worshipping on the sabbath

[HelenaZF]

When Christians start to explore their Jewish roots, there is often confusion about the sabbath. Should we worship on the sabbath AND on Sunday? Rest on the sabbath? Exchange Sunday worship for sabbath worship? What do the scriptures and the church fathers say to us?



This excerpt from "Is it Wrong to worship on Sunday?" from the messianic website <URL url="http://www.totheends.com/questions4.htm#Sunday">To the Ends of the Earth

gives us a reasonable interpretation of what Yeshua intended for us:

Yeshua called himself the "Lord of the Sabbath" (Matt. 12:8). This was in a debate with the Pharisees about what is permitted and what is not on the Sabbath. By claiming to be the "Lord of the Sabbath" and "greater than the Temple" (vs. 6), Jesus boldly proclaimed himself to be God (since God is the one who established the Sabbath), and therefore that he, and not the Pharisees, has authority to determine what is and what is not acceptable on the Sabbath.



The early Jewish believers in Jesus continued to observe the Sabbath (resting from Friday at sunset to Saturday at sunset), and attend the synagogue on that day, but also held special believers' ("Christian") meetings on other days as well (Acts 2:46). Among the early Gentile believers, some followed this practice, with resting on the Sabbath, but others did not observe the Sabbath, and worshiped on whatever day or time was convenient to them (Rom. 14:5).



The reason they were able to do this, with Paul's approval, was that the Sabbath was never considered by the rabbis to be a requirement for Gentiles, but only for the Jews. Therefore the rabbis did not include Sabbath observance in the Laws of Noah (the laws that the rabbis believed God had given for Gentiles [see <URL url="http://www.totheends.com/questions.htm#Abraham1">What did Abraham know of the Law of God?]). This same line of thinking was followed by the early Jewish believers in Jesus. They omitted the Sabbath from the requirements for Gentile believers in Acts 15:20,29. This is part of the freedom that Gentile believers have in the Messiah. We can choose to rest and/or worship on the Sabbath, or on any other day. It's completely up to us.

Sabbath-keeping can be a legalistic trap that is easy to get caught up in. Remember, we are not trying to become Jewish....we are trying to become understanders and appropriators of all that is ours because of our Jewish origins.