Jesus and our keeping of the Sabbath?

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Observing the Sabbath-closing havdalah ritual ...
Observing the Sabbath-closing havdalah ritual in 14th-century Spain. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The fourth commandment anticipated rest by prescribing rest, so that one kept the Sabbath by resting. However, the command soon escaped these confines, in part through its role as a sign of the whole law, and in part through the failure of Israel to find rest in the land. 

The stress in the prophets on faithfulness as the heart of Sabbath observance was taken up in the NT, but there it was viewed in the light of what Jesus had done. As God’s perfect human, Jesus lived the Sabbath day for God, releasing his fellow humans from bondage, bringing them into blessing, and at the last entering himself into God’s rest. 

Ultimately, as Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus made it possible for others to follow him into that rest. This means that the Christian’s task is no longer to keep the Sabbath (Jesus has done that already) but to believe in him.

In its final setting, then, the fourth commandment is no longer a commandment for God’s people, but its intent remains. The ‘law of Christ’ anticipates rest by prescribing belief, but now rest has been realized. Author: Andrew Shead

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