Christ and the Sabbath

The Sabbath was not observed before the Sinai Covenant was established between God and the Jewish people in the days of Moses. The Sabbath itself is a memorial and sign of the old covenant. (Exod. 21:13) All work was prohibited on the Sabbath, even lighting a fire was considered a violation of the holy day. (Exod. 34:21; 35:3) Moses records that a man who dared to gather sticks on the Sabbath was put to death for his crime. (Num. 15:32-36)

The Lord specifically commanded, “the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work.” (Deut. 5:14) But when accused of breaking the Sabbath, far from denying that he was working, Christ stated, “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.” (Joh. 5:17) God is always working, sustaining natural laws, and the existence of all physical things external to himself. (Rom. 11:36, et al) It could never be said that God rests absolutely. Therefore, even when Moses says that God rested on the seventh day, he means only that the Lord ceased from the particular work of creating the physical world—God was still active in other ways. Hence, Christ can properly say that God his Father has been working down the present moment. It is impossible to pretend that Christ was not actually working on the Sabbath when he himself claims to have been working on the Sabbath. The Evangelist gives his own commentary on the situation,

John 5:18: For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.

This is the commentary of John himself on the situation. Christ was “breaking the Sabbath,” and claiming an equality with God. The following passages go on to explain that Christ has the authority to do whatever God does, “for whatever the Father does, the Son does in like manner.” (Joh. 5:19-30) He has been entrusted with “all things,” and “can do nothing of himself.” (Joh. 3:35; 5:19, 30) This is a functional equality. The Son is equal with the Father because he is granted authority as his agent and entrusted with stewardship of the cosmos. As such, he does not need to observe the Sabbath. Philo of Alexandria, inspired by the LXX rendering of Exod. 20:11, “and rested in the seventh day,” to signify that God had been working for at least part of this day creating corporeal creatures, and after resting from creating physical creatures he “began the forming of other and more divine beings.” (De. All. 1.2.5.)

John the Baptist was foretold in Malachi 3:1-7 which speaks of the “messenger of the covenant” who will prepare the way of the Messiah. (Matt. 11:11-13) John was the messenger of a new covenant and a new law which would replace the old covenant. For this reason Luke 16:16 says “the law and the prophets were until John.” Christ was under no obligation to keep the entirety of the old law because he was bringing a new covenant and a new law code. The law of Messiah is to be observed by Christians, not the former law of Moses, these are two distinct law codes and Christians are not bound to the older. The two different laws are directly contrasted by the apostle Paul,

“To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the law, so that I might win those who are under the Law; to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are without law.” (1 Cor. 9:20, 21)

For diplomatic purposes, Paul would observe the ceremonial aspects of the law, as he says, “that I might win Jews,” but not because he was bound to keep the Torah. The apostle directly says “though not being myself under the law,” but he is not lawless, he is under a new law, “the law of Christ.” With the advent of a new covenant there is naturally also a new law. The ceremonial aspects of the old covenant have vanished, but the moral prohibitions are the same or even made more strict under the new covenant. There are higher standards for divorce and remarriage. (Matt. 19:3-10) The Mosaic law commanded vows which invoke the name of God. (Exod. 22:10-11) Christ abrogates this command and outlaws such vows. (Matt. 5.33-36 compare Jas. 5:12) Now, every “yes” and “no” was to be treated with as much seriousness as a vow before God himself. To replace the old ceremonial law, Christ himself established a new law, “the law of Messiah.” (1 Cor. 9:19-23; Gal. 6:2) Of which, he himself is the High priest, after the order of Melchizedek, not after the order of Aaron. (Heb. 3:1; 7:17) The Baptist was the last prophet of Torah according to Luke 16:16 compare Mat 11:13, et al.