In the Law of Moses, the Sabbath was not merely a law, it was an idea that sat at the center of Israel’s economics - or, at least, the economics of Israel as envisioned by Moses.
Consider:
The command to rest every seventh day was often accompanied by the explanation, “you shall not do any work - you, your son, your daughter,, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your town.” The command to rest had a social aspect; namely, that the Israelites were to provide rest for all those whose labour they benefitted from. (Exodus 20)
In addition to resting every seventh day, there was also to be a sabbath years’ rest. On the sabbath year the Israelites were to let the land rest: they were to let the land lie fallow. This law also comes with an explanation: “so that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave the wild animals may eat.” Then the sabbath day law is re-iterated: “Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest, so that your ox and your donkey may have relief, and your homeborn slave and the resident alien may be refreshed.” Again, The Israelites were to cease work, for the purpose of providing rest for others. The sabbath year extends that rest to the land itself. (Exodus 23)
Finally every seventh seventh year was to be a year of jubilee: the year of jubilee extends the “provision of rest” theme even further. In addition to the provisions of the sabbath year, in the year of jubilee the slaves were to be freed, and the land which had been bought and sold was to be returned to its ancestral family. The year of jubilee was nothing short of a re-distrubution of wealth. It also highlights another aspect of Israel’s economy - they did not own the land on which they lived:
The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine; and with me you are but aliens and tenants. Throughout the land that you hold, you shall provide for the redemption of the land.(Leviticus 25)
The sabbath, then is not just a law that happened into the decalogue, but indeed is central to the economic life of Israel as envisioned in the Law of Moses.
Fast forward to Luke.
In Luke we see Jesus clash with the religious leaders concerning the sabbath several times. The first incident, which is typical, is told to us in Luke 6 in two parts; in the first, Jesus’ disciples are munching on some wheat as they walk through the fields, and in the second part, Jesus heals a man with a withered hand.
Now, growing up, I was told that we were no longer required to obey the sabbath, as christians who were no longer under the law. One of the justifications of this claim (since although we did not have to obey the sabbath commandment, we were still not allowed to covet) was that since Jesus did not regard the sabbath law, we were not obliged to either.
However, given the background discussion above, it should be clear that far from annulling the commandment to keep the sabbath, Jesus was refocusing our attention to its purpose: the provision of rest for the weary.
What do we make of this? Perhaps this: The Sabbath is not primarily something we take, but something we are called to provide.
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