Sabbath 6

VI. THE SABBATH IN CHRIST'S DAY

A. CHRIST'S EXAMPLE

LUKE 4:

16 "And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read."

MATTHEW 12:

1 "AT that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat."

2 "But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day."

3 "But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him;"

4 "How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?"

5 "Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?"

6 "But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple."

7 "But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless."

8 "For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day."

MATTHEW 12:

10 "And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they (Pharisees, verse #14) asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him."

11 "And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out?"

12 "How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore (Christ said) it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days."

13 "Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other."

14 "Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him."

MARK 3:

1 "AND he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand."

2 "And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him."

3 "And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth."

4 "And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace."

5 "And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other."

6 "And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him."

JOHN 5:

5 "And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years."

6 "When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?"

7 "The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me."

8 "Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk."

9 "And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath."

10 "The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed."

11 "He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk"

12 "Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk?"

13 "And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place."

14 "Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee."

15 "The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole."

16 "And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day."

JOHN 9:

1 "AND as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth."

2 "And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?"

3 "Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him."

4 "I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work."

5 "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."

6 "When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay."

7 "And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing."

8 "The neighbors therefore, and they which before had seen him that he was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged?"

9 "Some said, This is he: others said, He is like him: but he said, I am he."

10 "Therefore said they unto him, How were thine eyes opened?"

11 "He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed, and I received sight."

12 "Then said they unto him, Where is he? He said, I know not."

13 "They brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime was blind."

14 "And it was the sabbath day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes."

15 "Then again the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. He said unto them, He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and do see."

16 "Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath day. Others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them."

17 "They say unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of him, that he hath opened thine eyes? He said, He is a prophet."

18 "But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind, and received his sight, until they called the parents of him that had received his sight."

19 "And they asked them, saying, Is this your son, who ye say was born blind? how then doth he now see?"

NOTE:

Be sure to notice what Christ was doing that the Jews considered breaking the Sabbath. He was healing and doing good works. He said, "it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath". Christ was not breaking the Sabbath according to the way He meant for it to be kept but was breaking it only according to the way the Jews thought it should be kept.

TEXT OF INTEREST

1 JOHN 2:

4 "He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him."

6 "He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked."

NOTE:

Christ spent more time showing how to properly keep the Sabbath (fourth commandment), than all other commandments combined.

The Jews had so many little picky rules and regulations about Sabbath-keeping, that the Sabbath had ceased to be a delight. Christ was trying to show them that it was a delight and that it was proper to do good works on the Sabbath day.

ISAIAH 58:

13 "If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:"

MATTHEW 12:

"12 How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days."

God does not change. And the ten commandments, which are an expression of His character, cannot be changed either. Christ proved this when He died on the cross and paid the penalty for us. The law shows us what sin is; and the wages of sin is death. If the law and the penalty for breaking it could have been changed, then Christ would not have had to die for us. In MATTHEW 26:39 Christ prayed, "O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me:" It was not possible, so Christ died for us.

Christ rested in the grave over the Sabbath day.

B. WHAT CHRIST SAID ABOUT THE SABBATH
MATTHEW 12:

10 "And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him."

11 "And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out?"

12 "How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days."

13 "Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other."
MATTHEW 24:

20 "But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:"

NOTE:

Christ was looking into the future when Jerusalem would be taken and the Christians would have to flee in A.D. 70. Christ gives no indication of a change to a so-called "Lord's day" (first day). This statement to the disciples definitely shows Christ's respect for and the attitude He wanted the Christians to have towards the Sabbath.
TEXT OF INTEREST
MATTHEW 15:

Christ said, in verse 9 "But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."

NOTE:

Is "Sunday keeping" a man-made commandment?

C. EXAMPLES OF CHRIST'S CLOSE FRIENDS ON THE SABBATH
LUKE 23:

52 "This man went unto Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus."

53 "And he took it down, and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid."

54 "And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on."

55 "And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid."

56 "And they returned, and prepared spices, and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment."
LUKE 24:

1 "NOW upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them."

NOTE:

The women prepared the spices and ointments on Friday or "preparation" day (verse 54) "and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment."

Christ's close friends were very careful about the Sabbath even at His death. Surely this reflects the attitude of Christ that they had observed.

D. EXAMPLE OF CHRIST'S DISCIPLES AFTER HIS ASCENSION
Acts 16:

12 "And from thence to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony: and we were in that city abiding certain days."

13 "And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither."
Acts 13:

14 "But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down."

42 "And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath."

43 "Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God."

44 "And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God."

45 "But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming."

NOTE:

Barnabas and Paul preached unto the Jews in the synagogue, in which the Gentiles were not allowed to enter. When the meeting was over the Gentiles approached Paul and Barnabas and asked them to preach the same sermon to them on the next Sabbath. Wouldn't this have been the perfect chance for Paul to say, "The Jews will not accept the change of the Sabbath, but because the seventh day Sabbath has been changed to the Lord's day, which is the first day of the week, we will meet with you tomorrow". Verse 43 says that "the next Sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God."
Acts 17:

2 "And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures,"
Acts 18:

1 "AFTER these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth;"

4 "And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks."

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Dwight Waterhouse is the compiler of this information. Please feel free to send your comments and questions.