Ever heard that Sunday is the new Sabbath? Or how about the claim that because Sunday is the new Sabbath, one must observe it by going to Church? After all, God has commanded that we “remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy.” (Exodus 20:8) And what if one doesn’t observe the new Sabbath? Then he has sinned against God’s commandment, right?
There’s one major problem with that line of thought. Namely, it doesn’t square with the Word of God. Note the following: “Do not let anyone condemn you in matters of food and drink or of observing festivals, new moons, or Sabbaths.” (Colossians 2:16) Or this one: “You are observing special days, and months, and seasons, and years. I am afraid that my work for you may have been wasted.” (Galatians 4:10-11)
If one is to take God’s Word seriously, then he must say that this idea that Sunday is the new Sabbath – and, therefore, that one must go to Church on Sundays – simply isn’t true. The observation of special days – including Sundays and even including Church holy-days like Christmas and Easter – is not necessary. (Does the Church have the guts to say this? I think she would, if only she’d consider the following…)
Why, then, should one ever go to Church? To answer that question, it helps to ask a slightly different one: what’s necessary in the Christian life? According to Jesus, just one thing is necessary: to sit at his feet, just like Mary Magdalene, and listen to what he says. Mary’s posture is one of faith, and Jesus’ approval is instructive: “There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:42)
* Side note: this emphasis on the faith of Mary Magdalene is not to say that love is not a primary – and necessary – characteristic of the Christian life. Indeed, one can hear Jesus insofar as he lives in obedience to him who says, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” (John 13:34)
If listening to Jesus is all it takes to be a Christian, then why should one ever go to Church? The answer is simple: the point of gathering for Church is in fact to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to what he says. It is in the Church’s gathering that Jesus is truly present (Matthew 18:20), speaking to his people and revealing himself to them in Bread and Wine. (Luke 24:30-31)
The Church is the Body of Christ, and the gathering together of her members is a good and salutary thing wherein God’s Word is spoken to God’s people. It doesn’t have to be on Sunday, but it seems fitting since that’s the day on which Jesus rose from the dead. In other words, Sunday is a fitting day to gather because it was on a Sunday that Jesus rose into the true and eternal Sabbath, thereby opening the way to the Eighth Day and the New Creation. (But again, fitting doesn’t mean necessary.)
Now there’s one more question: what should one do with the third commandment about keeping the Sabbath? Sometimes there’s the idea that one can just pick any day of the week, dedicate it to rest and relaxation, and – bam! – Sabbath observance is covered. That’s not a bad thing, but I think there’s something more substantial to observing the Sabbath.
It’s good to remember that “the law has only a shadow of the good things to come” (Hebrews 10:1) and that “the substance belongs to Christ.” (Colossians 2:17) And what does one see in Christ, the substance of God’s law? He sees that the true Sabbath – commanded by God for all to observe – is found not in mere non-action, but in self-denial and cross-bearing for the sake of love.
The meaning of the true Sabbath can be found in what the Church calls Holy Saturday – the day on which Jesus lay dead before he was raised on Easter Sunday. The true keepers of the Sabbath, then, are those who deny themselves so that they may follow Christ to the cross. And how is this good news? Lest one forget, Jesus Christ is risen (Happy Easter!), and those who die with him are also raised to new life (Happy Easter indeed!). They are raised, that is, into the eternal Sabbath, where true rest and blessedness are found.
All of this is to say that the true Sabbath is observed not in devotion to special days, but in devotion to Jesus Christ. It is observed in following the One who lay dead on Holy Saturday and rose into the eternal Sabbath on Easter Sunday. In such devotion to Christ, God’s commandment to observe the Sabbath is fulfilled in spirit and truth. It is those devoted to this life of discipleship that join Mary Magdalene at Jesus’ feet. And ultimately, they do so with the hope that they will enter Mary’s Easter-morning joy, since she was the first to see the One who had risen into the true and eternal Sabbath. (John 20:11-18)
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