Podcast: The Trouble with Weekends

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“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. . . . For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”
-Exodus 20:8-11

I usually record these podcasts on Saturday, the traditional Sabbath. I won’t be going to church today. I do that, mainly, on Sunday, like most Christians do. There are massive debates in Christianity about this still today. I can’t tell you how many things I’ve read online lately that say, in essence, I’m going to hell because I don’t celebrate the Sabbath on Saturday.

It was the same way in Jesus’ time. From this commandment came a lot of boggy tradition, and that tradition, in the minds of the people, became law. When Jesus’ disciples were getting some grain on a Saturday, the Pharisees were horrified. When Jesus healed on a Saturday, they flipped out. They didn’t care a whit that some guy with a withered hand was healed. All they could say was, “Couldn’t that have waited until Sunday?”

And honestly, I can understand the point of view of the Pharisees here. I don’t agree with it, obviously, but I understand it. Because when you have a wrong view of the Sabbath, you’re going to go in an extreme direction on it. Either you are going to ignore it completely, as many Christians do, or go overboard in legalism with it. Either you’re going to say, “Oh, that’s part of the old Law we don’t follow anymore,” of you’ll say, “You’re not of God if you answer the phone on Saturdays.”

Both approaches are wrong, and if we look at Jesus as our example, we will see how. First of all, Jesus remembered the Sabbath. He didn’t ignore it as part of the “old ways.” The Gospels specifically record that He would teach at a synagogue on the Sabbath.

On the other hand, He scoffed at those who would impose wild restrictions on the Sabbath. He constantly mocked the Pharisees when they would frown on Him for healing or on his disciples for gathering grain on the Sabbath.

So what is the Sabbath for? First of all, it’s for us. Jesus says, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27). The Sabbath is like when the government makes labor laws, dictating that companies have to give employees breaks at certain intervals. In this case, God is telling us, “It’s good to work hard, but I want you to rest too.” The trouble comes when some zealot comes and tries to force us into rest, as though we were made for the labor laws and not the other way around.

Secondly, it is a time for worship. God knows me pretty well. He knows I love to worship, but that stuff at work keeps piling up, and I get distracted. While I should worship in all I do, this day is reserved for specifically that. So we go to church on that day of the week, every seven days, and we try to never miss.

Thirdly, it is a time to worship Jesus. Jesus tells us, “I am the Lord of the Sabbath.” The Sabbath is about Jesus. He established it, and we should use it to celebrate Him.

Lastly, it is to tell us of what is to come. Like this week will end, this life will end too. We toil in life, we work hard, and then it is done. The Sabbath is a way to remind us of the rest that is to come if we have faith in Jesus. As Hebrews tells us, “there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.”

That rest, that final Sabbath, can only come through the Lord of the Sabbath. Only through His death can we be saved from the death that awaits us because of all the sins we have piled up in our lives – the hatred, violence, lying, selfishness, greed, lusts, and ambition. It is through His Blood that we can be forgiven. If we repent and have faith in Jesus, we will find that rest, though this life may be toilsome indeed.

I used to hate going to church, but that was before I understood what Jesus had done for me. Now I find great peace there. It is a reminder to me of what He is preparing for me, and hopefully for you.