The Lord's Day
The Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day. Matt. 12:8
I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day. Rev. 1:10.
The second important truth that flows out of Jesus' early confrontations with the Jews on Sabbath observance is the fact that He "is Lord even of the sabbath day." That is quite a claim. It is either correct or false. But no matter what, it led directly to the cross. To the Jews it was the height of blasphemy. But from Jesus' perspective it was the very ground for His right to delineate how the Sabbath should be honored. After all, if He was truly Lord of the Sabbath He would have more understanding on why it was instituted than anyone else.
The claim itself takes us historically back even before God gave the Sabbath in the Ten Commandments through Moses. Genesis 2:1-3 reads: "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all his work which he had done in creation" (RSV).
And who was that God who rested that first Sabbath and blessed and hallowed the seventh day? It probably included the entire Godhead. But we know for a certainty that Jesus observed that first Sabbath and was at the forefront of establishing the seventh-day Sabbath in human history.
And how do we know that? Because of the testimony of the New Testament, which plainly states that "all things were made through him [Jesus the Word], and without him was not anything made that was made" (John 1:3, RSV); "in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth...all things were created through him and for him" (Col. 1:16, RSV); and through Jesus God "created the world" (Heb. 1:2, RSV).
There is absolutely no doubt that Christ was the active agent in Creation week and that He instituted history's first Sabbath. Thus He can claim that He is Lord of the Sabbath (Mark 2:28). The seventh-day Sabbath is the only day in the Bible that identifies "the Lord's day" (Rev. 1:10).
In giving it at Sinai the "I am" Lord of the Exodus (Ex. 3:14; John 5:58) made it plain that He intended to make the seventh-day Sabbath a weekly reminder of two facts: That He created (Ex. 20:8-11) and that He redeems (Deut. 5:12-15).
How thankful we can be as Christians that we can honor the Lord on His special day.
The Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day. Matt. 12:8
I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day. Rev. 1:10.
The second important truth that flows out of Jesus' early confrontations with the Jews on Sabbath observance is the fact that He "is Lord even of the sabbath day." That is quite a claim. It is either correct or false. But no matter what, it led directly to the cross. To the Jews it was the height of blasphemy. But from Jesus' perspective it was the very ground for His right to delineate how the Sabbath should be honored. After all, if He was truly Lord of the Sabbath He would have more understanding on why it was instituted than anyone else.
The claim itself takes us historically back even before God gave the Sabbath in the Ten Commandments through Moses. Genesis 2:1-3 reads: "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all his work which he had done in creation" (RSV).
And who was that God who rested that first Sabbath and blessed and hallowed the seventh day? It probably included the entire Godhead. But we know for a certainty that Jesus observed that first Sabbath and was at the forefront of establishing the seventh-day Sabbath in human history.
And how do we know that? Because of the testimony of the New Testament, which plainly states that "all things were made through him [Jesus the Word], and without him was not anything made that was made" (John 1:3, RSV); "in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth...all things were created through him and for him" (Col. 1:16, RSV); and through Jesus God "created the world" (Heb. 1:2, RSV).
There is absolutely no doubt that Christ was the active agent in Creation week and that He instituted history's first Sabbath. Thus He can claim that He is Lord of the Sabbath (Mark 2:28). The seventh-day Sabbath is the only day in the Bible that identifies "the Lord's day" (Rev. 1:10).
In giving it at Sinai the "I am" Lord of the Exodus (Ex. 3:14; John 5:58) made it plain that He intended to make the seventh-day Sabbath a weekly reminder of two facts: That He created (Ex. 20:8-11) and that He redeems (Deut. 5:12-15).
How thankful we can be as Christians that we can honor the Lord on His special day.
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