These are some of the things the Messiah said about the Sabbath day. Religious leaders were often upset with his actions on the Sabbath, not because he was breaking God's laws about the set apart day, but because he was setting aside the tedious manmade rules they had made up. Jesus was always in favor of going back to the simplicity of what Scripture instructs, so that keeping the Sabbath is doable for all of God's people.
The Messiah always kept and honored Shabbat. We see him eating in someone's home, instead of buying food in the marketplace. We see him teaching, in place of doing his carpentry work. We see him going to congregation, as opposed to working at home. He walks with his disciples, instead of saddling up a horse or hiring a chariot for transportation. All of those things he did to honor YHWH's set apart day. He also talked about the Sabbath.
The Messiah always kept and honored Shabbat. We see him eating in someone's home, instead of buying food in the marketplace. We see him teaching, in place of doing his carpentry work. We see him going to congregation, as opposed to working at home. He walks with his disciples, instead of saddling up a horse or hiring a chariot for transportation. All of those things he did to honor YHWH's set apart day. He also talked about the Sabbath.
Here are five things the Messiah taught about the Sabbath day:
1. "Shabbat was made for mankind." -Mark 2:27
Yes, YHWH created Shabbat for us. not for his own benefit. Not for the angels. Not just for the sake of having rules. Not only for the people who lived 3,000 years ago. He made it for us, as a gift. A custom gift; this is not like trying to squeeze into your little sister's jeans. This is a tailor made jacket that fits perfectly. It suits us. Yahusha taught that the Sabbath was a gift from YHWH especially for us.
Yes, YHWH created Shabbat for us. not for his own benefit. Not for the angels. Not just for the sake of having rules. Not only for the people who lived 3,000 years ago. He made it for us, as a gift. A custom gift; this is not like trying to squeeze into your little sister's jeans. This is a tailor made jacket that fits perfectly. It suits us. Yahusha taught that the Sabbath was a gift from YHWH especially for us.
2. "The son of man is master of the Sabbath." -Luke 6:5
Yahusha chose to describe himself in relation to Shabbat, and that shows us part of his identity that he values. Mastering something doesn't make it null and void. On the contrary, when someone says they have mastered something - whether that's organic chemistry, croissant baking, or a second language - it means they have purposefully spent a lot of time on it and it's important to them. Why would we treat the Messiah's declaration of Shabbat differently? He was speaking of the Sabbath because it's something he cares about.
3. He made a practice of teaching people on the Sabbath. -Luke 4:31
Many of us have been told that it doesn't matter what day of the week we worship YHWH, but isn't it worthwhile to see that our Savior made it a point to do this on the seventh day of the week? He didn't limit himself to teaching one day a week but his habit was teaching on Shabbat. Yahusha organized his life with respect to this day. We can also see that he expects his people to learn on Shabbat.
4. "It is permitted in Torah to do good deeds on Shabbat." -Matthew 12:12
Many have taken the accusations of the Pharisees to mean that the Messiah violated the Sabbath. Truthfully they were only accusing him of breaking their own traditions, not commandments of YHWH. Yahusha teaches that it's okay to disregard manmade rules or expectations for what the Sabbath day looks like, as long as we honor YHWH's instructions. He also tells us here that Shabbat contradicts nothing that YHWH has said because we are free to keep all of his commandments on this day.
5. People get healed on the Sabbath. -Mark 3:5
Whoa. The number of times Yahusha healed someone on Shabbat show that YHWH is trying to communicate something with us. While healing is certainly possible any day of the week it is worth noticing that the Messiah consistently healed those who came to him on Shabbat.
Whoa. The number of times Yahusha healed someone on Shabbat show that YHWH is trying to communicate something with us. While healing is certainly possible any day of the week it is worth noticing that the Messiah consistently healed those who came to him on Shabbat.
This list is not exhaustive but we can see that Shabbat was something important to both the Messiah and to the writers of the Gospels. Many teachings recorded in Scripture were spoken by the Messiah on the Sabbath and then reiterated by Paul and others on later Sabbath days. We can now make the same choice to honor YHWH's set apart day.
