Christ and the Sabbath

THE SABBATH NOT A BURDEN

God never intended that the Sabbath should be a burden to any one, but rather a blessing; and he will now make it such to all who honor him in its observance. CAS 21.2

We read of the testimony that the Father bore of Christ when he was here upon the earth (Matthew 3:17): “And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Another translation gives this version of this text: “Lo a voice out of the heavens, saying, This is my Son, the beloved, in whom I did delight.” Read, in connection with that, the prophecy of Isaiah 42:1: “Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth.” This is a prophecy of Christ. So, when Christ came, the testimony was, “This is my Son, the beloved, in whom I did delight.” Now read that familiar scripture in the fifty-eighth chapter of Isaiah, the thirteenth verse: “If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words, then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord.” CAS 21.3

Another translation brings out the idea in a little plainer way, although not changing the sense at all. It says, “And hast cried to the Sabbath, ‘A delight.’” Our version says, “And hast called the Sabbath a delight;” this translation says, “And hast cried to the Sabbath [called out as the Sabbath came], ‘A delight,’” and to the holy of the Lord cried out also, “Honored.” Put these texts together. The prophecy in Isaiah 42:1, speaks of Christ as God’s delight; and when Christ came, the record is in Matthew 3:17, “This is my Son, the Beloved, in whom I did delight.” When the Sabbath comes, we are instructed to call out to it, to cry to it as it comes, “A delight!” Why?-Because He in whom the Lord did delight, the delight of the Lord, the delight of the soul, is in the Sabbath. Jesus Christ is in the Sabbath, and so when the Sabbath comes, we are to call to the holy of Jehovah, “Honored!” It is the holy of Jehovah. And Christ was the holy child Jesus, and it is the holy day because Christ is there in the day. And the Scripture says that if we do call to the Sabbath, “A delight!” and to the holy of Jehovah, “Honored!” “then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord.” Why?-Because the Lord, who is the delight of the soul, is in the Sabbath. CAS 22.1

And so we shall delight ourselves in the Lord on the Lord’s day. That makes the Sabbath a glorious thing. At every step of the way, when it is properly understood, the Sabbath is suggesting Christ and his work for us. At every point it is Christ and his power; it is the creative power pledged for our redemption. It is the sign of Christ to bless, to give rest, to make holy, to sanctify. It is the sign of Christ, the delight of the soul; it is the sign of Christ, the Holy One. It is the sign of Christ, whom we are to honor. As the Sabbath suggests at every point, Christ as Creator, as Redeemer, as Saviour, and as we are to honor the Son even as we honor the Father, therefore it is impossible that one should honor Christ when he knowingly dishonors Christ’s day. For that reason no people can exalt Jesus Christ as the people who honor him in the observance of the day which he has blessed and sanctified. Therefore, there is no way in which we can exalt Jesus Christ from first to last, as Creator, as Redeemer, as Saviour, when we knowingly and willfully trample upon the seventh day, the day which he has blessed and sanctified. CAS 22.2