Remember The Sabbath Day

D. Isaiah 56:1,2 “This is what the LORD says: “Maintain justice and do what is right, for my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed. ________________is the man who does this, the man who holds it fast, who ____________ the ____________________ without desecrating it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.” (VS 6: “And foreigners who bind themselves to the LORD to serve him, to love the name of the LORD, and to worship him, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant— these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer.”

Section Summary: The above passages are only a few of many in which God indicates the vital importance of keeping the Sabbath day holy. It is NOT the DAY that is reverenced but GOD in the day. While it is true that God is omnipresent and “in” every day, His blessing and setting aside the seventh day was both specific and purposeful. Through THIS DAY our RELATIONSHIP with Him, we will be nurtured and strengthened.

VIII. What does Jesus say about the Law and the Sabbath?

A. Matthew 5:17-19 “17 “Do not think that I have come to _____________ the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to ____________ them. 18 I tell you the truth, until _______________ and _______________ disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the ____________ until everything is accomplished. 19 Anyone who ______________ one of the least of these _____________________ and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

1. Jesus makes it clear here that He did NOT come to do away with the Law of God but to FULFILL it. In fact, He warns us not to break even one of the least of them or to teach that they are no longer applicable to our lives.

B. Mark 2:27,28 “27 Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for __________ not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is ________________ even of the Sabbath.””

1. Here Jesus explains that the Sabbath was made FOR man—it was to be a blessing and not a burden. (the Pharisees and Teachers of the law had attached many MANMADE rules to the keeping of the Sabbath.)

2. The word from which “man” in this verse is translated is the Greek word, “anthropos” which means literally, “mankind or human kind.” If the Sabbath was made for the literal Jews only, then surely Jesus would have said, “the Sabbath was made for the ‘Jews’ and not the ‘Jews’ for the Sabbath.”

C. Matthew 12:1-8 “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 _________________ on the Sabbath.” 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 on the Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the day and yet are innocent? 6 I tell you that one 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 _____________ of the Sabbath.”