Worship & law
Lord of the Sabbath: what the disputes were about
The Gospels record several arguments between Jesus and the Pharisees about the Sabbath. Was Jesus breaking the Sabbath, or arguing about how to keep it?
1The question
When Jesus argued about the Sabbath, was he breaking it or explaining it?
2What Christians believe
Christians answer that Jesus showed his authority over the Sabbath. He healed on it, defended his disciples for picking grain, and called himself “Lord also of the sabbath” (Mark 2:28).
After the resurrection, Christians began to gather on “the first day of the week” (Acts 20:7), the day Jesus rose. Paul tells believers not to let anyone judge them “in respect of … the sabbath days” (Colossians 2:16). On this view the Sabbath pointed to the rest Christ gives.
3What the texts say
His custom
And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.
The disputes
And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful?
And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:
Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.
And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace.
Jesus expects the Sabbath to continue
But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
The first day of the week
And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.
4What scholars say
E. P. Sanders (Jesus and Judaism, 1985) argues that Jesus’s Sabbath disputes are the kind of debate Jewish teachers had among themselves about what counted as work. The Mishnah later lists thirty-nine kinds of work forbidden on the Sabbath, and Jewish law already held that saving a life overrides the Sabbath.
The move to Sunday worship took time. Ignatius of Antioch, writing around 110, contrasts keeping the Sabbath with living by “the Lord’s day” (Letter to the Magnesians 9).
Scholars agree that Jesus went to the synagogue on the Sabbath and that the Gospels show him arguing about how to keep it, not telling his followers to stop.
5The Islamic perspective
The Qur’an says the Sabbath was appointed for the Children of Israel, and it gives Muslims the Friday congregational prayer:
The Sabbath was appointed only for those who differed concerning it, and lo! thy Lord will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection concerning that wherein they used to differ.
O ye who believe! When the call is heard for the prayer of the day of congregation, haste unto remembrance of Allah and leave your trading. That is better for you if ye did but know.
Muslims do not keep the Jewish Sabbath; the Qur’an gives each community its own law (5:48). What Muslims see in the Gospels is a prophet who faithfully kept the law given to his people, including its day of rest, while teaching mercy within it.
6Objections and responses
“Calling himself ‘Lord of the sabbath’ is a claim to divine authority.”
Response: The verse before says “The sabbath was made for man” (Mark 2:27). In Aramaic “son of man” can simply mean a human being, so many readers take the saying to mean that the Sabbath serves people. Even read as a title, it claims authority to interpret the Sabbath, not to abolish it.
“Christians keep Sunday because Jesus rose on that day.”
Response: Jesus gave no command to move the day. He even told his followers to pray that their flight from Jerusalem would not be “on the sabbath day” (Matthew 24:20), which assumes they would still be keeping it.
7Conclusion
Both sides agree that Jesus kept the Sabbath by custom and argued about how it should be kept. Christians see in his words authority over the Sabbath and gather on the day of resurrection. Muslims see a prophet who kept God’s law for his people and taught mercy within it.
Read Mark 2:23–3:6 and Luke 4:16 together, and ask whether Jesus is breaking the Sabbath or explaining it.
8Watch and read more
Watch
Video coming soon. [Add your YouTube video link for this topic here.]
Related topics
Sources
- Bible, King James Version:Luke 4:16Mark 2:24Mark 2:27Mark 2:28Mark 3:4Matthew 24:20Acts 20:7
- Qur’an, translated by M. Pickthall:Qur’an 16:124Qur’an 62:9
- E. P. Sanders, Jesus and Judaism (1985)
- Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the Magnesians