“Thinking about Sabbath...Again” on Deut 5 and Mark 2:23-28 by Neil and Virginia Lettinga - Sept 21, 2025

We've been talking about "Sabbath" in church for 4 weeks now!  (No one here planned this... maybe the Lord did?)  

When we were children, the 10 commandments were read aloud every Sunday, and so we were reminded each week to "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." But often the way that church people understood ‘remembering the Sabbath day’ meant a long list of things you couldn't do.  There was an unhealthy encouragement to be critical of both others and yourself in defining how to keep Sunday "holy."

"Sabbath" has always been a challenge for God's people.  So as we wrestle a little with it, we are joining a vast company of men and women before us -- in the Old Testament, in the New Testament, AND in church life. Sabbath is the rest that God gives to his people.  And we all share a sense that we need rest to restore our bodies, our minds, and our souls, don't we?

Three weeks ago, Tara pointed out that in resting, we remember God.   She confessed that sometimes, for her "the blessing of rest can feel like a burden."  But rest reminds us that we are called to BE and not just DO.

Two weeks ago, Christiana urged us to be intentional with Sabbath practices.  People shared ways they are trying to step into resting and remembering God.  We were impressed by the thoughtfulness, creativity and flexibility people showed.  Stepping into the Lord's Sabbath is not easy in our hectic culture with its varied demands from families and jobs!

Last Sunday, Cindy gave our discussions about the Sabbath a twist.  She challenged us to consider "giving the land" a Sabbath.  People shared about roadblocks to this -- and shared some hopes.  We hope to give you some time for more sharing about Sabbath-keeping after the message today.

Today we mean to...

 1) spend a bit of time on the context of Sabbath as a rule in both the Old Testament and the New Testament.  And then 

 2) think about the very New Testament idea in the catechism: in celebrating Sabbath we rest, God works, and we begin our eternal lives.

The command to "Remember the Sabbath Day" is a fascinating outlier in the 10 commandments!  The first 4 commandments concern what we owe God and God alone.  To God belongs worship, honour, respect.  The last 5 commandments lay out a moral order among humans: honour your parents, no murder, no adultery, no theft, no false witness, no coveting.  And between those 2 groups, the Sabbath commandment is something different.  As Moses spells it out in Deuteronomy chapter 5, the Sabbath is GIFT to the people and a SIGN that they are no longer slaves. 

Slaves are ordered to work every day.  In contrast, God's people are ordered a day to rest.  Listen to the text and notice how wide the circle for Sabbath rest is supposed to be.  Deuteronomy 5.  You're welcome to follow along in your Bibles -- though we're going to condense the first three commandments and slow down starting at verse 12. 

Moses summoned all Israel and said:

“Hear, Israel, the decrees and laws I declare in your hearing today. Learn them and be sure to follow them... 

^...6 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

⁷ “You shall have no other gods before me.

⁸ “You shall not make for yourself an image...

¹¹ “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God...

¹² “Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you. ¹³ Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁴ but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns, so that your male and female servants may rest, as you do. ¹⁵ Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.”

The Sabbath commandment was given as a tool for remembering what God has done for his people.  It reminds us of the freedom God gives to his people.

Probably Jesus thought about this in his conversations about the Sabbath.  Look at the gospels and you will see that Jesus had A LOT of conversations about keeping the Sabbath!  (we count more than 40!)  Keeping the Sabbath carefully and exactly was hugely important for Pharisees, but for all the Jews of Jesus' day, the Sabbath was something that defined them as different from the Roman and Greek culture all around them.  Jews didn't work or buy or sell on Saturday. The way that Jesus challenged the cultural expectations of Sabbath-keeping is useful for us when we think about Sabbath.  The account in Mark chapter 2 that Cindy mentioned last Sunday is a good example.  Eden read it for us after the children's message the week before that.  

Mark 2: 23-27.  Let's hear it again.  Pay special attention to the two points Jesus makes at the end.

²³ One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. ²⁴ The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”

²⁵ he answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? ²⁶ In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.”

²⁷ Then [Jesus] said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. ²⁸ So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

Q: What's the conclusion Jesus gives about the Sabbath? 

1. Sabbath is created FOR humans.  As something we need in one way or another..    ("It is made for man, not man for the Sabbath") 

2. Jesus ("the son of man") is Lord of the Sabbath!

Jesus' reworking of the meaning of the Sabbath was shocking to his first audience.  When you next read from the gospels, notice how often there are Sabbath conversations and how often after conversations like this we are told that the Pharisees go off and plot to kill Jesus!  Calling himself the "Lord of the Sabbath" is a way of calling himself God!  The Jewish religious leaders aren't just mad at Jesus when he heals on the Sabbath day because he breaks a commandment.  They're appalled that he claims authority over how to understand the Sabbath.  Like God. 

And you and I, if you call Jesus your Lord and Saviour, are part of God's new people whose interpretation of the Sabbath has been reshaped by Jesus. After the many questions and debates Jesus had about observing the Sabbath, it vanishes almost entirely for the early church and is mentioned only twice in the NT letters. Paul explicitly tells the believers in Colossae "do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration, or a Sabbath day." (Colossians 2:16)  

I remember feeling shocked as a child when I discovered that verse!  I had overheard a lot of judging about things like bike-riding on the Sabbath Day.  Said by good, Jesus-loving people. But with Jesus' proclamation that He is the Lord of the Sabbath, he proclaims freedom for us.  Sabbath affirms freedom. And maybe the old heavy-handed emphasis on not doing things on the Lord's Day was because we had forgotten our own traditions and teachings?  

The old catechism's explanation for the command to honour the Sabbath day picks up on what Jesus taught. It also picks up on the 2nd  mention of "Sabbath" in the NT letters.  That's found in Hebrews chapter 4 -- part of a paragraph about God giving his people rest, though the word "Sabbath" is used once.  The catechism asks: "What is God's will for us in the 4th commandment?" and gives a two-part answer.

First, (and now I'm reading the catechism -- you can look it up later.  Lord's Day 38) The command first "affirms that the gospel ministry and education for it be maintained, and that, especially on the festive day of rest, I diligently attend the assembly of God's people to learn what God's Word teaches, to participate in the sacraments, to pray to God publicly and to bring Christian offerings for the poor."

Q: Do you feel affirmed for gathering here today? 

You're here so you're doing exactly what the catechism thinks honouring the Sabbath Day should do.

Then the catechism continues with a second part:  God's command about the Sabbath Day also teaches

that every day of my life I rest from my evil ways,

let the Lord work in me through his Spirit,

and so begin in this life the eternal Sabbath.

Is that a bit of a surprise?  Can you think of your life today as being an early moment in the eternal Sabbath God has promised to you as a believer?  (I find this mind-stretching?!)

Do you feel a bit stretched by the idea that with Jesus as the Lord of the Sabbath, the command to honour the Sabbath day reminds us that we rest -- so that God can work in us? The catechism makes me rethink and reconsider things.  

We rest... and in resting let the Lord work in us. (We may have returned full circle to Tara's observation that God calls us to BE as well as DO.) May we indeed learn that 

that every day of our lives we rest from our evil ways,

let the Lord work in us through his Spirit,

and so begin in this life the eternal Sabbath.

We'd like to invite people to share again today.

Q:  In the weeks in which we've talked about Sabbath, are there things that have caught your attention?  

Do you have ideas or experiences to share?

But first, we invite you to sit silently for a minute, considering how you've found the Lord of the Sabbath teaching and leading you, and then the musicians will lead us in the song "Come Away from Rush and Struggles.

Parting Blessing:

People of God,

may you find the rest you need

to discover the freedom for which God created you.

Trust that the Lord is working in you through his Spirit.

He who has begun his good work in you will complete it one day with his eternal Sabbath.