There seems to be an argument about keeping the Sabbath that goes something like this:
(1) The Sabbath is ultimately about the eschatological rest we enjoy in Christ
(2) We keep the Sabbath spiritually by believing in Jesus
(3) We do not need to treat Sunday as a special day
But imagine where that kind of thinking might end up if it were applied to marriage:
(1) Marriage is ultimately about the relationship between Jesus and the believer
(2) We avoid committing adultery spiritually by being faithful to Christ
(3) We do not need to keep our wedding vows
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8 comments:
Quite.
Nicely put.
I have recently found out that my sister, Emma Huxley knows you from Oxford. If I'd ever actually met you then I'd say something like "small world..."
So I hope you were resting on Saturday. ;-)
Marc,
How about the below as an alternative to your view?
(1) The Sabbath is ultimately about the eschatological rest we enjoy in Christ
(2) We keep the Sabbath spiritually by believing in Jesus
(3) Therefore, we treat all days as special
Applied to marriage:
(1) Marriage is ultimately about the relationship between Jesus and the believer
(2) We avoid committing adultery spiritually by being faithful to Christ
(3) Therefore, we treat all marriages & wedding vows as holy.
Ro Mody.
Hi Ro.
Good to hear from you. Hope all is well?
I can see that we constantly rest in Christ etc. but there is something about special rest on the Sabbath when presumably Adam, and subsequently the people of Israel were to rest from their ordinary work? I don't see why the coming of Christ changes that?
I don't understand how "rest in Christ" leads to "don't keep the Sabbath" by resting from work?
Sure we treat all marriages and wedding vows as holy, but we do so in different ways. I observe my marriage vows differently from how I observe yours?!
Hi Marc,
I am now Assoc. Vicar at Christ Church, Virginia Water, having got my PhD from Aberdeen in NT.
As for the Sabbath question, I think John R's question needs answering. Since in the OT Sabbath= rest for cultic worship, to literally observe the Sabbath today must mean one rests on Fri-Sat and offers animal sacrifices mediated by an Aaronic priesthood at the Jerusalem temple. To respond that Hebrews calls time on animal sacrifices is precisely the point; change of sacrifice means change of calendrical observance (and a change from OT regulations of holy spaces and holy people as well). OT sacrifices, the calendar, the holiness of the temple and priesthood are intimately tied together. If one changes sacrifices then all the rest changes as well.
No doubt you could reply "I agree there is a change of Sabbath; but it is rest for Saturday animal sacrifices to rest for Sunday Christ's resurrection worship." But first, where is the exegetical evidence? Secondly, Sunday commemorates a new day of WORK (resurrection= new creation echoing the 1st day of creation) not a new day of rest. Christ rests on Ascension Day (Thursday) (when he sits down on the Throne of Glory and so "rests" from His work) so logic dictates that Sabbatarians should make Thursday not Sunday into the new Sabbath.
I agree that rest in Christ doesn't mean "don't obey the Sabbath," but I would say that that the nature of Sabbath observance has changed to mean resting in Christ, so that all days are observed special.
Still, we can agree that Sunday=Sabbath is a secondary issue, like infant vs. believer baptism.
Hope you are well.
Ro.
Thanks, Ro.
These thoughts may be of some interest:
http://marclloyd.blogspot.com/2006/09/few-points-on-sabbath.html
I think a good case can be made biblically and theologically for the transfer of the Sabbath from the Saturday Jewish Sabbath to the Christian Sabbath of a Sunday (e.g. Jesus' resurrection and appearances on Sunday, church meeting on first day of the week, Lord's Day, New Creation etc).
I can see that land, calander, cult etc. form a package under the Mosaic covenant. Of course I do not think we are under the Mosaic covenant as Mosaic Israel was but I do think the law teaches us God's character and will and continues to have application to us.
Of course the Sabbath is a creation ordinance not just a Mosaic thing.
The burden of 2000 years of Christian tradition is also strongly in favour of Sunday as Christian Sabbath, is it not? I'd be very cautious about changing my view on that, though of course the church must alwasy be reformed by the Word of God and it is possible that older and wiser Christians than us have been getting it wrong for centuries.
I'm interested in the idea of Christ transforming both time and space. If anyone can point to any reading on Christ's affect on time / calander etc. I'd be interested.
Ascension day as Christ's rest is interesting too. Perhaps one could also argue that Christ rested on Saturday in the tomb. In a way his atoning work is finished on the cross.
And of course in another way Christ continues to work just as his Father is always at work (Jn 5). Christ's atoning work is done just as God's initial work of creation is done, but in another way the work of creation and new creation goes on.
I can see that from one point of view what we do in covenant renewal worship on a Sunday morning is the most important work in the world. But I think I'd want to say it is worship-rest-work just as Old Testament worship was.
Yes, of course I ageree that all this is secondary, but still important and interesting, I think.
Marc,
Your argument on Christ resting in the tomb on the Sabbath (Fri-Sat) would be a strong one...if one were a 7th Day Adventist.
Your argument re. church history & reception of the text would be also strong, but Bauckham disagrees with your reading of church history. His article in his article on the Sabbath in the early church (in Carson ed. "From Sabbath to Lord's Day") argues that Ephraem the Syrian (in the 4th century) may make the 1st reference to 4th commandment=Sunday. Also Luther clearly &, perhaps also, Calvin are not Sabbatarians.
So the church history argument can be used by both sides.
See also Dressler's article on the Sabbath in the OT, in the Carson ed. book, who argues that the Sabbath is not a creation ordinance in Gen 2.
Best Wishes,
Ro
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