THURSDAY The Sabbath After the Resurrection Many Christians keep Sunday instead of the Sabbath, offering a host of reasons, the main one being the resurrection of Christ. Besides the minor detail that nothing in the New Testament, including the passages on the resurrection, teaches that Sunday is to replace Sabbath, the New Testament shows that Christ intended for His Sabbath to be kept even after His resurrection. What does Matthew 24:20 have to say about the Sabbath in the years following the resurrection of Jesus? Christ’s words in Matthew 24:20 show us that in a.d. 70, about forty years after His death, the Sabbath was to be considered as sacred as it had always been. The commotion, excitement, fear, and travel necessary to flee from Jerusalem would be inappropriate on the Sabbath day. What other New Testament evidence do we find that shows the seventh-day Sabbath remained sacred after the resurrection of Christ? See Acts 13:14 , 42 ; 14:1 ; 17:1-2 ; 18:4 . For the disciples, going to the synagogue was what church attendance should be for us today: one of the best ways to observe the Sabbath. This is especially noticeable with the apostle Paul, who was present at the synagogue services on Sabbath when no Christian church was there. Although he was the apostle to the Gentiles and the champion of justification by faith, he usually went to the synagogue on Sabbath, not only to preach to the Jews but also to keep holy the Sabbath day. One Sabbath, after the synagogue service was finished, the Gentiles begged Paul to preach the gospel to them. The apostle could have invited them to hear him the next day, Sunday, but he waited one week. The next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God ( Acts 13:44, NKJV ) . These texts provide powerful evidence that the early church knew nothing of the first day of the week as a replacement for the seventh. OK, so we know we’re right about the right Sabbath day. That’s important, of course. How, though, can our Sabbath keeping make us Christians who are more compassionate, loving, and caring?
Posted on: Thu, 11 Sep 2014 19:50:50 +0000
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