The Divinity of Jesus Christ: The Lord of The Sabbath

Question: Does the New Testament identify Jesus as God?

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Overview

Jesus claimed to be the Almighty God on several occasions by applying to himself the exclusive titles and descriptions of God from the Old Testament. Familiarity with the Old Testament is therefore vital for understanding and recognising Jesus' self-identification as the Almighty God in the New Testament. The decision of Jesus to communicate his identity by using the thought categories and religious texts of Judaism makes perfect sense, for Jesus came as the Jewish Messiah and to minister firstly among the Jewish people. Like Jesus, the New Testament authors also describe Jesus as the Almighty God by applying to Jesus the exclusive titles and descriptions of God from the Old Testament.

The following is an example of Jesus being identified as the Almighty God (in union with the Father and the Holy Spirit) by applying to Jesus a title or description of God from the Old Testament.

The Lord of The Sabbath

The Old Testament states that God rested on the Seventh Day after creating the physical universe in six days. God then designated the Seventh Day as a Sabbath Day - a day of rest and holiness (Genesis 2:2-3). In addition to this, God instructed the Israelites to likewise rest from their physical work on the Seventh Day. This was to reverence God as the Almighty Creator and to highlight their covenant relationship with the God who created all things in six days and then rested on the Seventh Day (Exodus 20:8-11, 31:12-17 & Leviticus 23:1-3). In short, the God of Israel is the Lord of the Sabbath.

Jesus claimed to be the Lord of the Sabbath in the New Testament (Matthew 12:1-8, Mark 2:23-28 & Luke 6:1-5). The Jewish Religious Leaders accused the disciples of Jesus of breaking the Sabbath because they were eating grain from an unharvested field. In response, Jesus cited two examples of violations of the Law (David and the Temple Priests) and stated that in both cases those who broke the Law were innocent. The reason why David and the Temple Priests were innocent despite breaking the Law is because God, as the Lord of the Sabbath, had declared them innocent (God gave the Law and can therefore adjudicate it). So too are the disciples of Jesus innocent because Jesus, as the Lord of the Sabbath, had declared them innocent. In short, Jesus can adjudicate the Law with the authority of God because Jesus is the God of Israel and Lord of the Sabbath (hence Jesus stating that something greater than the Temple is here). On this last point, Jesus says that God lives within the Temple, which shows that the Temple belongs to God and that God is therefore greater than the Temple (Matthew 23:16-22).

The Fulfilment of The Sabbath

The New Testament states that Jesus is the fulfilment or culmination of the Law, meaning that the Law of Moses was given to prepare humanity for the coming of Jesus. This is true of the Sabbath Day. The Sabbath Day was given to the Israelites as a day of rest and holiness. However, true rest and holiness are found in Jesus Christ and his finished work of redemption (a work that the Apostle Paul significantly calls the 'New Creation' - 2 Corinthians 5:14-21). This is why Hebrews describes Jesus as the New Sabbath prepared for the people of God (Hebrews 4:1-16) and why the Apostle Paul states that the Sabbath of the Law of Moses foreshadowed the reality that is found in Christ (Colossians 2:13-17). Humanity enters the New Sabbath of God by receiving the sacrificial death of Jesus for sin in faith and by trusting in Jesus for their eternal rest and holiness. As Jesus states, he is the fulfilment of the Sabbath (the source of rest and holiness) for those who come to him in faith (Exodus 33:14 & Matthew 11:28-30). In summary, Jesus is the Sabbath of the New Covenant and New Creation.

Bible Passages

Genesis 2:2-3

(2) By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. (3) Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

Exodus 20:8-11

(8) Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. (9) Six days you shall labour and do all your work, (10) 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 animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. (11) For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Exodus 31:12-17

(12) Then the LORD said to Moses, (13) “Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the LORD, who makes you holy. (14) Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it is to be put to death; those who do any work on that day must be cut off from their people. (15) For six days work is to be done, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day is to be put to death. (16) The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. (17) It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’”

Exodus 33:14

(14) The LORD replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

Leviticus 23:1-3

(1) The LORD said to Moses, (2) “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘These are my appointed festivals, the appointed festivals of the LORD, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies. (3) There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a sabbath to the LORD.

Matthew 11:28-30

(28) Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. (29) Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (30) For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Matthew 12:1-8

(1) At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. (2) When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”

(3) He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? (4) He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread - which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. (5) Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? (6) I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. (7) If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. (8) For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

Matthew 23:16-22

(16) Woe to you, blind guides! You say, “If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.” (17) You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? (18) You also say, “If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath.” (19) You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? (20) Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. (21) And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. (22) And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.

Mark 2:23-28

(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 he 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.”

Luke 6:1-5

(1) One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and his disciples began to pick some heads of grain, rub them in their hands and eat the kernels. (2) Some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”

(3) Jesus answered them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? (4) He entered the house of God, and taking the consecrated bread, he ate what is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.” (5) Then Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

2 Corinthians 5:14-21

(14) For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. (15) And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. (16) So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. (17) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! (18) All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: (19) that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. (20) We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. (21) God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Colossians 2:13-17

(13) When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, (14) having cancelled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. (15) And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. (16) Therefore 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. (17) These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.

Hebrews 4:1-16

(1) Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. (2) For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed. (3) Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, “So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’” And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world. (4) For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “On the seventh day God rested from all his works.” (5) And again in the passage above he says, “They shall never enter my rest.”

(6) Therefore since it still remains for some to enter that rest, and since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience, (7) God again set a certain day, calling it “Today.” This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”

(8) For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. (9) There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; (10) for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. (11) Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.

(12) For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (13) Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

(14) Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. (15) For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet he did not sin. (16) Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.