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05.06.2010 Opinion

Did Jesus Abolish the Sabbath Day?

By OnniDin Kwame NwaNwa Asare Fordwuor
Did Jesus Abolish the Sabbath Day?
05.06.2010 LISTEN

As you ask yourself THIS question, remember that God instituted the SEVENTH DAY, SABBATH at creation.

In Genesis chapter 2 we see that God blessed and sanctified the SEVENTH DAY.

To sanctify means to set apart to God for a holy purpose.

God also reiterated the importance of the SABBATH by writing it with His own finger in stone at the heart of the Ten Commandments.

Jesus kept THE SABBATH. Jesus' followers kept the SABBATH.

God showed the prophet Isaiah that we would be keeping the SABATH for eternity in Heaven.

As you read the following arguments that people use to say that the SABBATH was abolished, ask yourself this question:

"Are any of these instances enough to say that God altered His final act of creation and modified one of His Ten Commandments?"

Many people argue that Jesus routinely broke the SABBATH, and by His example the SABBATH was abolished. The Pharisees accused Jesus of breaking the SABBATH on a number of occasions.

Jesus almost always responded in a way that identified the Pharisees as legalists who claimed righteousness based upon their own works. In His rebukes to the Pharisees, did Jesus effectively abolish the SABBATH COMMANDMENT? Let's take a look at a few of these SABBATH confrontations to see if Jesus did, in fact, abolish the SABBATH DAY.

Matt 12:1-8
1 At that time Jesus went on the Sabbath through the grainfields, and His disciples became hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat.

2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, "Behold, your disciples do what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath."

3 But He said to them, "Have you not read what David did, when he became hungry, he and his companions;

4 how he entered the house of God, and they ate the consecrated bread, which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those with him, but for the priests alone?

5 "Or have you not read in the Law, that on the SABBATH the priests in the temple break the Sabbath, and are innocent?

6 "But I say to you, that something greater than the temple is here.

7 "But if you had known what this means, 'I desire compassion, and not a sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent.

8 "For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."
Mark 3:1-6
4 And He said to them, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save a life or to kill?" But they kept silent.

Luke 13:10-17
10 And He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the SABBATH.

14 And the synagogue official, indignant because Jesus had healed on the SABBATH, began saying to the multitude in response, "There are SIX days in which work should be done; therefore come during them and get healed, and not on the SABBATH DAY."

15 But the Lord answered him and said, "You hypocrites, does not each of you on the SABBATH untie his ox or his donkey from the stall, and lead him away to water him?

16 "And this woman, a daughter of Abraham as she is, whom Satan has bound for eighteen long years, should she not have been released from this bond on the SABBATH DAY?"

17 And as He said this, all His opponents were being humiliated; and the entire multitude was rejoicing over all the glorious things being done by Him.

Luke 14:1-5
1 And it came about when He went into the house of one of the leaders of the Pharisees on the Sabbath to eat bread, that they were watching Him closely.

3 And Jesus answered and spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?"

5 And He said to them, "Which one of you shall have a son or an ox fall into a well, and will not immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day ?"

John 7:21-24
23 "If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath that the Law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made an entire man well on the Sabbath?

24 "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."

Notice in each of these accounts, the discussion is not about whether to keep the Sabbath day, but about how to keep it.God's fourth commandment said simply for the people to keep the Sabbath day holy, to refrain from secular work, and to turn their attentions to God.

Mark 7:6-13
6 And He said to them, "Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, 'This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me.

7 'But in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.'

8 "Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men."

9 He was also saying to them, "You nicely set aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition.

Jesus reminds them over and over again that if they would get their hearts right with God, then obeying God's commandments would be a joy not a burden. God's commandments were never meant to restrict us, but to bring us joy and peace. Imagine what our world would be like if everyone obeyed all of God's Ten Commandments out of a sense of love toward God and each other. What a wonderful world this would be! God's commandments are not burdensome. God's Sabbath is not burdensome. The Sabbath is a delight.

Isaiah 58 (King James Version)
13If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:

14Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

Leviticus 23 (King James Version)
30And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people.

31 Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

32 It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.

38Beside the sabbaths of the LORD, and beside your gifts, and beside all your vows, and beside all your freewill offerings, which ye give unto the LORD.

These ceremonial sabbaths, along with their sacrifices, were shadows or symbols that pointed forward to Jesus. Jesus was our Passover sacrificial Lamb. He was also the First Fruits offering and is the one whose blood made atonement for our sins. These sacrificial offerings ceased to have any significance when they were 'nailed to the cross' with Christ, who was the One true Sacrifice. But the Sabbath was primarily a memorial to creation, not a shadow of something that pointed forward to Jesus. We can see the truth of this in Paul's actions. He never offered another sacrifice after he became a Christian, however, he kept the Sabbath regularly (see Acts 13:42-44, 17:2).

Acts 13 (King James Version)
42And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next SABBATH.

44And the next SABBATH DAY came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God.

Acts 17 (King James Version)
1Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews:

2And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures,

Romans 14 (King James Version)
4Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.

5One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.

6He that regardeth *the day*,(Sabbath) regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not *the day*, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.

8For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's.

11For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.

12So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.

Hebrews 4 (King James Version)
7Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

8For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.

9There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.

10For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.

11Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

The Sabbath is indeed a symbol of grace. The Sabbath is symbolic of many things! The Sabbath is also a memorial of creation and our Creator God. Actually, it is not a symbol of all of those things, but a reminder of them. The sin sacrifices of the Old Testament were a symbol of Jesus' sacrifice on our behalf. After Jesus came and died, the symbols ceased to have meaning. In fact, to keep offering sacrifices would be to deny the sufficiency of Christ's sacrifice. So in place of the animal sacrifices, Jesus instituted two reminders of His sacrifice - baptism and communion. By holding communion services, do we deny the sufficiency of Christ's sacrifice on our behalf? Certainly NOT! Rather, we reaffirm our faith in His sacrifice. This is also true of the Sabbath. The Sabbath is not a symbol of grace, but a reminder of it. As we observe the weekly Sabbath, we do not deny God's grace; we reaffirm our faith in His grace. The author of Hebrews says as much in verse 9. 'There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God.'

Finally, I want to note something very significant. The word 'Sabbath' appears in the New Testament 62 times. Sixty of those times are in the Gospels and the book of Acts. Every one of these references speaks, either directly or indirectly, about Jesus, the disciples, or the apostles keeping the Sabbath holy. Only two times does the New Testament use the word 'sabbath' in any other way.

Revelation 14 (King James Version)
12Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

13And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may REST from their labours; and their works do follow them.

Christ said to His disciples, "If ye were of the world, the world would love his own; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you" (John 15:19). The Catholic Church, however, is very much of this world. Her popes have built an unrivaled worldwide empire of property, wealth, and influence. Nor is empire-building an abandoned feature of the past. We have already seen that Vatican II clearly states that the Roman Catholic Church today still ceaselessly seeks to bring under its control all mankind and all their goods.

Popes have long claimed dominion over the world and its peoples. Pope Gregory XIs papal bull of 1372 (In Coena Domini) claimed papal dominion over the entire Christian world, secular and religious, and excommunicated all who failed to obey the popes and to pay them taxes. In Coena was confirmed by subsequent popes and in 1568 Pope Pius V swore that it was to remain an eternal law.

Pope Alexander VI (1492-1503) claimed that all undiscovered lands belonged to the Roman Pontiff, for him to dispose of as he pleased in the name of Christ as His vicar. King John II of Portugal was convinced that in his Bull Romanus Pontifex the pope had granted all that Columbus discovered exclusively to him and his country. Ferdinand and Isabel of Spain, however, thought the pope had given the same lands to them. In May 1493 the Spanish-born Alexander VI issued three bulls to settle the dispute.

In the name of Christ, who had no place on this earth that He called his own, this incredibly evil Borgia pope, claiming to own the world, drew a north-south line down the global map of that day, giving everything on the east to Portugal and on the west to Spain. Thus by papal grant, "out of the plenitude of apostolic power," Africa went to Portugal and the Americas to Spain. When Portugal "succeeded in reaching India and Malaya, they secured the confirmation of these discoveries from the Papacy..." There was a condition, of course: "to the intent to bring the inhabitants ... to profess the Catholic Faith."4 It Was largely Central and South America which, as a consequence of this unholy alliance between church and state, had Roman Catholicism forced upon them by the sword and remain Catholic to this day. North America (with the exception of Quebec and Louisiana) was spared the dominance of Roman Catholicism because it was settled largely by Protestants.

Nor have the descendants of Aztecs, Incas, and Mayas forgotten that Roman Catholic priests, backed by the secular sword, gave their ancestors the choice of conversion (which often meant slavery) or death. They made such an outcry when John Paul II in a recent visit to Latin America proposed elevating Junipero Serra (a major eighteenth-century enforcer of Catholicism among the Indians) to sainthood that the pope was forced to hold the ceremony in secret.

Christ said, "My kingdom is not of this world; otherwise my servants would fight." The popes, however, have fought with armies and navies in the name of Christ to build a huge kingdom which is very much of this world. And to amass their earthly empire they have repeatedly engaged in spiritual fornication with emperors, kings, and princes. Claiming to be the bride of Christ, the Roman Catholic Church has been in bed with godless rulers down through history, and these adulterous relationships continue to this day. This spiritual fornication will be documented in detail later.

Revelation 17 (King James Version)
3So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

4And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:

5And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

6And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

7And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.

8The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

9And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.

18And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

sa 14:13 "For you have said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of GOD:

But notice reading further that he has a second part to this malicious agenda:

"I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north"

Now notice further: 2 Thes 2:4 "Who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God"

Notice also this part of John's vision:
Rev 13:7 "And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations."

Revelation 12 (King James Version)
11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

12Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

13And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.

14And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

15And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.

16And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.

17And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Revelation 22
13I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

14Blessed are they that do his COMMANDMENTS, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

(Rome ,VATICAN,CATHOLIC CHURCH WHO MADE THE WORSHIP OFF GOD ON SUNDAY INSTEAD OF SATURDAY,

WHO DO U CHOOSE GOD OR DEVIL IN MAN)!

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