What's the Big Deal About the Seventh Day?

For the last few days I’ve been following a discussion of Sabbath observance among some Pastor Friends.

Whenever I hear talk about the Sabbath I think of two Seventh days in the Bible. The events of these two extraordinary days elevate all Sabbaths to a completely new importance and forever change the focus of questions about its observance.

The first of these two days was a Passover Sabbath. It was the day following the Crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth. Just hours before sunset and the commencement of that highly holy day something remarkable had taken place. The elaborate and ominous curtain that separated the Holiest Place in the Jerusalem temple had been torn “from top to bottom.” At the very instant of the tearing God and the “seat” of His merciful presence were accessible to all who would approach.

I’ve often wondered what happened in the “real unseen world of the Heavenlies” on this never to be repeated Sabbath when “grace” was now and forever accessible to anyone. One of Jesus’ Friends tells us that He – Jesus – “went and preached to the spirits in prison; those who disobeyed God long ago when God waited patiently while Noah was building his boat.” (1 Peter 3: 19 & 20) On that never-to-be-forgotten Sabbath the Heavenlies were lavishing “grace” upon a world long separated from the Holy. With this large scale act of mercy; set in motion by Jesus generous gift from the cross and His conquest of the last barrier between God and penitent humanity, Grace broke the confines of temple and ritual pervading the cosmos; reaching even to the dark regions of the nether world. For the Kingdom of our Lord the purpose of the consummate Sabbath, and by implication all subsequent Seventh Days, was Grace.

The second, special Sabbath I remember is the one when Jesus and His followers were walking through a grain field. As they walked His friends began to pick some of the ripened grain from the stalks. Religious observers of this were critical of what the men were doing. They were doing what, to their critics, amounted to work “on the Holy Sabbath.” By all indications Jesus had not seen their actions that way at all. It seemed to Him to be totally appropriate Sabbath activity. This is serendipity! It’s spontaneous! It’s childlike delight at something new and wonderful. There had to be a bit of a spring in their steps as these men, surprised at the freedom of life with Jesus, reveled in the taste of the freshly ripened kernels. They were walking and talking with the true Corn King (Lewis) – the Lord of the Harvest – celebrating the common in an uncommon way. Elevating work to worship.

In response to His critics, who’d long lost the vision of Grace in God’s revealing messages to them, Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath." (Mark 2: 27 & 28) The Seventh Day, He was explaining, is a “Grace gift” from God to those He favors; first The Son of Man; then through Him all sons of men … It’s implicit in Creation. It’s the business of the risen Christ’s first Sabbath. It’s vibrantly alive in the spontaneity and surprise-filled wonder of childlike worshippers of their King who has set apart – made Holy – this day and everyday for their enrichment and joy.