Verse for Meditation
Then He said to them, "The Sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the Sabbath; so the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath". (Mark 2:27,28)
Sermon
According to the creation story stated in the book of Genesis, God took rest at the seventh day after He created the whole world in diversity and beauty. Thus, He sanctified and blessed the Sabbath day. Eventually, the day of Sabbath was institutionalised and this day became the rest and worship day for Jews. It can be noted that, the explanation of creation is coming to an end by saying how God blessed and hallowed the seventh day (Gen.2:3). There are not much accounts about Sabbath in the first book. But in connection with the great flood during the time of Noah, the duration of seven days has been mentioned in several places (Gen. 7:4,10, 8:10,12). The law regarding Sabbath has not been given before Ex. 16:21-30. God has supplied Manna to the people of Israel in the wilderness of Sin before they arrived the mountain of Sinai. Double portion of manna was given on the sixth day as they were not supposed to go for collecting manna on the seventh day. Thus, they were taught to practice the seventh day as Sabbath (Ex-16:25). Then, Ten Commandments were also given at the mount of Sinai (Ex-20:1-17). Therefore, through the fourth law, the decree was given to practice the Seventh day as Sabbath (Exo-20:8). The reason was also given to keep this day holy: "for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and consecrated it". Consequently, the law of Sabbath was pointed out in several places in the Old Testament. Whenever people broke the Sabbath, prophets had confessed their sin of breaking this law to the Lord (Is-56:2-4, 58:13; Jer.17:21-27, Eze-20:12-24). Death sentence was awarded to those who violate Sabbath (Num-15:32-36). People were not even supposed to cook food on the day of Sabbath. During the time of Nehemiah, he had sternly warned those people who worked on the Sabbath (Neh-13:15-22).
But, when Sabbath became a meaningless ritual among the Jews, Jesus gave revolutionary interpretations on Sabbath - "Sabbath is for man; but man is not for Sabbath" (Matt-12:1-14, Mark-2:23-36, Lu-6:1-11, John-5:1-18). Sooner or later, since the day of resurrection of Jesus, this practice was in vogue, being the first day of the week, Christians started getting together for worship on this day. Thus, Sunday was eventually called as the Lord's day. St. Paul also taught the Church to bring the collection for the saints on the first day of every week (1 Cori-16:1, 2). This proved the observance of worship practice on the first day of every week since the first Century.
1. Creation Ps. 8
As mentioned above, Sabbath represents the fulfillment of the creation work of God. Let us thank God for the amazing Creation of heaven and earth carried out by Him. As Psalmist says: "O Lord, our sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!" (Ps.8:1-9). Let us put our trust on His wonderful grace by remembering that how he would be enough for us, if He takes care of the birds in the sky, and lillies of the field (Matt-6:25-34). God created mankind a little lower than Him and crowned them with glory and honour. He has given them dominion over the work of His hands and He has put all things under their feet. So Sabbath, one of the creations of God, is also seen as part of man's life. Because, rest is needed for the restless. However, when Sabbath became a mere religious ritual, Christ had criticized its religiosity.
2. Sabbath is for Mankind Mark 2:23-28
As mentioned above, when Jewish religion saw Sabbath as a mere religious ritual, Christ taught the very purpose of Sabbath: "The Sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the Sabbath; so the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath" (Mark 2:27,28). Therefore, Jesus intentionally healed the sick on the Sabbath day and He declared: the Son of man is Lord even for the Sabbath (Matt-12:1-14, Mark-2:23-3:6, Luke-6:1-11, John-5:1-18). Here, the New Testament that gave priority over love and mercy to human being speaks that of Sabbath is not greater than humanity. When we come together for worship, our Fellowships and Worships should lead us on to a service order which would manifest thus focus in the first place for mercy, tolerance and mutual love.
3. Sabbath the Eternity Heb-4:2-13, Is.65:17-24
In the fullness of Creation work of God, an eternal Sabbath is inevitably seen in which He will wipe out every tear from the face of His people, and there will be no more death, crying and pain. The first things will be passed away, and the one who is seated on the throne says, "See I am making all things new" (Is-65:17-25, Rev-21:1-5). This is the hope of believers. This is the Sabbath about which the scripture says: "a Sabbath rest still reminds for the people of God" (Heb-4:9). Every Sabbath day reminds us about this eternal Sabbath, a real rest for His people!
Prayer
God of creation, who after crating us with glory and honour, rested from all works, thus blessing and sanctifying the Sabbath. We pray that, by observing Sabbath, instituted as an opportunity for us, to remember the goodness of Your creation, and honour You, as the Creator, who dwells with Your people, so that the whole creation be filled with peace and holiness, that we may experience a 'New heaven and New earth'. Through Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever more. Amen.