Jesus is the Sabbath

The symptoms of overwork are easy to spot. You’re irritable and tired at work, worn out and not much good to friends and family when you’re at home. When you’ve worked too many hours, or too many days in a row, it’s obvious you need a break. Smart managers realize that a “break” can actually improve safety, reduce errors and increase productivity.

According to one research organization, the U.S. spends nearly 2,000 hours per year at work. That’s almost 20% more than countries like Canada, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain or Sweden. In many situations, laws and regulations prevent bosses from doing dumb things. But not in the case of issuing time off of work. The amount of vacation days you are legally entitled to in the United States is Zero. Zip. Nada. Nothing. Let’s take a brief overview of God’s take on the idea of overworking. Thankfully, God designed one into His scheme: the Sabbath.

The fourth command that God gave to the Israelites was to “remember the Sabbath and keep it Holy” (Exodus 20:8). However, that was a concept (during the 1st century) that wasn’t always shared among cultures. What is the Sabbath? How is the idea of rest seen throughout scriptures?

For example, the Day of Atonement, which was a time designed by God to make people stop and reflect on what they’ve done, versus what God’s done. God creates life and peace, man (by the influence of the Devil) takes life and causes division. Leviticus 16:29-31 (MSG), “This is standard practice for you, a perpetual ordinance… In the presence of God, you will be made clean of all your sins. It is a Sabbath of all Sabbaths. You must fast. It is a perpetual ordinance.”

Knowing that God created the cosmos in six days and rested on the seventh and knowing that God instituted seven festivals or feasts throughout each year helps us see that this is an important idea to God. Jesus arrives on the scene to reveal that HE is the Sabbath that the world was celebrating unbeknownst to them. Luke 6:5, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

Jesus begins to show how His way is actually like a rest to mankind. In fact, He says in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you. Let Me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” (NLT)

Jesus came to give us rest, to set us free, to bring liberty and life. Romans 2:7-11, “to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life (eternal rest); but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God.”