The Sabbath is Saturday. It always has been and it always will be. The rub comes in the beloved 10 Commandments. They all sound so relevant except for #4 – Remember the Sabbath Day & Keep It Holy. So Christians face a couple of options:
Option A) They can pretend that Sunday is the new Sabbath because Jesus rose from the dead that day and thus it’s super important.
Option B) They can pretend that the Law is still supposed to be obeyed by Christians and hold their worship services on Saturday.
Option C) They can realize that Jesus has become the Sabbath and they are to rest in Him.
The reason why Option A is incorrect is that not a single word of Christ nor epistle of Apostle ever eludes to the idea that Sunday is now the Sabbath. Sunday does have special significance. Jesus arose on that day, the first Pentecost was that day, and early Jewish Christians met that day because the Synagogues were always empty. However, there is no command to meet on Sunday, simply a tradition of doing so.
The reason why Option B is incorrect is that no one can keep the Law. It’s impossible for 2 reasons. First, it’s impossible because there’s no temple right now. No temple means no sacrifices. No sacrifices means you can’t obey the law. Second, it’s impossible because the New Covenant fulfills the Old One. The purpose of the Law was to point us to the Savior. Now that the Savior has come, why would someone look back on the shadow of the Law? Protestant denominations (such as the Seventh Day Adventists) pretend that they follow the Law, but still fail it in trillions of areas. It’s impossible to fulfill. That’s the point. We are failures and Jesus saved us anyway. (On a side note, as long as these Adventists believe the way they believe, can they open Chick-fil-a up for us on Sundays?)
The reason why Option C is correct is because Jesus said it. Jesus exclaims that He is Lord of the Sabbath in Matt 12:8, Mark 2:28, and Luke 6:5. The Sabbath was meant as a day of rest for the Israelites, a day where they reflected on the greatness of God and how He truly takes care of their needs. Everyone else worked 7 days a week and even though the Israelites only worked 6, they were blessed above and beyond. He gave them abundance. Jesus now takes that role in our life. But instead of once a day that we rest in Him, we rest in Him every moment of every day. He carries us constantly. So we fulfill the Law by trusting in Jesus to be our Lord and Savior. All the Law is fulfilled when we are in Christ.
Jesus is better than just switching the Sabbath day because we can rest in Him every day. Jesus is better than pretending to follow the Law (even when you can’t) because He brings an abundant life and not failing death. Jesus is just the best.
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Joe Allotta 