Jesus Worshiped on the Seventh Day Sabbath
Luke wrote, “So He (Christ) came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read“ (ch. 4:16). Luke said that Jesus had the habit of attending the synagogue services on the Sabbath Day. And he identified that the Sabbath is the seventh day of the week, “Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment” (Luke 23:56).
The Sabbath commandment specifically stated that the Sabbath is the seventh day of the week: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work…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. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it” (Exodus 20:8-11).
Jesus Didn’t Abolish the Law
Jesus did not change the law that He gave. He declared, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled” (Matthew 5:17,18). In fact, He said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15).
Knowing God and loving Him are tied together, John said, “He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” (1 John 2:4). And the apostle added, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3).
Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath
Jesus declared, “the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath” (Mark 2: 28); that is, He instituted it at creation: “And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made”(Genesis 2:2,3).
Christ’s example in keeping the Sabbath is therefore a pattern for the believers to follow today. There can be doubt that the week as we have it now has come down to us in an unbroken sequence from Jesus’ time. Thus, we keep the same seventh day Sabbath that Jesus kept.
For more on the Sabbath, please check (Lessons 91-102) of the Bible Lessons.
In His service,
BibleAsk Team
