INTRODUCTION
A common phrase heard in our churches, especially on the Lord’s Day or leading up to it, is “Happy Sabbath.” But what does this mean? What exactly is the Sabbath and what makes it so happy? And are there ways in which, under glad obedience to Christ, we can order our lives to make the most of this great gift from God to His people?
THE TEXT
10 Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11 And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up. 12 But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.” 13 And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.
14 But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath; and he said to the crowd, “There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day.”
15 The Lord then answered him and said, “Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it? 16 So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound—think of it—for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?” 17 And when He said these things, all His adversaries were put to shame; and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by Him (Lk. 13:10–17 NKJV).
THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it” (Ex. 20:8–11 NKJV, see also Deut. 5:12–15).
WORSHIP
The Lord’s Day is first kept holy by the reverent and joyful worship of God. While Sunday mornings are set apart for this public worship, that worship is meant to flow out into the rest of the day in our homes. Likewise, as this Sabbath is now observed on the first day of the week, the following six days of labor is meant to be performed for the glory of God and out of the rest and refreshment we have in Christ.
“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” (Lev. 23:3).
REST
The Lord’s Day was given for genuine rest—for the family, the servants, and even the animals. This means that we cease from our normal vocations and routines, not treating Sunday afternoons like any other day. Rather than viewing this as a restrictive burden, this call to lay your usual labor and routines aside is meant to be liberating for God’s people, making the Sabbath a true delight.
“If because of the sabbath, you turn your foot from doing your own pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, and honor it, desisting from your own ways, from seeking your own pleasure and speaking your own word, then you will take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth, and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken” (Isa. 58:13–14 NASB95).
CONCLUSION
The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath (Mk. 2:27). The Lord’s Day is not primarily about rules and regulations, do’s and don’ts, but embracing what God has done and is doing for us. The woman with the spirit of infirmity is a daughter of Abraham, a picture of the church. Just as she was “loosed” from her burden and pain on the Sabbath, so are we “loosed” from our burdens and sins in Christ, who is our Sabbath rest (Heb. 4).