Sabath or The Lord of the Sabbath

Bible Reading Plan - Genesis 13, Matthew 12, Nehemiah 12, Acts 12

Sabbath or The Lord of the Sabbath?

Exodus 20:8 says, "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy". Keeping the Sabbath holy can become somewhat of a tradition over time if we are not careful to observe what God intended by this command. The statement "keep the sabbath holy" was never meant to be a condemning or burdensome thing full of rituals and ceremonies. Keeping the sabbath holy at it's purest form was meant as a day of rest and dedication unto God.

Over time we have added our own thoughts and traditions to what the sabbath is. Even in the New Testament we see Jesus himself addressing this issue. Matthew 12:1-8 says, "At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, "Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath."He said to them, "Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. And if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath". In this passage the disciples are doing something that is contrary to the traditions of the sabbath, because of this the religious people get upset with them. Jesus seeing that they are upset sets them straight by telling them that the sabbath is not about the traditions you have become accustom to but it is about the Lord Jesus Christ.

You see the sabbath was never suppose to be about the style of worship, the decor in the church you walk into (or a fashion show for that matter), the enthusiasm of the one preaching the message or the power of the prayer at the end of the celebration service. The sabbath was always intended to be about THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. Sometimes we can get so focused on all these other things that we can miss the whole intent of the sabbath and forget to really reflect on how awesome God is. When we get these two confused it becomes more about the Sabbath/Tradition rather than about God. Thus Jesus in this passage in Matthew 12 sets the record straight saying, "I am the Lord of the sabbath" or in other words its about ME!. It is so essential that we keep Him as the focus because the Mark 7:8 tells us that it is our traditions that make the word of God ineffective.

I believe that all the worship, preaching, decor, etc is fine as long as it does not detour your attention from God but rather points to Him and enhances your ability to reflect on him. We just need to make sure that we are not focused on the Sabbath but on The Lord of the Sabbath.

Tomorrows Bible Reading - Genesis 14, Matthew 13, Nehemiah 3, Acts 13

Dream Big
Ben