
If we were to keep the Sabbath command literally, then we must understand that Sunday is the wrong day for the Sabbath. Sunday is a church tradition from the 2nd century. Then it’s easy to make the conclusion that the holy day has to be Saturday. The day when the jews celebrate sabbath. The problem here is that Saturday is also wrong day. If we want to go to the bottom, we have to understand that the Gregorian calendar is wrong. The mosaic calendar is not sun-based, but the moon-based calendar of the old testament. This kind of interpretation of the bible would be very legalistic.
Jesus Is the Lord of the Sabbath
27 Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for people, not people for the Sabbath. 28 For this reason the Son of Man (Jesus) is lord even of the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27-28, NET©
Jesus clearly says that he is the lord of the sabbath, and that the sabbath was for man and not the other way around. This means that God has created a resting place for us to enter into.
9 Consequently a Sabbath rest remains for the people of God. 10 For the one who enters God’s rest has also rested from his works, just as God did from his own works. 11 Thus we must make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by following the same pattern of disobedience. Hebrews 4:9-11, NET©
The true sabbath rest, is to get to know Jesus Christ. Not just proclaiming him, but actually believing and trusting in him. That he is the one who carries us. To enter the sabbath rest is not a day but a place in God.
That place is with Jesus in his kingdom, where we can rest ourselves from our own works, where it is the grace of God that carries us. Not seeking to find that resting-place, is disobedience to God, because otherwise we try to hold on to our own works.
Have You Entered into the Sabbath?
Have you found the sabbath? To find the resting-place of the sabbath, we must believe in Jesus, as well as obey God, to be let in. If you have not found that rest yet, you need to start to obey God and seek the sabbath. Eventually you may also need to repent and receive Jesus as Lord and get to know him.