Did Jesus Observe the Sabbath?

[steve]

The following question came to me by regular email. I post the question and my answer here in order to invite further discussion:

Hi Steve,
I have been listening to you for years and treasure your service.. thank you!
My grandpa is a Seventh-Day Adventist. we have an ongoing debate about the ten commandments... I've heard your lectures regarding the Sabbath.. I have been bringing up these points to him but I'm not getting anywhere.. but I'm not giving up!!
When do you think the new covenant took over? Do you think Christ kept the Sabbath up to that point?
Charles

Hi Charles,
The exact point at which the New Covenant took force (like the exact moment that the Kingdom was inaugurated, or the exact point at which Satan was bound) is hard to nail down. Jesus said the law and the prophets would be in force until they were fulfilled. This fulfillment was probably progressive throughout His ministry. Early in His ministry, He announced that Isaiah 61 was fulfilled in Him (Luke 4:21). He also declared all foods clean prior to His death (Mark 7:19). In the upper room, He said the cup they drank was the New Covenant in His blood (Luke 22:20). Thus it may have been that the New Covenant was inaugurated with the ministry of Christ, and sealed with His death.

I don't believe we have any record of Christ observing a Sabbath rest. Preaching in the synagogues on the Sabbath does not count against this statement, since there is no record of any command in the law to preach in synagogues on the Sabbath, and preaching was His regular line of work seven days a week—thus it was technically a violation of the law, which said to do your regular work six days and to desist on the seventh (Ex.20:9-10). This does not mean that He did not frequently observe the Sabbath. He may have done so without it ever being recorded. This would be merely conjecture. However, as "Lord of the Sabbath," He said that He was (and His disciples were) not under obligation to do so (Matt.12:8), and both He and His disciples are said to have violated the Sabbath, on occasion (Matt.12:2/ John 5:18).

Blessings!

Steve

[Colin]

I have always thought that the old covenant was nullified upon the death of Christ when the veil of the temple was torn in two (Matt 27:51). During the last supper, when Jesus presented bread and wine and stated that they were the new covenant (Matt 26:26-28), it seems to me that these were symbols of his own flesh and blood that were to be sacrificed on the cross shortly.

Of course if you are Catholic you may have a different opinion

[jriccitelli]

I always considered Jesus 'kept' 'His interpretation' of the Sabbath, not the rabbinical interpretation. Therefore He did not break the Sabbath. Although David broke the Law, I considered that the Disciples did not technically break the Law of 'Gathering' because they broke and ate as they went along, much like you would do at a table sitting. They did not cook or prepare the grain, so I do not see a law against eating in a field. Is there? I don’t think so.

[steve]

There is no law against eating. However, the disciples were viewed as harvesting and threshing wheat. Though this was on a minuscule scale, it was the kind of labor generally forbidden on the Sabbath. Jesus indicated that what the disciples did was comparable to what David did when eating the showbread—namely, he was breaking a law, but one whose importance did not outweigh the demands of human hunger.

[steve7150]

Also in Matt 12.12 Jesus said "therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath" , which sounds uneventful but actually "doing good" is a kind of working and working is a direct contradiction to the Sabbath command "cease from your works."

[Paidion]

I don't see how scripture could be clearer in stating that Jesus broke the Sabbath than the following:

Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was his father, making himself equal with God. (John 5:18 NKJV)

Some try to insist that this verse is saying merely that the Jews believed that He broke the Sabbath. But John is not commenting on the Jews' belief here. Rather, he unequivocally states that He broke the Sabbath.

[look2jesus]

Paidion took the words out of my mouth concerning the breaking of the Sabbath. I think his is a strong point.

Concerning the commencement of the New Covenant, after reading through Hebrews 8 & 9, I have to conclude that it wasn't until Jesus' death that it truly commenced. I believe that we must see Jesus' commemoration of the bread and the wine as looking forward to His actual death, as was mentioned previously. I've included what I think are the most pertinent parts of Hebrews 9:

…into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people's sins committed in ignorance; the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest…But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation…with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption…for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death…For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives…For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself…now…at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And as it is appointed for men to die once…so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. NKJV

[jriccitelli]

Do you have another verse that says Jesus violated the Law?
John doesn’t seem to include one; if Jesus really broke the Law John doesn’t seem overly concerned with it, not to mention we may have got a completely wrong attitude about the Pharisees.
It would seem strange that John would make a statement here regarding Jesus and the Law because I do not find John speaking ‘anywhere’ that would give the impression that he wants to, or presumes to, make ‘judgments on the Law’.
You would have to surmise then that Jesus taught John the Law, and if Jesus taught John the Law (In less than 3 years) then Jesus would have disqualified the ‘significance’ of Law keeping by breaking the Law (!?) (I would think John would have backed up such a statement, that Jesus is really breaking the Law)

John received revelation, and he learned from Jesus, but Johns ‘Gospel’ reads basically as a purely narrative focused account. After his opening synopsis in the beginning of John, John tends to stick simply to narrative after verse 1:19
(And not his own thoughts) all the way to the end of the book.

Does John give a detail of the truth about Jesus here (In 5:18) that contradicts everything else we believe about the one who said “Which of you convicts me of sin?”
Or, is it just that John is giving a brief summary of what the Jews had been charging Jesus with.
Isn’t John simply stating ‘what the Jews have said’ about Jesus, without saying ‘they were saying’, we should know what they were saying because John has said so, just as John repeats the Jews dialog in 3:2, 6:42, 6:52, 7;11-13, 15, 20, 25, 35, 40-42, 46 etc. John now adds the Jews two 'main accusations' against Jesus together.

"The man went away, and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.16 For this reason the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because He was doing these things on the Sabbath.17 But He answered them, "My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working." 18 For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God" (John 5:15-18)

John gives the reason they were accusing Him of Sabbath breaking in verse 16 (above), the man was healed on the Sabbath. Find me the verse in Deuteronomy or anywhere in the Pentateuch that says healing is a work and not permitted on the Sabbath.

Sorry I cant sound any less diplomatic on this, I am presenting this as a question, thats all I can do.

[steve7150]

"The man went away, and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.16 For this reason the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because He was doing these things on the Sabbath.17 But He answered them, "My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working." 18 For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God" (John 5:15-18)








The main thing is that Jesus said "and i myself am working" so whatever John meant, Jesus didn't observe the Sabbath command of "cease from your works."
Jesus was Lord of the Sabbath so IMO he isn't required to keep a ceremonial law so i don't think John literally meant he broke the law since he wasn't subject to it, but again the point is that he was working.

[Homer]

Luke 16:16
New King James Version (NKJV)

16. “The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it.

It is my opinion that the ministry of John the Baptist marked a turning point, the beginning of a transition from the Old Covenant to the new, from the Law of Moses to the Law of Christ. This transition took time. It might be argued that Jesus' statement that "not one jot or tittle shall pass" from the law meant that the LOM would be fully in effect until the cross. I think this is not the correct understanding for in the very same sermon Jesus changed the liberal divorce and adultery provisions of the Law back to God's original intent for marriage.

John now adds the Jews two 'main accusations' against Jesus together.

"The man went away, and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.16 For this reason the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because He was doing these things on the Sabbath.17 But He answered them, "My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working." 18 For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God" (John 5:15-18)

John gives the reason they were accusing Him of Sabbath breaking in verse 16 (above), the man was healed on the Sabbath. Find me the verse in Deuteronomy or anywhere in the Pentateuch that says healing is a work and not permitted on the Sabbath.

It is my belief Jesus effectively nullified the Law regarding keeping the Sabbath. Jesus was and is King and determines what is and is not lawful under His reign. The LOM was in the process of being replaced. Jesus healed a number of times on the sabbath; I think there are at least seven incidents recorded:

Matt. 12:11-12
Mark 1:21-29
Mark 3:1-5
Luke 13:10-13
Luke 14:1-6
John 5:1-9
John 9:1-14

Something rarely taken note of is that all these healings could have waited, they were all chronic conditions. That they were not emergencies lends weight to the idea that Jesus healed on the sabbath to drive home a point. The strict sabbath observance under the law of Moses was over.