Exodus 20:1-17
The text of the Ten Commandments that we heard read a few minutes ago, from the Book of Exodus, included the original and full wording of the Third Commandment as follows:
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.”
So, according to this commandment, the seventh day of the week – that is, Saturday – was to be kept by the nation of Israel as a day of rest. This was no doubt a very welcome regulation for people who, until recently, had been slaves in Egypt, where they very likely had no day of rest in any given week, but were compelled to labor every day.
Also, this commandment was not rooted in something unique to the experience of the Hebrews, as was the case with their annual Passover observance and their other special holidays. The Sabbath regulation seems to have been rooted in something of universal human significance: namely, in the pattern of God’s creation of the heavens and the earth – culminating in his creation of humanity – in six days, after which he rested on the seventh day.
So, every time the Hebrew people now rested, they would recall God’s work of creation, and his rest. And any other people or national group could conceivably derive the same benefit from observing the seventh day as a day of rest. They also are God’s creatures, and should be reminded of the reverence and accountability they owe to their God and creator.
Does this suggest that our practice – and the practice of the vast majority of Christendom – is wrong, and unbiblical? Should we be resting and worshiping on Saturday, rather than on Sunday?
We often speak of the Ten Commandments as embodying the moral law of God, which is binding on all people, as compared to the ceremonial law of the Old Testament, which was binding only on the people of Israel. Is the Third Commandment, as originally written by the finger of God on Mount Sinai, therefore binding on us, even if God’s directives given at other times and places – regarding circumcision, animal sacrifices, and kosher eating – are not?
Well, in comparison to the other commandments of the Decalogue – which require things like respect for God’s name and for the authority of parents, and which prohibit things like murder, adultery, and stealing – the commandment about Sabbath observance is a bit different.
Unlike the other commandments, it did include a ceremonial component, which made it similar to the requirement for, say, circumcision, in being of limited and temporary application, rather than being of universal and enduring application in its literal sense. This is not just my opinion, but it is the teaching of St. Paul.
He writes in his Epistle to the Colossians about the ways in which the saving work of Christ, and the Christian gospel in Word and sacrament, show us, and bring to us, a higher spiritual reality, which the ceremonial requirements of the Old Testament only symbolized. Paul writes:
“In [Christ] you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. … So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.”
St. Paul also writes to the Galatians that,
“When the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”
This means two things. First, it means that Jesus, in the way he lived his life, perfectly fulfilled the requirements of the unchanging moral Law of God. He was a truly righteous man, whose righteousness now covers over our unrighteousness in the forgiveness that is bestowed upon us in the gospel.
And second, it means that Jesus, and his spiritual kingdom in the holy Christian church, are the reality of what the various rituals and ceremonies of the ancient Hebrews symbolized. Jesus, and his spiritual kingdom, are the fulfillment of what the Old Testament rituals and ceremonies were pointing to.
Throughout the centuries of Old Testament history, the Sabbath regulation was not only reminding people of God’s creation of the heavens and the earth in the past, but it was anticipating, and preparing the people for, the new creation that God would bring about for the human race in Christ: in his righteous, justifying life; and in his atoning, forgiving death.
What this means for us, is stated in St. Paul’s Second Epistle to the Corinthians:
“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. … God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them… For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
And in a more specific way, the nation of Israel resting on the seventh day in the Old Testament era always pointed forward to the resting of the Savior of Israel – and of the world – in his tomb, on the seventh day: after his work of redemption on the cross had been completed.
Jesus had not simply passed out or gone into a coma. According to his humanity, he was dead. In the tomb, and in the complete and full “rest” of his death, he had fully ceased from his work of achieving the forgiveness of humanity’s sins.
But then, when Jesus rose again on the first day of the week, he started working again. Now, however, he was not doing the work of achieving forgiveness, but he was doing the work of distributing forgiveness.
As the glorified Savior of the world, and as the immortal Lord of his church, Jesus continues this work without rest, and will continue it – through the means of grace – until this world comes to an end. Martin Luther explains this very well when he writes:
“We treat of the forgiveness of sins in two ways. First, how it is achieved and won. Second, how it is distributed and given to us. Christ has achieved it on the cross, it is true. But he has not distributed or given it on the cross. He has not won it in the supper or sacrament. There he has distributed and given it through the Word, as also in the gospel, where it is preached. He has won it once for all on the cross. But the distribution takes place continuously, before and after, from the beginning to the end of the world.”
Since the time of the apostles, the church has gathered on the first day of the week – the day of Jesus’ resurrection – in order to receive the forgiveness that the risen Lord distributes. The living Christ is working again, after his Sabbath rest in the tomb, and we want him to be working among us: as we gather to hear his holy gospel and to partake of his holy sacrament.
The strictly ceremonial dimension of the Third Commandment does not apply to us anymore. That aspect of the commandment found fulfillment in the death and rest of Christ.
But there is a resting of the soul, through faith in Christ, that is an enduring reality for us. Jesus issues this invitation in St. Matthew’s Gospel:
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
When we come to Jesus in faith – as Jesus comes to us in Word and sacrament, to create and draw that faith – then we do find rest for our souls.
The literal, physical requirements of the Third Commandment may not apply to us anymore. But that doesn’t mean that the Third Commandment has nothing to say to us in the New Testament era. According to the Epistle to the Hebrews,
“There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered [God’s] rest has himself also ceased from his works, as God did from His.”
We know that we are saved from the guilt and power of sin by the grace and mercy of God, and not by our own works. Good works do serve our neighbor, and should be done for the benefit of our neighbor.
But as far as our standing before God and our reconciliation with God are concerned, we are not working but are resting. We are continually resting in Christ, and in the gospel of his free and complete forgiveness, received by a penitent heart through faith alone.
The way in which we experience this spiritual rest, then, is by applying the Third Commandment in the way that the Small Catechism tells us to apply it.
What is the Third Commandment? You shall keep the day of rest holy. What does this mean? We should fear and love God, so that we do not despise preaching and His Word, but regard it as sacred and gladly hear and learn it.
The Augsburg Confession adds this thought:
“Scripture itself has abolished the Sabbath Day. It teaches that since the Gospel has been revealed, all the ceremonies of Moses can be omitted. Yet, because it was necessary to appoint a certain day for the people to know when they ought to come together, …the Church designated the Lord’s Day for this purpose.”
And the Large Catechism adds this thought:
“In the Old Testament, God set apart the seventh day and appointed it for rest. … This commandment was given only to the Jewish people for this outward obedience… This commandment…in its literal sense, does not apply to us Christians. It is entirely an outward matter, like other ordinances of the Old Testament. … The ordinances…have been made matters of freedom through Christ.”
But as the Large Catechism goes on to explain, we do nevertheless observe the Lord’s Day, and other festivals, as special days of rest and worship. It says that
“We…keep holy days…for bodily causes and necessities, which nature teaches and requires. We keep them for the common people, …who have been attending to their work and trade the whole week. …and most especially, on this day of rest…we have the freedom and time to attend divine service. We come together to hear and use God’s Word, and then to praise God, to sing and to pray.”
“However, this keeping of the Sabbath…is not restricted to a certain time, as with the Jewish people. … Instead, this should be done daily. However, since the masses of people cannot attend every day, there must be at least one day in the week set apart. From ancient times Sunday has been appointed for this purpose. So we also should continue to do the same, in order that everything may be done in an orderly way.”
The ancient Hebrews found rest for their bodies on the Saturday Sabbath, every week. You find rest for your souls in the Sunday Divine Service, every week.
Unless you can justify your absence in your conscience – before God and under his scrutiny – you should be here each Sunday: not because I say so, but because God says so. In the Epistle to the Hebrews we are all given this exhortation:
“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some.”
We are drawn together as a caring community of faith, by the Holy Spirit, not for the sake of the day as such, but for the sake of the Word of God; and for the sake of our mutual, continuing need for the Word of God, in sermon, supper, song, and supplication.
When you are not able to be in the Lord’s house, here or elsewhere – perhaps because of bodily weakness or the requirements of your earthly vocation – modern technology allows you to receive some spiritual benefit in your home, through watching the video recordings of our services that are made available to you online each Sunday afternoon.
God’s Word should be in your home, not only as you occasionally watch a YouTube video of the service, but also in daily reading and reflection: of and on the Scriptures themselves; and of and on spiritual materials that unfold and apply the Scriptures to your life of faith. And God’s Word should be in your home, in daily prayers and devotional exercises that are inspired and guided by the Scriptures.
The world, the flesh, and the devil are the unholy trinity of enemies of the Christian.
The corrupted culture of hedonism that surrounds you does not want you to obey the Third Commandment in its New Testament application. You have more important things to do on Sunday morning, for your comfort and pleasure.
The old sinful nature that still clings to you does not want you to obey this commandment. Don’t waste your time listening to that preacher. Follow your own heart.
And the old evil foe, who wants to steal your soul back from God, certainly does not want you to obey it. Did God really say not to forsake the assembling of yourselves together? Or is that just someone’s opinion?
But Jesus says this to you:
“If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
His earliest disciples in Jerusalem, after the Day of Pentecost, set this example for you:
“They continued to hold firmly to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of the bread, and to the prayers.”
And the new godly nature that the Holy Spirit has planted within you, and that the Word and sacrament of Christ sustain within you, sings out with joy, in the words of Psalm 26:
“I will go around Your altar, Lord, that I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving, and declare all Your wonders. Lord, I love the dwelling of Your house, and the place where Your glory remains.”
Safely through another week God hath brought us on our way;
Let us now a blessing seek, waiting in His courts today:
Day, of all the week, the best; emblem of eternal rest!
May Thy Gospel’s joyful sound conquer sinners, comfort saints;
May the fruits of grace abound, bring relief for all complaints.
Thus may all our Sabbaths prove, till we join the Church above. Amen.