In Mark 2:27 Christ says “And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” In Luke 4:16,31 “…and as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read.” “…and he was teaching them on the Sabbath.”
But the best proof why Sabbath should be observed lies in the death and resurrection timeline of Jesus Christ. We know from Luke that Christ died on the cross at 3 p.m. on the day of Preparation (i.e. Friday). Then on Sabbath the women rested according to the commandment. And at early dawn at the beginning of the week (Sunday) they went to the tomb but Christ had resurrected.
Now, this is where it gets tricky. Sabbath is just a period between sunset on sixth day (Friday) and sunset on seventh day (Saturday). From Matthew 12:40 we know that Christ would be for three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Something does not add up perhaps?
No.
Let me explain. The trick is to measure a full day and night from dawn to next dawn.
From Luke 23:44-46 there was darkness for three hours when he died. So there is night one. Then darkness dispersed until dusk that Friday. So, we have one night and one day so far.
Then Sabbath ensues. This makes it two nights and two days.
Then we have dusk on Saturday and dawn on Sunday. Three nights and three days.
So here we are Christ was risen on the first day of the next week. And he is solemnly in the grave during Sabbath. Christ’s death and resurrection is symbolical for all of us. From Hosea 6:2 “After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up…” Basically, we are crucified in Christ and dead to the world from Paul. So when we celebrate Sabbath we celebrate our death to the world and living in Christ. When we shall be resurrected we shall be with him forever and ever. But to celebrate Sunday before being resurrected makes no sense. Amen!
Dear FoC, may the Lord bless and may His Spirit guide...
To begin with let me clear up one thing. NEVER in the Torah is it EVER commanded that all Israel (the very people with whom He has this covenant) is to get up out of their place and go to some synagogue, Tabernacle, OR Temple to corporately worship God EXCEPT on the three High Sabbaths (which can fall on any week day).
Exodus 16:2 "... the LORD has given you the Sabbath; therefore He gives you the bread for two days on the sixth day.
Let every man stay in his place;
no man is to leave his place on the seventh day.”
Leviticus 23:3 ‘Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day
is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work
on it; it
is the Sabbath of the LORD
in all your dwellings. (plural and personal)
Now going forward NO ISRAELITE (according to HIS command) EVER goes to a synagogue, Tabernacle, or Temple doe corporate worship on the Sabbath until AFTER the return from the Babylonian Captivity where the Perushim (the Pharisees) had made the Synagogue system a "custom" (a tradition of man).
So we read that Jesus (as Paul) are said to go to the Synagogue as was their Custom or Tradition but NOT as commanded by YHVH. The 1st day (also called the 8th day) which is always the day of new beginnings, liberation, redemption/deliverance, etc. is established for this purpose as the Apostles themselves were instructed by Christ to pass on.
Now then...as for your confusing Matthew 12 (or trying to), in 10 other places Jesus and the Apostles declare His resurrection ON the third day. This one passage in Matthew (repeated in Luke) is about the WHO not the when and it must be interpreted in light of the many other passages regarding the timing.
This is called Inclusive Reckoning.
The
Jewish Encyclopedia, Volume4, page 475 gives us a perfect example
"
A short time in the morning of the seventh day is counted as the seventh day; circumcision takes place on the eighth day, even though, of the first day only a few minutes after the birth of the child, these being counted as one day."
Noah: In Genesis 7:4, God said to Noah, "For
yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth." But in verse 10 we read, "And it came to pass
after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth." The marginal reading expresses it
in the literal Hebrew as "
on theseventh day."
Pity the poor chronologer who tries to figure that one out! When did the flood come?
In seven days?
On the seventh day? Or
after seven days? The answer is simple when the ancient Hebrew
inclusive reckoning is applied. The day on which God spoke to Noah counted as the first day, and the day on which it started raining was the seventh day. Even if God spoke just ten minutes before the end of that first day, it was still counted as one of the seven. And if it started raining at noon on the last day, it was also counted one of theseven.
Circumcision: The same principle is revealed in the circumcision of babies. Genesis17:12 specifies "he that
is eight days old." In our mind to be eight days old = after 8 days(7 or even 7 and a 1/2) does not = 8) But Luke 1:59 reads "
on the eighth day." Yet the same Luke 2:21 uses still another expression: "
When eight days were accomplished." Yet this is ON the 8th day.
Joseph: Further proof for inclusive reckoning is seen in Joseph's dealing with his brethren. Genesis 42:17-19 says "
He put them all together in jail for three days. And Joseph said unto them
on the third day,
This do, and live; ... go ye. ..."
Taxes: Consider also the tax issue between King Rehoboam and the people. 2 Chronicles10:5,12 says, "Come again unto me
after three days. ... So ... all the people came to Rehoboam
on the third day."
See Esther 4
15 Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer,
16 Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and all of you
fast for me, and neither eat nor drink for three days and three nights (some translations say “for three days; day and night)
She then says “I also and my maidens will fast likewise;
and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.
17 So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him.
Now 5
5 Now it came to pass
on the third day that Esther put on her royal apparel, and stood in the inner court of the king's house, over against the king's house: and the king sat upon his royal throne in the royal house, over against the gate of the house.
An Abandoned Egyptian. 1 Samuel 30:12 speaks of an abandoned Egyptian servant who "had not eaten bread nor drunk water for
three days and three nights." The Hebraist usage of this expression is shown by the following verse, where the servant states that his master had left him behind "
three days ago"(v. 13). If the "three days and three nights" were meant to be taken literally, then the servant should have said that he had been left behind
four days before.
Rabbinical Literature. Explicit examples for inclusive day reckoning are also found in Rabbinic literature. Rabbi Eleazar ben Azariah, who lived about A.D. 100,stated: "
A day and a night are an Onah [‘a portion of time’] and the portion of an Onah is as the whole of it."(Jerusalem Talmud,
Shabbath 9, 3; cf. also Babylonian Talmud,
Pesahim 4a).
"It is in this light, that we are to understand Matthew 12:40 (Gerhard Dilling in the
Theological Dictionary of the New Testament)
Proper Hermeneutic demands we must interpret the one passage by the many and not the many by the one. IF a literal 72 hours was meant, then Jesus rose ON the 4th day and all other passages are lies. The phrase is a Hebraism as I have shown above. He was crucified on day one (after the evening time period of the Hebrew day during the afternoon just before the onset of Sabbath) and rose
on day three (before the dawn and without literal 3rd night)…
Paul
