Wondering around the web I recently stumbled upon a blog post about how the early Christians viewed the Sabbath. After I left a brief comment I thought it worth noting here.
As the debate continues about Sunday trading and the continuing calls to relax the Sunday trading laws even further should we, as Christians be bothered? Well I’m not entirely sure we should.
I do of course understand why parts of the Church is bothered. Society’s move away from traditional Christian views on such things is a sign of society’s ever increasing move away from the church however this is one battle that I’m not sure it’s worth fighting.
For the early Christians it is uncertain as to when they celebrated the Sabbath. Some were obviously converts from Judaism so may well have still used Saturday. While the Greeks may have used Sunday or some other day. Today the tradition of using Sunday comes from the fact that our Lord Jesus rose from the dead on a Sunday. The precise day we should use is not recorded, nor do I believe is that the point.
In Mark 2, after Jesus is challenged about picking grain on the Sabbath he replies with a great line.
The Sabbath was put in place by God because it’s good to have a day where we rest from our day to day work and our main focus is God. For our physical and spiritual well being it is important for us to have a day of rest in the Lord. God designed us after all, He should know.
In today’s world it does not seem feasible that everything should shut down for a day. (Maybe this is a sad thing.) And quite apart from the supermarkets being open there are obviously others that must work on a Sunday. Doctors, Police, Vicars etc.
The point of the Sabbath was not a legalism for us to follow. Simple it was God telling us that we need a day in the week to recharge our spiritual and physical batteries. And besides, sometimes I need to pop out for a loaf of bread on a Sunday *smile*
