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JESUS, ATONEMENT, AND SABBATH INTRODUCTION In the previous article, Jesus, Mercy Seat, Jubilee and Atonement, we explored Christ’s atoning work in terms of Leviticus 16, Leviticus 25, and Romans 3:21-26. We made a connection between Paul’s use of “propitiation” (hilasterion) in Romans 3:25 and the Old Covenant mercy seat. On the Day of Atonement the mercy seat was the place where God’s justice was satisfied, sin was pardoned, and His people accepted as righteous through the blood of the covenant. Paul teaches that everything signified by the hilasterion was fulfilled by Jesus, thus demonstrating God’s righteousness so that He would be just and the justifier of the unjust (Romans 3:26; cf. Romans 4:5). Jesus is our mercy seat because He has perfectly kept the
requirement of the Law for our righteousness and has shed His blood for our
unrighteousness. For those who trust
in Jesus, God now looks down on His gracious covenant through Jesus’ blood, “How precious is
Your lovingkindness, O God! And the children of men take refuge in the shadow
of Your wings” (Psalm 36:7). Jesus is also our Jubilee. Every 7x7 years after propitiation and the removal of sin was accomplished, Jubilee was proclaimed throughout the land. At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry our Lord announced the Year of the LORD’s favor (Luke 4:18-19, 21). Our view of the atonement must focus on both Jesus’ death and life. The purpose of this article is to take a closer look at the foundation of Christ’s work in terms of sabbath. Both the Day of Atonement and the Year of Jubilee were sabbaths. LEVITICUS 23 AND 25 Leviticus 23 and 25 give a comprehensive overview of the Old Covenant calendar. These two chapters remind us that sabbath was a much larger concept than a twenty-four hour period occurring once every seven days. All the Old Covenant feast days were sabbaths and they all shared in common an emphasis on cessation from work. Note the emphasis upon rest in Leviticus 23: 1. Seventh day Sabbath (v.3). Cessation from work on this day is emphasized in the Fourth Commandment (Exodus 20:8-11; Deuteronomy 5:12-15). 2. Passover (v.5; cf. Exodus 12:16). The Passover was held on the 14th day of the month. Passover commemorated God’s deliverance of Israel from slavery. Israel did not have to go back to work for Pharaoh and their taskmasters and God’s deliverance of Israel from Egypt was incorporated into the weekly sabbath (Deuteronomy 5:12-15; 16:1-4; John 19:31; cf. Galatians 4:3-7). 3. The Feast of Unleavened Bread was a week long feast associated with the Passover (vv.6-8; Deuteronomy 16:1-4). The first and last day of this feast prohibited laborious work (vv.7-8): a. “On the first day…you shall not do any laborious work” (v.7). b. “On the seventh day… you shall not do any laborious work” (v.8). 4. Feast of first fruits (vv.9-14), “do no regular work” (Numbers 28:26). 5. Pentecost (vv.15-21; also called the Feast of Harvest [Exodus 23:16a] and feast of weeks). Pentecost was celebrated “seven complete sabbaths” from the Feast of First Fruits (Leviticus 23:15-16). a. counted seven complete sabbaths (fifty days) after the Feast of First Fruits (vv.15-16). b. “You shall do no laborious work” (v.21). 6. Feast of Trumpets/Rosh Hashanah (vv.23-25) a. “you shall have a sabbath” (v.24). b. “You shall not do any laborious work…” (v.25) 7. Day of Atonement (vv.26-32; Leviticus 16:31) (7th month of Israel’s liturgical calendar) a. “You shall not do any work” (v.28) b. “any person who does any work on this same day, that person I will destroy…” (v.29) c. “You shall do no work at all” (v.31). d. “It is to be a sabbath of complete rest” (v.32). 8. Feast of Booths/Tabernacles (vv.33-36,39,42; cf. Deut.31:10-13) (7th month of Israel’s liturgical calendar) a. “seven days to the LORD” (v.34). b. First day: “you shall do no laborious work of any kind” (v.35). c. Eighth day: “You shall do no laborious work” (v.36). d. “You shall live in booths for seven days…” (v.42). Two additional sabbaths are mentioned in Leviticus 25. These sabbaths involved rest for an entire year that not only extended to God’s people but also the land. Every seven years rest was given to Israel’s inheritance (Leviticus 25:1-7) and every 7x7 years a Year of Jubilee was celebrated (Leviticus 25:8-55). The Year of Jubilee was the climax of sabbaths. Leviticus 23 and 25 teach us, in the shadows of the Old Covenant, about the broad scope of sabbath which has implications for all Israel: rich and poor, free and slave, male and female. Sabbath has implications for Israel’s land, livestock, and economy. Sabbath not only dominated Israel’s calendar but God’s calendar because it reaches all the way back to creation, remembers God’s work of redemption, and looks forward to the consummation with the new heavens and new earth. Even though sabbath emphasizes cessation from our work, we must remember that the purpose of sabbath is not cessation from work. In other words sabbath is not observed simply because a person stops working. Rather, the purpose of sabbath is to teach God’s people to rest in God’s work alone, “But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness” (Romans 4:5). JEREMIAH 34, SABBATH, AND THE LORD’S ANOINTED In the last paper, we noted a connection between the Kingdom and Jubilee.[1] We can build upon this relationship by noting that the king of the Kingdom was the LORD’s anointed (Messiah/Christ). This is important because kingdom, sabbath, and jubilee are rooted in the work of the LORD’s anointed.[2] Zedekiah was the last Davidic king of the Old Covenant[3] and yet he seems to have been the first to make a serious attempt to observe the sabbath proclaiming liberty (Jeremiah 34:8,15,17 with Leviticus 25:10 and Isaiah 61:10; cf. 1 Sam 8:11–18; 1 Kin 4:7, 21–25; 9:15; 1 Kings 12:1-15; Nehemiah 10:31).[4] Admittedly, Zedekiah’s attempt to observe the Jubilee was under duress and short lived. In Jeremiah 34, Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, had surrounded Jerusalem (vv.1-3). In a final effort to save the city and to escape from Babylonian captivity and enslavement, Zedekiah proclaimed a release for all Hebrew slaves (vv.4-10). Nebuchadnezzar and his army left (vv.21-22). Apparently, Zedekiah’s advisors and the greedy rich were not happy with this proclamation and argued something to the effect, “It’s the economy, stupid.” Zedekiah then repented of his repentance and the released Israelites were taken back (v.11). Zedekiah acted like Pharaoh and a connection between both oppressors is implied by the use of the Hebrew verb shalach, which has the meaning of to “let go” or “set free” (Jeremiah 34:9,10,11,14,16 with Exodus 3:20; 4:21,23; etc. Cf. Deuteronomy 15:12,13,18; etc.). Jeremiah 34 reminds us that keeping sabbath is an act of faith (cf. Lev.25:20-22) that has economic ramifications. Sabbath was intended to be a great blessing for the poor and for slaves (Exodus 20:10; Leviticus 25:5-6). However, the sabbath would have been viewed as a “curse” for greedy landowners who took advantage of the poor and free slave labor.[5] In verses 12-21, God sent Jeremiah to Zedekiah to proclaim “release” (v.17) announcing that since Israel didn’t feed the hungry, the dead bodies of Israelites would feed the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth (v.20). Because Israel did not keep God’s sabbath, the land was given rest from her sins. Because freed Israelites were enslaved, Israel was going to be off into Babylonian slavery, Those who had escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon; and they were servants to him and to his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths. All the days of its desolation it kept sabbath until seventy years were complete (2 Chronicles 36:20-21; cf. Leviticus 18:24-30; 20:22; 26:23-43; Nehemiah 13:15-22; Jeremiah 17:19-27; Ezekiel 20:11-24).[6] Old Covenant Israel failed to keep God’s sabbaths including the Year of Jubilee – the climax of the sabbaths. Ironically it was Cyrus, a Persian King, who proclaimed release by allowing God’s exiled people to return home from Babylon,
Isaiah 44:28-45:1 Israel’s failure to keep God’s sabbaths makes the Son of David’s proclamation all the more striking. Jesus not only proclaimed release[8] but was the fulfillment of the Year of the LORD’s favor, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, Because the Lord has anointed me…” (Isaiah 61:1 with Luke 3:21-22; 4:16-21; cf. Daniel 9:24-27; John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, II.xv.2).[9] How blessed
are the people who know the joyful sound! O Lord,
they walk in the light of Your countenance. SABBATH WORK AND THE WORKS OF GOD IN JOHN 5-6 Jesus did not describe or fulfill sabbath through inactivity but by work.[12] Jesus’ work was shared with the Father, “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working” (John 5:17). Jesus’ teaching and signs highlight the distinction between the work of God and the work of fallen man. Man’s work, in the first Adam, was accursed. Sabbaths were times when God’s people ceased from their regular work so that they might rest in the redemptive and re-creative work of God. In John 6, Jesus did the work of God by feeding five thousand (not including women and children) with only five barley loaves and two fish (with twelve baskets to spare! cf. Exodus 16; Lev.25:11-12,20-22). This sign was also a sabbath work. It was not a sabbath work because it occurred on the sabbath day, but because bread was multiplied without the toil, sweat, thorns, and thistles of the curse. After partaking of the multiplied loaves and fish many Jews began following Jesus, and He warned them not to “work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life…” (John 6:27). [13] Jesus was asked, “What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God” (John 6:28)? The people expected some kind of works of the Law, but Jesus responded with what Paul calls the law of faith, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent” (John 6:29). The bread Jesus offers came through His toil, sweat, and accursed death on the cross. The feast of eternal life has been paid for with the flesh and blood of Jesus which we eat and drink in faith (John 6:35-65). THE PHARISEES We might ask where the Pharisees fit into all this. Quite simply, the Pharisees did not keep God’s sabbath (John 7:19) but had turned sabbath into a damnable works righteousness. The Pharisees thought they were doing good by doing nothing. Instead of relieving the burdens of the poor and oppressed, the Pharisees became like Pharaoh and promoted demonic oppression.[14] Instead of feeding Jesus’ hungry disciples they criticized them for gleaning (cf. Lev.23:22). They thought they were keeping sabbath by resting in their works when they should have been resting in the One doing the works of God. It is important for us to understand that Jesus did not correct or rebuke the perversions of the Pharisees by abolishing sabbath. Rather, Jesus fulfilled sabbath by keeping the Law for our righteousness and by bearing the penalty of the Law for our unrighteousness. The Lord of the Sabbath (Matt.12:8) taught that He was greater than the temple and greater than Solomon (Matthew 12:6, 42).[15] Jesus offers divine rest to the weary, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Jesus taught that compassion for others is not a sabbath exception; it is the rule (Matt.12:7). Works of mercy are especially appropriate on sabbath contrary to the indignant synagogue official who said, “There are six days in which work should be done; so come during them and get healed, and not on the Sabbath day” (Luke 13:14). Those oppressed by the curse were not coming to Jesus looking for work but to find rest and blessing! Remembering how God has dealt with us in Christ will lead us to deal with others in similar ways (cf. Ex.16:18-18 with 2 Cor.8:14-15; Lev.19:9-10,18; Deut.5:15-16; 15:1-15; 16:10-14; 24:19-22; Isaiah 58). Some Christians think that not remembering the Fourth Commandment is a testimony to their faith in Jesus Christ. But remembering and resting on the Lord’s Day is testimony to our being a new creation in Christ and to our redemption through His blood (cf. Exodus 20:8-11; Deuteronomy 5:12-15).[17] The Christian’s attitude toward the Lord’s Day should be one of delight and rejoicing because sabbath contains the heart of a saving response to the Gospel – resting in Christ’s work alone for our righteousness.[18] Richard Gaffin beautifully observed, The weekly Sabbath is not just God's provision so that we might have time to worship him (although it certainly is that). The rest itself—ceasing as much as possible from those activities that are appropriate on the other six days of the week—has positive meaning. The Lord’s Day is about worship because it is first of all about the gospel. It is a sign, a witness both to the church and to the watching world, that “you are not your own” (1 Cor. 6:19). We are depending on God, not on ourselves, to provide for us. It is a sign that we do not trust in ourselves and our own efforts as fallen sons and daughters of Adam. We trust in the perfect righteousness of Christ, the last Adam. We trust in God's faithfulness to his covenant promises to do for us what we are unable to do for ourselves.[19] PAUL, SABBATH, AND THE FEAST OF FIRST FRUITS Biblical sabbath pertains to the grand themes of creation, re-creation, blessing, gospel, kingdom, work, rest, peace, freedom, forgiveness, atonement, jubilee, joy, inheritance, resurrection, and life.[20] When we have a broader and more biblical view of sabbath, we will gratefully recognize its prominence throughout Scripture. [21] In the face of all this, it is common to come across assertions like, “The Sabbath does not feature prominently in Paul’s writings, except negatively.”[22] Comments like this betray a narrow Pharisaical and rabbinical view of sabbath.[23] To be sure, unbiblical views of sabbath do not feature prominently in Paul’s writings.[24] However, Paul’s writings are ripe with biblical themes of sabbath beginning with his emphasis that justification is by faith alone in the work of Jesus Christ alone.[25] In this section I would like to look at the sabbath Feast of First Fruits in 1 Corinthians 15. At the Feast of First Fruits a representative sample of the barley harvest was brought to the temple in anticipation of the coming harvest. God’s people took their labors from the sin cursed earth and looked to God for His blessing upon the work of their hands. It was on this sabbath that Jesus rose again from the dead, But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those
who are asleep. For since by a man
came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ
all will be made alive. By identifying Jesus’ resurrection as the “first fruits of those who are asleep,” Paul is indicating that Jesus bore the thorns and thistles of the curse when He was crucified and buried. The resurrection was the day when Jesus came forth victoriously from the barren and sin cursed ground. The resurrection of Jesus in glory secures the future resurrection of the bodies of believers. What the first Adam failed to do, the last Adam is bringing to fruition (Psalm 2; 22; 110; Romans 5-8; 1 Corinthians 15:20-28; Philippians 1:6).[26] The fruitfulness of Christ’s redemptive labor also offers future hope for the present kingdom work of the believer, Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding
in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain[27]
in the Lord. (1 Corinthians 15:58) The present experience of the Christian who has been united to Christ[28] is that we have received the “first fruits of the Spirit” (Romans 8:23; cf. Hebrews 6:4-8).[29] The Christian has been baptized into Christ’s death, buried with Him, and raised from the dead with Him so that we might walk in the newness of life (Romans 6). Our old selves were crucified and through faith we are no longer slaves to sin. That is why your life in Christ is now fruitful where it was once barren and characterized by the deeds of the flesh. This explains why, in Jesus, you now are growing and why your life is characterized more and more by the fruit of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5). “First fruits of the Spirit” is sabbath language that not only goes back to Leviticus 23. It is also has reference to the time when God’s people were at Gilgal and on the threshold of the Promised Land. After Israel was circumcised they observed the Passover. Then they ate from the produce of the Land. When God’s people began eating that for which they did not work, the manna from heaven stopped, While the sons of Israel camped at Gilgal they observed the Passover on
the evening of the fourteenth day of the month on the desert plains of
Jericho. Eating the first fruit of the Promised Land was a celebration of sabbath: rest from Egyptian slavery and rest from wilderness wandering (Leviticus 23:5-14; 25:4-6). Joshua was leading Israel into God’s rest which anticipated the rest of Jesus (Joshua 22:4; cf. Hebrews 4:8). Through faith in Jesus Christ we have rest and are entering into His rest because He is our mercy seat, He is our Jubilee, and He is the First Fruits. In Christ, every believer has partaken of the Holy Spirit and power of the age to come. Christ is Risen, and you, O death, are annihilated! Christ is Risen, and the evil ones are cast down! Christ is Risen, and the angels rejoice! Christ is Risen, and life is liberated! Christ is Risen, and the tomb is emptied of its dead; for Christ having risen from the dead, is become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep. -John Chrysostom |
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[1] cf. Matthew 4:23-24; 9:32-35; 12:22-29; Luke 4:18 with 4:43-44; 7:18-22;
11:2-4 |
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[2] “In Israel, the ritual of anointing (1 Sam.10:1) symbolically connected honorable kingship and national prosperity. Oil, representing the rich bounty of harvest, was poured over the head of the chosen king – a sign of hope that the land would prosper under his leadership. The king is Yahweh’s “anointed one” (“messiah”), a living symbol of national blessing (Pss.21; 45; 48; 72; and Isa.45:1-17)” (Richard H. Lowery, Sabbath and Jubilee [Charlie Press, St. Louis, 2000], 15). Jesus is not only anointed for national blessing but for the blessing of all the nations and all creation. Jesus is the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor.15:45) as seen on the sabbath Feast of Pentecost (Acts 2). |
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[3] Jeremiah refers to Zedekiah as the “LORD’s
anointed” in Lamentations 4:20. |
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[4] God’s people had requested sabbath/rest/release from Solomon’s heavy yoke but King Rehoboam denied their appeal (1 Kings 12:1-15; cf. 1 Kings 4:7, 22-23, 27-28; 5:13-14; 9:22). |
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[5] This is one of the reasons Pharaoh wouldn’t let Israel go from Egypt. In Jeremiah’s day, Israel had become Egypt by enslaving her own people! |
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[6] While studying the prophet Jeremiah, Daniel learned
that the Babylonian captivity was coming to an end, “I, Daniel,
observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the word
of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of
Jerusalem, namely, seventy years” (Daniel 9:3). It was in this context that it was revealed
to Daniel that the general time frame for Messiah’s coming would revolve
around sabbath, (1) seventy sabbatical periods [Daniel 9:24]; and (2) the
atoning work of Messiah is spoken of in terms of the Day of Atonement: transgression,
sin and iniquity would be atoned for [Daniel 9:24 with
Leviticus 16:20-21]. |
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[7] Cyrus, the Persian King, is referred to as Yahweh’s anointed, probably because he proclaimed the release that previous Israelite kings had not. For other ancient non-Israelite proclamations of release see Richard H. Lowery, Sabbath and Jubilee [Charlie Press, St. Louis, 2000], 37-46. |
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[8] Release includes the remission of sins (cf. Ridderbos, The Coming of the Kingdom, [P&R Publishing, 1962], 213). Messiah’s proclamation of release is rooted in His bearing the curse of the covenant in place of His people (Jeremiah 34:8,18-19 with Genesis 15:7-21). |
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[9] The hundreds of references in the New Testament to Jesus being the Christ need to be thought not only in terms of kingdom and Kingship but also in terms of Jubilee/sabbath. I hope to write another paper developing the idea of Kingdom and Jubilee in terms of the anointed prophet, priest, and king, and their relationship to Pentecost and the Mission of the Church (cf. Exodus 19:6; Isaiah 61:6; 1 Peter 2:5,9; Rev.1:6; 5:10). |
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[10]
Here in Psalm 89, horn has
reference to the Lord’s salvation through the Son of David, “The Lord
said to Samuel… ‘Fill your horn with oil and go; I will send you to Jesse the
Bethlehemite, for I have selected a king for Myself among his sons’…Then
Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers;
and the Spirit of the Lord came
mightily upon David from that day forward…” (1 Samuel 16:1,13; 1 Samuel 2:10; Psalm 89:24; 132:17; Ezek.29:21;
Luke 1:67-69; cf. Dan.7:7,24; Lam.2:3). |
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[11] The LORD’s reign through the Messiah and Jubilee is
especially prominent in Psalms 146-150. |
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[12] The Westminster Standards helpfully remind us that
sabbath is observed by works of mercy, necessity, and piety. |
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[13]
“What Jesus intended as a reference to the
people’s proper pursuit, the crowd took as an invitation to literally “work
the works of God.” In light of the Jewish emphasis on “works of the law” (see
Rom. 3:20, 27–28; Gal. 2:16; 3:2, 5, 10; cf. Phil. 3:6, 9), Jesus’ answer is
nothing less than stunning: God’s requirement is summed up as believing in
“the one he has sent” (the language may reflect Mal. 3:1)—that is, the
Messiah. This contrasts with the people’s apparent confidence that they are
able to meet the demands of God” (Beale and Carson, Commentary on the New Testament
use of the Old Testament, [Grand
Rapids, MI; Nottingham, UK: Baker Academic; Apollos], 445). |
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[14] “The Pharisees made even the commandment to
rest a burden too heavy to bear…” (A.T. Lincoln,
‘Sabbath, Rest, and Eschatology in the New Testament’, From Sabbath to
Lord’s Day D.A. Carson, ed. [Grand Rapids: Michigan Zondervan, 1982],
202). |
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[15] In the same context Jesus also said He was greater than Jonah making connection between destroying and rebuilding the Temple in three days (Matthew 12:38-41; 26:61; 27:40, 63). It took David’s other son, Solomon, seven years to complete the work of building the Temple (1 Kings 6:38). The dedication of Solomon’s temple overlapped the Day of Atonement (2 Chronicles 7:8-10). When the temple was finished, God entered it as His place of rest (2 Sam.7:1,2; 1 Kings 8:56; 1 Chron.6:31; 2 Chronicles 6:41; Psalm 132:8,14; cf. Isa.66:1). |
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[16] See the extended sabbath clash immediately
following in Matthew 12. |
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[17] In a future article I will address the change from
the last day of the week to the first. |
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[18]
“Strange and monstrous are
the longings of our pride. There is nothing which the Lord enjoins more
strictly than the religious observance of his Sabbath, in other words resting
from our works; but in nothing do we show greater reluctance than to renounce
our own works, and give due place to the works of God” (John Calvin, Institutes
of the Christian Religion; 2.3.9). |
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[19] “A Sign of Hope”
New Horizons, March 2003; available at http://www.opc.org/feature.html?feature_id=54;
accessed 10/4/08. Along the same line as the above quote is Marva J. Dawn who wrote, “All the great motifs of our Christian faith are underscored in our Sabbath keeping. Its Ceasing deepens our repentance for the many ways that we fail to trust God and try to create our own future. Its Resting strengthens our faith in the totality of his grace. Its Embracing invites us to take the truths of our faith and apply them practically in our values and lifestyles. Its Feasting heightens our sense of eschatological hope—the Joy of our present experience of God’s love and its foretaste of the Joy to come” (Marva J. Dawn, Keeping the Sabbath Wholly [Eerdmans, 1989], 203). |
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[20] Question 121 of the Westminster Larger Catechism insightfully observes that the word “remember” in the Fourth Commandment (Exodus 20:8-11; Deuteronomy 5:12-15) points us to “a thankful remembrance of the two great benefits of creation and redemption, which contain a short abridgment of religion…” |
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[21] The themes of sabbath are prominent in Genesis 4-9 with many sabbath gems in the Flood account. The building of the tabernacle was modeled on creation and rest (see Meredith Kline, Images of the Spirit pp.37ff.; Samuel Balentine, The Torah’s Vision of Worship pp.137ff.). Another interesting “sabbath” was the Jubilee retirement age for priests, but at the age of fifty, they must retire from their
regular service and work no longer. They
may assist their brothers in performing their duties at the Tent of Meeting,
but they themselves must not do the work. This, then, is how you are to
assign the responsibilities of the Levites.” (Numbers 8:25-26; cf. Numbers 4:3,23,30) Ezekiel’s vision of the Temple in the twenty-fifth year of exile may have taken place on the Day of Atonement, “at the beginning of the year, on the tenth of the month” (Ezekiel 40:1). In Ezekiel’s temple vision the measurement of fifty cubits is found ten times (40:15, 21, 25, 29, 33, 36; 42:2, 7, 8; 45:2) and the measurement of twenty-five cubits is found seven (40:13, 21, 25, 29, 30, 33, 36). It is my understanding that Ezekiel symbolically sees what Daniel heard in Daniel 9 concerning Messiah’s atoning work. Sabbath is also prominent in the Apocalypse. On the Lord’s Day the Apostle John sees the consummation of what Daniel heard and Ezekiel saw (Revelation 1:10ff.; 21:10ff.; cf. Matthew 12:6; Rev.8:2-11:19 [seven trumpets]). |
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[22]
A.G. Shead, “Sabbath” in New Dictionary of Biblical Theology, eds. T.
D. Alexander and Brian S. Rosner (InterVarsity Press, 2000), pp. 745
-750. Dispensationalism and the New
Perspective are particularly guilty of having little to say positively about
Paul’s view of sabbath. |
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[23] “We
Christians…trivialize (and even “profane”) the Sabbath if we regard it merely
as a day when Jews do as little as possible, or as a code of nit-picking
prohibitions” (Ched Myers, “God
Speed the Year of Jubilee!” Sojourners Magazine, May-June
1998; Vol.27, No.3, pp.24-28). |
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[24] In a footnote, Philip Schaff relates an account about Paul’s teacher, Gamaliel, who let his donkey die on the Sabbath because he thought it was a sin to unload it. This was praised by others as an act of piety (History of the Christian Church; Volume I, § 57 Sacred Times—The Lord’s Day)! |
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[25] Sabbath is most certainly a motif of Luke’s Gospel (cf. Luke 4:16-21; 6:20-38; 7:22; 11:4) and several commentators have found a Jubilee concept of eschatological restoration in Acts (1:6; 2:38; 3:21; 4:34; cf. Galatians 2:10). In fact, Luke makes a connection between Jesus preaching (euaggelizo) the Gospel and proclaiming (kerusso) the favorable Year of the Lord with the work of the church after Pentecost (Isa.61:1 [LXX]; Luke 4:18-19 with Luke 4:43-44; 7:22; 8:1; 9:2,6; 24:47; Acts 8:4-5; 9:20; 10:36-38,42; 20:25; 28:31; cf. Rom.10:14-15; 1 Cor.15:1,2,11,12). Luke and Paul were travelling companions and it would certainly be strange for Luke to say so much about sabbath with Paul saying positively little. |
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[26] “On the sixth day, God contemplated his finished creation in its vast splendor and saw that it was ‘very good’ (Gen. 1:31). But he did not yet see the ‘very best.’ That was because even before he created, God had decreed that ‘the best of all possible worlds’ was not to be at the beginning, but rather at the end of history. That, too, was why he made Adam and Eve to be his image bearers—to give them the privilege and responsibility, unique among his creatures, of working for their Creator-Lord and so to bring the creation to its intended consummation… By his life, death, resurrection, and ascension he has not only canceled out the punishment we sinners deserve, but has also secured the realization of God’s original purposes for the entire creation. As ‘head over everything for the church’ (Eph. 1:22), he is presently working, by his Spirit, for the full realization of those purposes at his return. Then, as he surveys the new heavens and the new earth in their final, unshakable perfection (Heb. 12:26-28), he will in fact see the ‘very best’” (Richard Gaffin, “A Sign of Hope”). |
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[27]
The words “toil” and “vain” are language
of the curse. The resurrection of
Jesus guarantees fruitfulness for all Kingdom labor. |
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[28] “The heart of Paul's religion is union with
Christ. This, more than any other conception more than justification, more
than sanctification, more even than reconciliation is the key which unlocks
the secrets of his soul. Within the Holy of Holies which stood revealed when
the veil was rent in twain from the top to the bottom on the day of Damascus,
Paul beheld Christ summoning and welcoming him in infinite love into vital
unity with Himself” (James Stewart, A Man in Christ: The Vital Elements of
Paul's Religion [Grand
Rapids: Baker Book House, 1975], 147). |
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[29] Paul also uses the sabbath of First Fruits when speaking about the Gospel harvest (Romans 16:5; 1 Corinthians 16:15; cf. James 1:18; Revelation 14:3-4). © 2009 by Aaron Goerner.
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