Sabbath: Christ as the Lord of the Sabbath
Read for This Week’s Study: Mark 1:21, Mark 6:2; Luke 4:17-19, Luke 4:31-37; 2 Cor. 5:17; Luke 6:1-11; Luke 13:10-16.
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Memory Text: The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath
(Mark 2:27-28, NKJV).
Although Luke wrote his Gospel primarily for the Gentiles, it is significant how frequently he refers to the Sabbath. Of the 54 times the Gospels and Acts refer to Sabbath, 17 are in Luke and 9 in Acts; there are 9 in Matthew, and 10 in Mark and 9 in John. As a Gentile convert, Luke certainly believed in the seventh-day Sabbath for Jews, as well as Gentiles. The first coming of Christ made no difference concerning the keeping of the Sabbath.
Indeed, Christ, during His earthly ministry, emphasized the binding claims of the Sabbath; in all His teaching He showed reverence for the institution He Himself had given. In His day, the Sabbath had become so perverted that its observance reflected the character of selfish and arbitrary men rather than the character of God. Christ set aside the false teaching by which those who claimed to know God had misrepresented Him.
-Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings, p. 183.
This week’s lesson turns to Jesus as the Lord of the Sabbath: how He observed it and how He set an example for us to follow. The practice of observing the first day of the week as Sabbath has no sanction either in Christ or in the New Testament.
Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, May 2.
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Christ kept sabbath if it was not for us, he would have not kept the sabbath and he is urging us to follow his path.
The Sabbath is a crucial point in the great controversy between Jesus and Satan. It identifies those that choose to be on Gods side. The Lord of the Sabbath is also the Lord of creation because the sabbath settles the Truth that we are created beings and must submit to the great Creator of all existence, Praise be to God our Creator. We are blessed, so blessed for the Sabbath truth my SDA friends, may we ever exalt this blessed institution in the spirit of Love, Mercy and Humility. Happy Sabbath...
As I think of that first Sabbath in the Garden of Eden I wonder what it must have been like. Neither Adam nor Eve did any work up to that time except maybe in the naming of the animals. So to them the Sabbath must have had a different meaning than a period of physical rest. God also rested on the day which in that context simple meant that He had finished creating. But God also upholds all things so that in reality He really didn't rest at all but only marked off a time when He stopped the particular activity of creating life on this planet and celebrated its completion. That also raises some questions about what the Sabbath should mean to us even though we need a periodic rest in order to rejuvenate our bodies.
There is also a spiritual side to the Sabbath, "For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His" (Heb. 4:8-10 NKJV) which raises more questions about what the Sabbath should be about.
Furthermore, Deuteronomy sees the Sabbath yet in another way, "And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day" (Deut. 5:15 NKJV). As I see it the principle given here would have also been valid with Adam and Eve since the tempter was also in the garden which is a situation that will eventually end for all of us during the seventh millennium. So to me the Sabbath not only looks back in time to creation as a memorial but also considers the present and the future.
God's creation marked a particular day that his creatures should cerebrate their being and therefore it was an accident to be given such a rest in that day.
In that day three things are made significant to men who accept the gift of the creator; blessing, sanctification and rest.
God knows us than we do ourselves so the physical rest has something to do with spiritual enrichment.
God of the Sabbath is the creator who knows very well our sufferng. He is reminding us to keep the sabbath.
Happy Sabbath!
I have heard many "clever" preachers suggest that God " invited" man into his rest. But Christ suggests here that the sabbath was instituted for men. As Tyler says, God had no need for rest and therefore this was an institution created with man in mind. It is sad that man for whom this "tailor made" sabbath was made for is fighting to dissociate himself from it.
Why did God perform most of his miracle on sabbath? is there any significant in that?
Hi Chibuzo, you are right to notice that the healings on Sabbath get prominence in the Word, however if you read carefully you will notice that Jesus was healing people all the time, many many more than those healings mention specifically in the Word whether on Sabbath or any other day.
I believe that the reason the Sabbath healings are given prominence is because of the controversy it created between Jesus & the Pharisees and the lessons the LORD wanted the Jews and us to learn from these healings.
it is significant to uphold the sabbath because it is an everlasting sign of love between our creator (GOD) and us,thats why the holy bible emphasises on the word remember,may we learn to observe the sabbath with full belonging to our creator.AMEN