Dale Partridge - Real Christianity EP 56： Is Christian Sabbath Saturday or Sunday？

00:00:00.000 Welcome to another episode of Real Christianity. Today we are talking about Sabbath, and sadly

00:00:07.340 Veronica is not with us today. Sometimes she just can't make the recording times. So if you're new

00:00:12.640 to the podcast, this is not a regular occasion. My hope is that in the gaps that these, you know,

00:00:18.000 rare times that Veronica can't make it, that we could do a theological episode like today on a

00:00:23.200 topic like Sabbath. I've done one on giving. Maybe one day I'll do one on grace and communion.

00:00:28.220 If you're a regular listener to the episodes or to the podcast here, would you guys mind

00:00:32.420 leaving a review?

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00:00:35.200 You don't need to write anything, but if you do, we will absolutely read it.

00:00:38.980 We also, the show is available for you guys on Spotify, on YouTube, and on iTunes, pretty

00:00:44.740 much anywhere where podcasts can be listened to, you could find this episode.

00:00:48.300 If you ever want the show notes to this episode, you can find them at relearnchurch.org forward

00:00:53.480 slash listen, and you could just type in Sabbath in the search bar.

00:00:56.940 This will come up there as well, and you can find all the scripture references, the YouTube video, all the things that are available for this episode and its content will be available for you there.

00:01:07.460 One last thing I'd like to mention before we get started, later this September, my new book, Real Christianity, is going to be released, and we're putting together a launch team.

00:01:17.120 And so if you're interested in being a part of our launch team, there's some really cool benefits about that.

00:01:23.020 You can check out, you know, learn more about what that means.

00:01:26.360 If you just go to relearnchurch.org forward slash launch, that would be a blessing to have you guys on our team as well.

00:01:34.220 So as we get started here, for those who follow me on Instagram, you saw that my graduate studies that I'm doing at Western Seminary,

00:01:43.900 I had to write a 10 page paper on Sabbath and I had to really do what's called a biblical theological investigation.

00:01:50.620 And I actually had to study Sabbath all the way from Genesis to Revelation.

00:01:55.380 And many of you have asked questions, hey, tell me more.

00:01:59.480 You know, can you do a podcast on Sabbath?

00:02:02.260 And the questions that really came constantly from a variety of people were three questions.

00:02:08.860 Number one was, are Christians required to keep a Sabbath?

00:02:12.580 Number two is, is the Sabbath Saturday or Sunday?

00:02:16.100 And number three is, if Sabbath is required, what is considered work and what is considered rest?

00:02:22.400 And so I think these are really important questions that need to be answered for the Christian.

00:02:29.560 And so today, I'm going to do that for you.

00:02:32.960 Now, this episode is going to be intense.

00:02:36.060 It's going to be biblical and deep in terms of theology.

00:02:40.820 I've worked on this episode for several hours just to kind of get it prepared for delivering in a podcast format.

00:02:48.660 To start, many theologians who are well-studied and reputable people that I respect have come to different conclusions on Sabbath, maybe similar conclusions but slightly different.

00:03:04.320 However, I think that my conclusion that I came up with is, I think, the common conclusion that most Protestant scholars come to, and that's what we're going to share in this episode.

00:03:16.600 You're going to notice if you're watching the video that I'm going to be leaning heavily on my notes today.

00:03:21.100 Because this is such a theological episode, I'm going to be looking there a lot today.

00:03:25.280 It's not because I don't feel like I know the content.

00:03:27.860 It's because I don't want to misstep on what I'm saying.

00:03:32.480 Again, today's going to be more like a Bible study than it is a regular podcast episode here.

00:03:38.040 But I think that's good.

00:03:38.960 You can kind of count this as your seminary for the month.

00:03:43.400 Now, you might even need to listen to it twice because the content is so rich.

00:03:46.880 Guys, I made some major breakthroughs in understanding Sabbath, and I really am excited about sharing those with you.

00:03:53.440 There is a beautiful culmination of what Sabbath is at the end of this episode, even at the middle to the end of this episode.

00:04:00.880 So please be patient and stay with us.

00:04:03.840 Sabbath, as you will learn, is a magnificent and beautiful topic that's more penetrating and glorious than I ever imagined.

00:04:13.180 And so it's a really rich conversation we're going to have today.

00:04:17.300 In order to properly understand Sabbath, we can't just look at it from one angle.

00:04:22.260 We need to look at Sabbath as it progresses through the Bible.

00:04:25.820 Again, kind of from the beginning to the end.

00:04:28.260 And so I want to start in the beginning.

00:04:30.820 So we're going to go all the way back to Genesis and start there.

00:04:33.860 And again, stay with me, and it'll culminate as we get closer to the end.

00:04:38.420 In the creation account, God generates the world from nothing and just the power of his word.

00:04:46.700 And over a period of six days, we see a pattern of God creating blessing and declaring that what he made was good.

00:04:54.200 And throughout these six days, we watch God bless his creation and his creatures.

00:04:58.360 That's just what you see in the text.

00:04:59.840 But on the seventh day, we see something different.

00:05:03.360 God blesses a period of time.

00:05:06.120 But more than that, He actually sanctifies this time.

00:05:09.960 He sets it apart because of what He did on that day.

00:05:14.420 He rested.

00:05:16.180 Now, I believe the history of creation, that account that's found in Genesis, is more than process.

00:05:24.780 It's actually preparation.

00:05:26.300 It's pattern, and it's actually pointing to something greater.

00:05:32.320 And I believe Sabbath, which is kind of God's distinction of a marked time for rest,

00:05:38.960 is the climax of the creation week.

00:05:42.180 But more than that, and what you're going to learn today,

00:05:44.660 it's actually the climax of all time.

00:05:48.940 And so in the creation account in Genesis,

00:05:53.100 just those first couple chapters right there,

00:05:55.600 there's actually no command of rest like there's not a command to rest as kind of our old testament

00:06:03.780 understanding of sabbath there's actually only the descriptive verb shabbat as you know that's

00:06:10.180 kind of the identification of what god did it's not necessarily at this point a command but later

00:06:16.080 in the scriptures we see words like sabbat shabbat sabato which is greek for saturday

00:06:21.260 to further distinguish rest and a more formalized Sabbath,

00:06:26.820 kind of the Sabbath that we understand in the church today.

00:06:29.420 But the word Sabbath, and it's not just the word rest,

00:06:34.680 but Sabbath, that word Sabbath actually first appears in Exodus 16, 23.

00:06:42.100 I'm going to read that to you right now.

00:06:44.140 It says,

00:06:45.240 Then he said to them,

00:06:46.420 This is what the Lord has said.

00:06:49.320 Tomorrow is a Sabbath rest.

00:06:52.380 So again, there's two words, right?

00:06:53.820 Sabbath and rest.

00:06:54.680 They're different words.

00:06:56.600 A holy Sabbath to the Lord.

00:06:59.660 Bake what you'll bake today and boil what you will boil

00:07:02.040 and lay up for yourselves all that remains to be kept until morning.

00:07:06.980 So that's the first time that you actually see Sabbath mentioned in the Bible.

00:07:12.600 A few chapters later, we see Sabbath in its traditionally recognized format

00:07:16.660 in the fourth commandment, and that's in Exodus 20, and it's verses 8 through 11.

00:07:22.260 A little quick kind of side tip, the longest commandment is the fourth commandment,

00:07:27.680 which is on Sabbath. I'm going to read you the fourth commandment right now so you guys can

00:07:31.460 have it in your brain as we go through the rest of this episode. It says,

00:07:36.020 Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work,

00:07:41.120 But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God.

00:07:45.680 In it you shall do no work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates.

00:07:53.940 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day.

00:08:01.240 Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it, which means sanctified it or made it sacred and connected it to himself.

00:08:10.360 So, in this passage, the Lord is giving a command now, but he's also establishing that his model for work finds its completion in rest.

00:08:24.060 So, again, pay attention, stay along this journey with me.

00:08:28.000 It presents rest as the objective or the goal and the fulfillment of work.

00:08:34.800 That's what he's doing here.

00:08:36.960 Now, God's Word, whenever it's spoken in the Bible, is generally pointing you to something or preparing you for something.

00:08:47.200 Okay, centrally, that thing is Jesus.

00:08:50.500 You know, the Old Testament is pointing you to and preparing you for Jesus.

00:08:55.720 But as we look at Sabbath for a moment as a theme, we're going to see that God is actually doing the same thing.

00:09:02.180 Sabbath is preparing us for something and pointing us to something.

00:09:08.960 And we're going to understand that here in a minute.

00:09:11.720 Now, Sabbath, we're going to learn, is a symbolic picture of God's ultimate plan.

00:09:19.940 Okay, in other words, we'll see Sabbath as the goal of history.

00:09:25.860 Okay, I want you to grasp that idea.

00:09:28.220 Sabbath is the goal of history.

00:09:29.740 And I know you might not understand what I'm saying here, but it'll make sense here as we get closer to the end.

00:09:35.480 Now, like many of God's truths in the Old Testament, the festivals, the Passover, the New Testament, you know, version of communion here.

00:09:44.740 God offers us these physical practices that teach us spiritual realities.

00:09:49.960 That's just what he does, right?

00:09:51.740 There's marriage, right?

00:09:52.660 A man and a wife are like Christ and the bride.

00:09:54.840 constantly these spiritual practices or these physical practices that teach us about physical

00:10:01.040 realities. So in this episode, we're going to kind of briefly trace Sabbath throughout the

00:10:08.260 scriptures. And we're going to see that his purpose for Sabbath is as a pattern first for his people

00:10:15.400 and also see God's picture of Sabbath secondarily. Okay, so there's a pattern of Sabbath that we're

00:10:24.660 going to see that leads to a picture or tells us about a picture of Sabbath later. And again,

00:10:31.240 I'm going to answer those three questions as we get towards the end of the episode.

00:10:35.680 Are Christians required to keep a Sabbath? And number two, is the Sabbath Saturday or Sunday?

00:10:43.620 And number three is, if a Sabbath is required, what is considered work and what is considered rest?

00:10:50.660 But first, let's quickly look at the Old Testament so we can better understand Sabbath when we get to the New Testament.

00:10:58.840 So, in the Old Testament, Sabbath was kind of central to Jewish life.

00:11:03.480 You know, while there wasn't much discussion about Sabbath prior to the writings of Moses,

00:11:08.240 later we're going to see that God's example of Sabbath becomes a mitzvah, which is, you know, a duty, right?

00:11:15.020 You heard the bar mitzvah, a mitzvah, a duty for his people before God.

00:11:19.820 In fact, it was actually taken so seriously by the Jewish culture that Sabbath in the Old Testament calls for excommunication and death if you do not follow it.

00:11:31.380 In the Ten Commandments, which was given to Moses on Mount Sinai, we see formalized Sabbath make its debut.

00:11:39.680 Again, it's the fourth commandment. It says, remember the Sabbath.

00:11:43.600 It's almost like God saying, mimic me, follow my example, do what I did.

00:11:50.740 In some way, we actually see God calling us to copying him in the creation story, right?

00:11:57.480 We work six days and then we rest.

00:11:59.480 We work six days and then we rest, right?

00:12:01.840 It's almost like a built-in reminder of the creation story in our weekly schedule.

00:12:08.520 Work six days and rest.

00:12:09.900 Work six days and rest.

00:12:10.880 We're almost mimicking and copying that creation story.

00:12:15.980 Next, Moses' writings show us that Sabbath is both a practice of religious life first

00:12:23.920 and a symbol to remind the Israelites of the freedom that God had provided for them.

00:12:31.020 And so I'm going to read you a verse.

00:12:32.240 It's Deuteronomy 5, 12 through 15.

00:12:34.560 And Moses tells the Israelites, and again, this is really important, guys,

00:12:38.280 that you understand this backstory.

00:12:39.360 So pay attention and stay with me here.

00:12:42.460 Deuteronomy 5, 12 through 15.

00:12:44.680 It says,

00:12:45.260 And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt,

00:12:48.580 and the Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm.

00:12:54.820 Therefore, the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

00:13:00.080 All right. 0.96

00:13:01.080 Imagine being a slave in Egypt,

00:13:03.940 And you're working every day for decades on end, constantly never having a break.

00:13:09.740 And then God commands you to rest one day per week.

00:13:14.000 Imagine what that does to you, right?

00:13:16.200 What a way to remind a people of God what God did for them, right?

00:13:22.680 To build in a physical day of rest that is so contrasted to the state in which they were in before God rescued them, right?

00:13:31.500 But this is also a beautiful picture of the human story.

00:13:36.440 You know, like the Israelites, we work and we are slaves to our flesh and to our sin.

00:13:42.360 And then God frees us from slavery through his son.

00:13:46.720 And we're finally able to find our rest in Jesus.

00:13:50.860 And this is why Matthew 11, 28, Jesus says,

00:13:54.240 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

00:13:59.900 you're going to start to see the pattern of Sabbath

00:14:04.220 is connected to the picture of Sabbath.

00:14:07.080 We're starting to see that here. 0.64

00:14:08.920 Ultimately, Israel's keeping of the Sabbath

00:14:12.200 was a reminder of her very identity

00:14:15.620 of a liberated people from slavery.

00:14:20.360 Secondarily, it became a kind of a historical symbol to us

00:14:23.820 and the rest of the world

00:14:25.420 to see our need for freedom from our slave master,

00:14:29.440 which is sin, and to find our rest supremely in Christ.

00:14:34.660 But when we move past the books of Moses,

00:14:37.320 there's like this really long continued break in the Bible in regards to Sabbath.

00:14:43.360 We don't see it mentioned in the book of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, or 1 Kings.

00:14:48.340 This leaves about a 500-year period where you just don't hear about the Sabbath in the Bible.

00:14:55.440 Finally, we get to 2 Kings, and we kind of see Sabbath start to resurface.

00:14:59.440 Years later, in Jeremiah 17, God makes a promised consequence to the Israelites if they fail to keep the Sabbath as instructed. 0.74

00:15:09.620 And I'm going to read you. It's verse 27. It says,

00:15:12.620 But if you will not heed me to hallow the Sabbath day, such as carrying a burden when entering the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day,

00:15:21.480 Then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.

00:15:30.320 Now, if you know your biblical history here, you know that this prophecy actually came true. 0.91

00:15:36.960 Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed, and they needed to be rebuilt.

00:15:41.080 Basically, in the Old Testament, idolatry and Sabbath breaking were recurring sins

00:15:47.360 that kind of laid the foundation for Israel's dispersion and their captivity in Babylon.

00:15:53.220 In Nehemiah, after the Jews had kind of returned from their captivity in Babylon,

00:15:58.760 they confessed their sins before God.

00:16:00.360 They admitted that they failed to keep the Sabbath.

00:16:02.280 But just a decade later in Nehemiah 13, it tells a story of a people again falling away from the Sabbath.

00:16:09.440 This kind of reveals our inability to keep God's law and our desperate need for a Savior, right?

00:16:15.380 our desperate need for God's law to be written on our hearts.

00:16:18.420 We've got to start looking at some of the Old Testament as what is it pointing us to?

00:16:23.240 What is it preparing us for?

00:16:25.180 And you start to see that it's all connected.

00:16:27.900 So to summarize the Old Testament,

00:16:29.460 and we're going to move into some of this really beautiful, exciting stuff here in a second.

00:16:33.020 To summarize the Old Testament view of Sabbath,

00:16:34.940 Sabbath was distinctly focused as a pattern for religious life

00:16:39.600 more than it was a picture of kingdom life to come.

00:16:44.200 Now, Sabbath was also kind of an introduction to the concept of holiness and kind of an opportunity for God's people to distinguish themselves from the other nations.

00:16:53.720 They dress differently. They eat differently. They work differently. They rest differently. Right. 0.83

00:16:58.720 They were set apart. They were all holy people, different, separate. Right.

00:17:03.320 But it was a pattern to an onlooking world that pointed to something that was coming.

00:17:10.160 A Messiah who would give them eternal rest.

00:17:14.880 Okay.

00:17:16.020 Again, hang with me here.

00:17:17.400 This is some theology stuff, guys.

00:17:19.440 And we're going to move into Jesus' incarnation in this time.

00:17:24.800 In the New Testament, we see Jesus.

00:17:27.780 And he bumps up against the Pharisees a handful of times.

00:17:30.220 I think it's six times that he bumps into the Pharisees.

00:17:34.300 Once for picking grain, and I think it's four or five times on healing for the Sabbath.

00:17:38.940 Those are generally the instances that we hear about Sabbath and Jesus.

00:17:42.660 His general response to the Pharisees was twofold.

00:17:46.600 The first is found in Matthew 12, 8, where Jesus says,

00:17:50.620 The Son of Man is the Lord of the Sabbath.

00:17:53.040 So that's an interesting response there.

00:17:54.940 Ultimately, Jesus is saying,

00:17:56.180 like a master is above his servant, so is Jesus above the Sabbath. He is Lord of the Sabbath.

00:18:04.340 It's another way of saying that Sabbath wasn't made for Jesus, it was made for man. It's in

00:18:09.620 another way kind of revealing that Jesus wasn't necessarily a man. He was both man and God. And so

00:18:15.840 in Mark 2.27, this is the second kind of response that you see Jesus. He echoes this idea more of

00:18:23.480 that it wasn't made for man, or it wasn't made for him.

00:18:25.620 And he says, the Sabbath was made for man, and not the man for Sabbath.

00:18:31.460 Essentially, in my understanding of the New Testament, in my reading of Jesus,

00:18:36.460 he spends much of his time redirecting people's hearts to the true reason for Sabbath,

00:18:43.520 which is not simply our need for physical rest.

00:18:46.860 The true reason for Sabbath, again, is our need for him, for spiritual rest, for eternal rest.

00:18:54.300 And this is why Jesus, again, says,

00:18:56.380 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

00:19:03.000 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart,

00:19:08.040 and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

00:19:14.920 The author of Hebrews, if you've read the book of Hebrews, reinforces this idea that Jesus is our rest.

00:19:21.040 He does this in chapter 4, and he writes,

00:19:23.640 There remains, therefore, a rest for the people of God.

00:19:27.540 For he who has entered his rest, capital H, his rest, has himself also seized from his works as God did from his.

00:19:37.240 so um the theological picture that's being painted here is this when we stop from our works

00:19:46.900 you know our attempt to be righteous uh and good or self-righteous and good by entering into

00:19:54.240 jesus rest which is his righteous work we find true rest and the rest that god experienced on

00:20:02.740 the seventh day, which is Sabbath. So the point I'm making is this, and this is a big takeaway

00:20:07.360 here. Jesus is Sabbath, okay? The reason God called the Israelites to hold the pattern of 0.79

00:20:18.080 Sabbath was to show them the picture of true Sabbath coming in their future. Okay, the picture

00:20:26.460 of Sabbath is Jesus. The Old Testament Sabbath is a picture of Jesus. So the pattern is revealing 0.61

00:20:36.160 the picture. It's Jesus. Now, just like the tree of life in the Garden of Eden is Jesus, just like

00:20:41.820 the Passover is about Jesus, right? He's the true Passover lamb. Just like the manna in Exodus is 0.92

00:20:48.460 about Jesus. He's the bread of life. Just like the temple is about Jesus when he says, I will tear

00:20:54.200 this thing down and raise it back up in three days. The Sabbath is about Jesus, okay? All these 0.92

00:21:00.280 beautiful Old Testament pictures and patterns are about Jesus. And almost every element of religious

00:21:07.260 life in the Old Testament is pointing and pointing us forward in the picture of Jesus. And this is why

00:21:14.340 Jesus says to the Jews with such frustration, he says, you have searched the scriptures for in them

00:21:22.980 you think you have eternal life and these are they which testify of me right like basically

00:21:30.180 jesus is saying you have to be blind to know the scriptures and not see that they're about me

00:21:37.240 okay your whole pattern of life is pointing and preparing you for me that's what jesus is saying

00:21:45.420 this is why jesus said things like you who have eyes to see let him see or he who has ears to

00:21:52.640 hear let him hear because not everybody was able to see and hear what was going on for some reason

00:21:58.680 now um i don't think that jesus came to abolish the sabbath again i think you know he actually

00:22:06.940 says that he's the lord of the sabbath jesus came to dig the sabbath out from under the mountain of

00:22:14.760 legalistic sediment that had been put on top of the sabbath and to remind us that sabbath is a

00:22:21.220 blessing from God and not a burden to man. That's what Jesus came here to do about Sabbath.

00:22:27.180 It's a day to focus on the rest that we have in Christ. But how do we know that the Sabbath day

00:22:35.640 is actually connected to worship or to our worship day? Meaning, how do we know that it's a day of

00:22:44.140 worship. You know, Sabbath is not just a day of rest. It's also a day of worship, right? This is

00:22:51.560 why we gather on Sunday for church, and we're going to figure out how did that connection ever

00:22:56.220 happen? Well, in Leviticus 23, we're going to go back for a second. It says, six days shall work

00:23:05.180 be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. Okay, that word

00:23:13.280 holy convocation means a day of sacred assembly. That's actually how the NIV translates it.

00:23:20.840 This is why the Jews gather to this day in their synagogues on a Saturday, right? That is their 0.87

00:23:27.560 Sabbath to them. It's not just a day of rest. It's also a day of worship. So what does this

00:23:34.580 mean for Christians? Okay, this is an important question. Are Christians required to keep a

00:23:40.460 Sabbath? If there is a New Testament Sabbath, is it Saturday or Sunday? Man, I get this question 0.55

00:23:47.200 all the time. And I really, this is the real answer that I would give, but it's very deep

00:23:53.340 and it's pretty heavy. And I'm going to break it down for you right now. Well, in the New Testament,

00:24:00.080 the church doesn't gather together on the seventh day, which is Saturday in the Jewish calendar, 0.84

00:24:06.140 Right. We gather as a holy convocation, a sacred assembly on the Lord's Day, which is the first day of the week.

00:24:15.040 Now, why does the church do this? And again, like universally, why does the Christian church meet on Sunday?

00:24:22.140 For a few reasons, if you don't know, but foremost, because Christ was raised from the grave on the first day of the week, which is Sunday.

00:24:33.300 Mark 16, 9 says,

00:24:35.340 Now, when he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, of whom he had cast out seven demons.

00:24:43.140 Ultimately, by gathering on the first day of the week, the biblical church, the New Testament church, the church of Acts,

00:24:50.000 is commemorating and proclaiming Jesus' resurrection to the world, and especially to the Jews.

00:24:57.440 Acts 20, verse 7 says,

00:24:59.920 Now, on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread.

00:25:04.840 Now, this is kind of, again, a communion word right there, right?

00:25:08.120 So, we're seeing that historically and descriptively, the early Acts church was meeting together on the first day of the week.

00:25:16.240 They were not gathering as a holy convocation on the sixth day of the week, or on the seventh day of the week.

00:25:23.580 They were doing it on the first day of the week.

00:25:26.260 1 Corinthians kind of repeats this idea in chapter 16, verses 1 through 2.

00:25:32.040 Paul writes,

00:25:33.020 Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given orders to the churches of Galatia,

00:25:37.900 so this is a universal thing to churches,

00:25:40.540 so you must also do.

00:25:42.400 On the first day of the week, let each one of you lay something aside,

00:25:46.400 storing up as he may prosper, that there may be no collections when I come.

00:25:50.080 And he's saying, when I come to be with you on that day,

00:25:53.000 I don't want to have to be going around collecting money.

00:25:55.260 Instead, do it before I get there.

00:25:59.720 But on the first day of the week, let each other lay something aside.

00:26:03.580 So again, it kind of affirms this idea.

00:26:05.860 And I would say scholars agree that this is an affirmation that the early church met on the first day of the week.

00:26:12.700 But there's much more to support the argument for a Sunday Sabbath that we're going to get into here in a second.

00:26:21.840 In speaking about the resurrection day, right, the first day of the week, Sunday, the Lord's Day,

00:26:29.120 I believe that we're to be really surprised that God did not raise Jesus on the seventh day

00:26:35.460 and instead raised him on the first day of the week.

00:26:39.260 And there seems to be a specific reason for leaving Jesus in the tomb and raising him on the morning of the first day.

00:26:45.960 Okay, and here's my personal opinion.

00:26:47.980 and I would say this opinion

00:26:50.660 shared with several common theologians

00:26:53.440 but this is my opinion

00:26:54.900 I want you guys for a second

00:26:56.600 to enter into the Jewish calendar with me 0.76

00:26:58.520 just for a second 0.79

00:26:59.340 so Jesus dies on a Friday

00:27:01.880 okay the last day 0.99

00:27:04.000 of a Jewish working week 0.68

00:27:06.340 okay he died in the afternoon

00:27:08.460 just before the evening

00:27:10.620 now you guys know

00:27:11.780 the evening is when a Sabbath 0.93

00:27:13.600 in the Jewish world begins 0.99

00:27:15.200 okay so what did Jesus

00:27:17.840 do when he died on the cross that evening at the end of his working week? What did he say? What did

00:27:24.940 he do? He cried out, it is finished, right? He's declaring at the end of his work week,

00:27:34.960 the Jewish work week, right as he's about to enter into the Sabbath time, it is finished, 0.79

00:27:42.340 And then he enters into his Sabbath rest.

00:27:47.660 And he was buried Friday evening in a new tomb, but he didn't rise on the Sabbath.

00:27:53.100 And again, I think this should surprise us.

00:27:56.680 Wouldn't have that been a perfect way to inaugurate a new and true Sabbath rest for the people of God

00:28:06.100 if he had him rise on Saturday, the next day. 0.85

00:28:09.460 But God skips the Jewish Sabbath and resurrects Jesus on Sunday, the first day of the week. 0.79

00:28:19.200 So in other words, what's happening here is the old order had passed away and the new order was inaugurated. 0.85

00:28:26.680 Now, what was that old order and what was that new order?

00:28:31.800 Okay, the Old Testament order was work and then rest, right?

00:28:36.960 Work six days and then rest.

00:28:39.460 The New Testament order is rest and then work.

00:28:44.580 Okay, the Old Testament order was about pointing to the end of the week, right?

00:28:48.960 It was a future-oriented structure, okay, implying that there were better things to come.

00:28:55.320 Okay, the New Testament order was about pointing to the beginning, right, to imply that the better thing has come.

00:29:02.480 okay in jesus right the uh saturday sabbath to sunday sabbath shift is a shift from promise

00:29:13.380 or future promise to past fulfillment that's what's going on here in the big picture see the

00:29:20.320 first adam the adam and eve adam worked towards rest but he lived in a covenant of works right

00:29:27.880 We know that if you know theology.

00:29:30.160 The last Adam, who is Jesus, worked so that we can rest.

00:29:35.220 That's a covenant of grace.

00:29:37.620 Now, if you know your Bible, you know that God's people got a brand new calendar

00:29:42.100 in the time with the covenantal era of the Mosaic Covenant.

00:29:48.340 Okay?

00:29:48.960 Here, God's people also get a new calendar in the new covenant of the new covenantal era

00:29:55.760 of jesus and the cross okay and this is just a beautiful thing here right christians get to rest

00:30:05.460 on the first day of the week the day of christ's resurrection okay again let's read what the author

00:30:13.520 of hebrews says in that chapter four again one more time he says here remains therefore a rest

00:30:19.340 for the people of God, for he who has entered his rest, Jesus's rest, has himself also seized from

00:30:27.120 his works as God did from his. Well, when God sees from his works, that was Sabbath, right?

00:30:32.520 Again, I believe Jesus's resurrection drives us to the true meaning of Sabbath, rest that's

00:30:41.040 supremely found in christ okay the pattern is finally revealed and not just as a picture

00:30:48.980 but as a person okay this is what's happening in the bible it's amazing right we find our

00:30:56.160 sabbath rest in jesus the whole time this pattern of religious life was pointing us to a picture

00:31:03.180 And this picture was pointing us to a person.

00:31:06.620 Amazing, right? Amazing.

00:31:09.420 Now, does this erase the call to keep a specific day of rest for the Christian?

00:31:16.160 I don't think so. 0.88

00:31:18.000 And I'll tell you why.

00:31:19.660 I think this does remove it as an act which is solely motivated by law

00:31:25.060 and turns it into a desire that is motivated by love.

00:31:29.940 Now, if we love Christ, we want to remember Christ by gathering, worshiping, and resting in him on his resurrection day, which is Sunday.

00:31:42.000 Now, in America, I think we get the gathering and worshiping part.

00:31:45.440 I think every church in America generally meets on Sunday.

00:31:49.380 We gather together as a holy convocation and worship together on Sunday and not Saturday.

00:31:54.540 But I'm not sure that we understand the resting part. 0.96

00:31:58.460 Many Christians work on Sunday just like they would any other day. 0.59

00:32:02.300 So we need to discuss that. 0.89

00:32:04.620 So two questions arise.

00:32:06.400 First, do we need to keep a Sabbath if Jesus fulfilled the law?

00:32:11.500 And a lot of people bring this question up.

00:32:13.180 It's very common. 1.00

00:32:14.100 It's a good question. 0.91

00:32:15.540 Do we need to keep the Sabbath if Jesus fulfilled the law?

00:32:18.080 The second question that comes up is,

00:32:19.960 if we are to keep a Sabbath and not work on it, what is defined as work?

00:32:24.600 That's another good question.

00:32:25.640 and I'm going to answer both of them for you right now.

00:32:28.260 So to answer the first question regarding Jesus fulfilling the law,

00:32:32.700 I think this is where people get mixed up.

00:32:35.620 The Sabbath principle is a creation ordinance.

00:32:39.520 It was actually formed before the theocratic system of Israel.

00:32:46.080 So keeping the Sabbath was something that God did at the creation of the world

00:32:50.680 far before the Mosaic law.

00:32:53.120 Okay, so basically, the Ten Commandments were initiated before the creation of the 613 Levitical laws.

00:33:03.940 Okay, that's an important understanding to make. I'm making it right. 0.95

00:33:06.740 There's a distinction that the Ten Commandments are separate than the 613 Levitical laws.

00:33:13.180 And what I'm saying is that Jesus fulfilled the theocratic law, like the Levitical law.

00:33:18.420 And we are no longer required to keep the ceremonial washings, the festivals, the animal sacrifices for our sins, the tithes to the Levite tribe, etc.

00:33:30.080 Okay, these are now all fulfilled in Christ.

00:33:33.880 But, but, this does not mean that we don't have to keep the Ten Commandments.

00:33:40.420 Okay, the Ten Commandments are universal and they are perpetual.

00:33:44.280 Ultimately, because they were there before the Old Covenant,

00:33:48.860 before the Mosaic Law, before the Levitical system,

00:33:51.920 they transcend the Old Covenant and the Levitical system, okay?

00:33:56.920 So Jesus fulfilled the Levitical Law.

00:33:59.620 That's gone and of no use to the people of God.

00:34:02.120 If you don't believe me, go read the entire book of Galatians.

00:34:05.300 But the Ten Commandments still stand.

00:34:08.820 So yes, we are still called to remember the Sabbath,

00:34:13.420 just like we're still called to not commit adultery or not worship idols

00:34:17.340 and to not lie, murder, and steal, like it says in the Ten Commandments.

00:34:21.720 So to answer question number two, what does it mean to rest and to not work?

00:34:28.260 Well, first, the Fourth Commandment calls us to remember the Sabbath,

00:34:32.740 not necessarily keep the Sabbath.

00:34:34.400 It says to remember the Sabbath.

00:34:36.020 So allow Sunday to be a day where you remember the rest that you have in Christ

00:34:42.440 and the eternal rest that you will experience because of him.

00:34:47.780 That's what I think the scriptures are teaching us here.

00:34:50.340 Now in regard to work, it's to be a holy day, a separate day unlike other days.

00:34:55.460 That is a fact.

00:34:56.880 It says, in it you shall do no work.

00:35:00.940 And I think many of us believe that rest is kind of this total cessation of work and activity.

00:35:07.120 I don't think that's how God defines it, and here's why.

00:35:10.600 God did not lay down and take a nap on the Sabbath day.

00:35:15.640 He didn't just sit and do nothing on the Sabbath day in the creation story.

00:35:19.160 He actually strolled through his creation and enjoyed it.

00:35:22.940 And what this tells us is that Sabbath is not a day of passive retirement.

00:35:27.340 It's a day of active enjoyment, right?

00:35:30.320 beautiful. Now, it's not a day for continuing business as usual. That is true. As I said

00:35:37.420 earlier, it's a holy day for rest, worship, and enjoyment. And again, I believe this is about the

00:35:44.120 heart. You know, will you go to hell if you don't remember the Sabbath? Are you sinning if you 0.95

00:35:49.080 clean your kitchen as a wife on the Sabbath? I think these are wrong questions to ask.

00:35:55.320 Jesus repeatedly says, if you love me, you'll keep my commandments.

00:36:00.820 And if you believe in Jesus, but don't keep the fourth commandment,

00:36:04.480 I think the better question is, do you really love Jesus?

00:36:08.260 Okay, remember, this is not to be a burden either.

00:36:12.640 Jesus says earlier that this is not, his burden is easy,

00:36:19.020 or his yoke is easy and his burden is light.

00:36:21.880 Again, the Sabbath is a picture of Christ who gives us rest.

00:36:27.720 And again, his yoke is easy and his burden is light.

00:36:31.660 The Sabbath is not to be a burden to us.

00:36:34.040 Again, wow, wow, wow.

00:36:35.860 Look how beautiful this is, a picture of Sabbath in the person of Jesus.

00:36:42.620 God is such a masterful storyteller.

00:36:44.320 It's just magnificent and incredible that we have this gift in Sabbath.

00:36:48.620 And so let me review as we kind of get ready to close here.

00:36:51.420 review of some of these questions. Are Christians required or

00:36:55.340 commanded to keep a Sabbath? I strongly believe

00:36:58.920 yes. Jesus fulfilled and put away the

00:37:03.220 Mosaic Law, not the Ten Commandments. He didn't put 0.93

00:37:07.220 away the Ten Commandments. However, keeping these commandments are now to be motivated

00:37:11.080 by love, and secondarily, by moral law.

00:37:15.700 And again, if you love Jesus, you'll keep his commandments. Number two,

00:37:19.680 Is the Sabbath Saturday or Sunday?

00:37:22.300 Important question.

00:37:24.040 The biblical evidence clearly supports a Sunday Sabbath.

00:37:27.440 That's where I land the plane here.

00:37:29.420 Because Jesus is the embodiment of Sabbath and where we find our true rest in him and him alone, 0.76

00:37:36.600 we follow the New Testament church, the book of Acts, the church of Acts, the biblical church, 0.72

00:37:41.360 who made his resurrection day their Sabbath.

00:37:44.480 And again, by memorializing the first day of the week and not the last as the Jewish Sabbath,

00:37:52.460 we accept that the old order of work, work then rest, has been replaced with a new order of work in the covenant of grace, which is rest and then work.

00:38:04.420 Number three, important question to answer.

00:38:06.940 Since we are not to work on the Sabbath, what is considered work?

00:38:11.120 Again, Sabbath is to be a day of worship and of physical and of spiritual rest.

00:38:19.360 It's a holy day, which you should not use for the advancement of your career.

00:38:25.060 That's for sure.

00:38:27.280 However, Sabbath is not a passive day of retirement.

00:38:31.080 It's a day of active enjoyment.

00:38:32.860 It's a time to enjoy God.

00:38:34.560 It's a time to enjoy his creation.

00:38:36.580 It's a time to enjoy his creatures.

00:38:40.380 So bottom line on this idea of Sabbath, Sabbath is God's goal for all of history.

00:38:49.680 You know, when God created the world, I believe his plan was that Adam and Eve were to be fruitful and multiply forever in Sabbath.

00:38:58.100 It was going to remain a time of rest for eternity.

00:39:02.660 That was the original intention of God.

00:39:06.940 Now, perpetual rest with their creator.

00:39:09.340 That's what they were to experience.

00:39:11.620 That was the plan.

00:39:13.720 But because of the fall, Jesus has now come and redeemed his people.

00:39:19.300 And in the new heaven and the new earth, this will be the goal again.

00:39:24.200 Eternal rest.

00:39:25.980 Eternal Sabbath, right?

00:39:27.880 And just like Adam and Eve entered into their wedding night on the Sabbath, right?

00:39:35.440 Because they were made on the sixth day, so that evening they entered into their rest on the Sabbath night,

00:39:41.320 so their wedding night was on the beginning of the Sabbath.

00:39:44.880 Christ and his bride will enter into eternity, likely on the Sabbath, right, on their wedding night.

00:39:52.580 Okay, the Old Testament gave us a pattern of rest that pointed to a picture of rest.

00:40:00.840 Okay, the New Testament gave us a picture of rest that gave us also a person of rest.

00:40:08.760 Now, the person of rest promises us an experience of rest.

00:40:15.580 Okay, one day, for those who believe in Christ, it won't be a pattern or a picture any longer.

00:40:23.600 It's going to be an experience with a person in eternal Sabbath.

00:40:30.040 So again, what a beautiful, beautiful picture.

00:40:34.000 And, you know, when you get a chance to look at the Old Testament,

00:40:36.660 there's so many things like this that point to Christ.

00:40:40.120 So I hope that was helpful in answering your questions about Sabbath.

00:40:44.300 And, man, I could write, I feel like, a whole book on the idea of Sabbath.

00:40:48.800 So hopefully it was a quick understanding of the theological background of Sabbath.

00:40:56.440 and it was hopefully fruitful for you guys

00:40:59.180 in your understanding of Jesus

00:41:01.000 and finding your rest truly in him.

00:41:03.340 If you want to get the notes for the show,

00:41:05.040 you can always go to relearnchurch.org forward slash listen

00:41:08.580 and you can just search for Sabbath

00:41:11.140 and you'll find this episode,

00:41:12.380 all the scriptures that I referenced there

00:41:14.160 as well as the video and some of the outline

00:41:16.560 for the content of the show today.

00:41:18.820 If you guys haven't,

00:41:20.240 again, would you guys consider leaving a review?

00:41:22.080 It would really mean a lot to us

00:41:23.760 and it really does help the exposure of the show.

00:41:26.440 On that note, guys, we thank you for joining us for Real Christianity, and we will see you back with Veronica next week.

Dale Partridge - July 31, 2019

Real Christianity EP 56： Is Christian Sabbath Saturday or Sunday？

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