Exodus 20:8-11 -- Rest on the Sabbath

Exodus 20:8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy: 9 You are to labor six days and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. You must not do any work—you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the foreigner who is within your gates. 11 For the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything in them in six days; then He rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and declared it holy.

This commandment is telling us to rest on the Sabbath day.  We have 6 days in which to do our work and the seventh day should be made holy and set aside for rest.  The Lord set this example when he created the earth in 6 days and rested on the seventh day.

We know for the Jew, the Sabbath rest was taken very seriously.  Anyone who worked on the Sabbath was punished.  Christ, himself worked on the Sabbath in healing those from illnesses.

Luke 13:10 As He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath, 11 a woman was there who had been disabled by a spirit for over 18 years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. 12 When Jesus saw her, He called out to her, “Woman, you are free of your disability.” 13 Then He laid His hands on her, and instantly she was restored and began to glorify God.
14 But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, responded by telling the crowd, “There are six days when work should be done; therefore come on those days and be healed and not on the Sabbath day.”
15 But the Lord answered him and said, “Hypocrites! Doesn’t each one of you untie his ox or donkey from the feeding trough on the Sabbath and lead it to water? 16 Satan has bound this woman, a daughter of Abraham, for 18 years—shouldn’t she be untied from this bondage on the Sabbath day?”
17 When He had said these things, all His adversaries were humiliated, but the whole crowd was rejoicing over all the glorious things He was doing.

Here, the leaders of the synagogue, accused Jesus of breaking the Sabbath.  He responded that the what he did was not a breaking of the Sabbath but a releasing from the bonds of Satan for this woman.

Matthew 12:9 Moving on from there, He entered their synagogue. 10 There He saw a man who had a paralyzed hand. And in order to accuse Him they asked Him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”
11 But He said to them, “What man among you, if he had a sheep that fell into a pit on the Sabbath, wouldn’t take hold of it and lift it out? 12 A man is worth far more than a sheep, so it is lawful to do what is good on the Sabbath.”

Here is another passage telling of how Jesus healed on the Sabbath.  Again the leaders of the synagogue were trying to trap Jesus so they could get rid of him.  Jesus put them in their place again and said it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.

John 5:9 Instantly the man got well, picked up his mat, and started to walk.
Now that day was the Sabbath, 10 so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “This is the Sabbath! It’s illegal for you to pick up your mat.”
11 He replied, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”

Jesus again healed on the Sabbath.  The man who was healed did work on the Sabbath and was attacked by the other Jews for doing so.  He replied he did what Jesus had instructed him to do, with out question.  Jesus did not care it was the Sabbath and one should not pick up a mat.  Jesus was concerned more for the glory of His and His Father's name than for being legalistic about the Sabbath.

It seems for the Jews, the Sabbath rules were being followed so very strictly, they failed to see the true reason for the Sabbath.  A day for the Lord.  They may have visited the synagogue, said a prayer, rested the whole day, but failed to recognize the reason for why they had a Sabbath rest.  This is no different than the countless number of "Christians" who go  to church on Sunday, go through the right motions, then go about their daily lives without even realizing the significance of why they should be at church or singing praises to God in the first place.  It is what they have always known.  It is what their parents taught them, but there is no real conviction.  Just a habit they go through each week.  I pray that all professing Christians could understand the significance of the Sabbath and why we celebrate the Lord and rest from our toils.

I have written on the Sabbath Rest once before.  You can read that post here: A Sabbath Rest.