In the days of Jesus, the Mosaic Law ruled nearly aspect of people’s lives. One of the central elements of the Mosaic Law was the Sabbath. The Sabbath was considered to be one of the defining characteristics of the covenant relationship between God and Israel.
The Sabbath was so central, it was thought that if all Jews could perfectly keep the Sabbath just one time, the Messiah would immediately arrive.
Lord of the Sabbath
So it was quite shocking to most Jews when Jesus taught His followers to violate some of the Sabbath traditions (but not the Law itself), and even said that “Sabbath was made for man; not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27), and that “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:28; Luke 6:5).
In my Commentary on Luke 6:1-5, I suggest that while the term “Son of Man” does refer primarily to Jesus as the Messiah, Jesus also used the phrase in reference to all humanity which was being renewed in Him. The title “Son of Man” refers to Jesus as the model human; the way humanity was supposed to be.
So whenever you read the term, “Son of Man” you can substitute in the following phrase, “I, and all humanity with me.”
With this in mind, when Jesus says that the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath, He is saying that He, and all humanity with Him, is Lord of the Sabbath. In other words, God did not create the Sabbath to rule over the lives of mankind, but created the Sabbath to serve mankind, to help mankind accomplish our mission and purpose on earth. The Sabbath was to be a blessing, a help, and a support; not a hindrance, a burden, and a legalistic set of laws (See my article on the Sabbath for more).
Lord of the Church
Today, Christians really don’t keep the Sabbath. There are numerous reasons for this, which I will not get in to here.
But I believe that in the place of the legalistic Sabbath traditions, we have substituted in a different burden: church.
Just as Jesus taught that the way Sabbath was being practiced was not the way God intended, so also, I believe that the way church is most often practiced, is not the way God intended.
For most Christians, “church” has come to rule and dominate every aspect of our lives, much as “Sabbath” did for Jews in the time of Jesus. Just as Sabbath was ruling over the Jews in the days of Jesus, church has come to rule over Christians today. Sabbath was Lord over the Jews, and today, Church is Lord over Christians.
But just as Sabbath was created to help the Hebrew people fulfill their mission and purpose in the world, so also, church was created to help followers of Jesus fulfill our mission and purpose in the world.
Understanding this new perspective on church is as difficult today as it was in the days of Jesus for Jews to understand a different perspective on Sabbath, but the basic principles seem to be the same: Church, just like Sabbath, is not supposed to be a bunch of human traditions which have become legalistic laws by which to judge one another’s spiritual maturity.
How do you know if church is ruling you, or you are ruling church? One way: if there is guilt involved, or a feeling of inferiority about your church involvement, church is ruling you.
Church, just like Sabbath, is to serve us in our purpose of restoring joy, dignity, and peace to the earth. Church, like the Sabbath, is a means of helping others, delivering those in bondage, releasing captives, and letting light shine in the darkness. It is an experience of the rule and reign of God in and through our lives in relationship with God and one another.
My understanding of the term “church” has gone through many permutations. I liken it to a journey, a journey which continues. We have gradually come to understand “church” not as a place, a building, an institution, an organization, a system, or a theology, but as those who follow Jesus, those who are His presence in this world.
“Church” can meet together and can act collectively, but we as part of the church are the church wherever we are, even when we’re just standing in line at the grocery store. Although we’re all still messed up, we’re still the church. We’re still Jesus’ hands, feet and arms in this world.
Gathering together, singing and listening to sermons can be activities of the church, but that’s only a small part of church. Church is also all the things you mention.
Church is not upward mobility. It is not trying to hang with people who look like us. It is not a group of people who think correctly. It is not a group of people who have it all-together. It is not a pretty building with comfortable chairs meant to make us comfortable and to attract desirable people to come join us while we all pretend we’re good and o.k.
Church may mean getting messy with other people’s messes. It may mean learning to love the unlovable, not needing to always be right or pretty, or popular, or rich, or going to five Bible studies every week, or hanging with the cool people.
Sam,
I think I agree with you completely on this definition and understanding of church. Great comment!
I like and agree with the content of this article. I wrote a similar article entitled “Sabbath AND Sunday”, which I, for some personal reasons, had to remove for a while. Later this September, I’ll post it again to Faithwriters and Faithreaders. In my view, religious Jews may keep their Sabbath (why not?)and religious Christians may keep their Sunday (why not?). As Jesus was resurrected on a Friday (died on a Tuesday, March 25 /Nisan 15[!]/, 31 CE, /3791 as per the Hebrew calendar/), this “insignificant” fact would rule out any speculations and “postphecy” of some religious groups of our days anyway. Bad news for the Sabbatarians that Jesus, in the NT, never says that we should keep the Sabbath holy. On the contrary.
Died on a Tuesday, resurrected on a Friday!
Now that is a view I have never heard before. How do you handle the verses which says Jesus rose on the first day of the week?
Jeremy, many have not heard that yet, unfortunately. My article “How Could Jesus Spend Three Days and Three Nights in the Tomb?” addresses the whole topic in detail. The article is available at http://www.faithreaders.com, Bible Studies, item 72 at present. In the original Greek version no mention is made of the first day of the week. It rather reads: “But to the one of the sabbaths” (On one of the sabbaths), implying that there were at least two sabbaths that week (an annual one and a weekly one, since the Jews called their annual holidays sabbaths too).
Sandor,
I have a very similar study here on this blog where I argue for a Thursday crucifixion.
Your entire argument hangs on this, and traditionally, the word for “week” is sabbatwn. Do you know of other places that translate the word this way? How would you then translate Luke 18:12, Mark 16:9, and 1 Cor 16:2?
Hi, Jeremy, just waken up (6.00 am is over here) – the problem is with the use of omicron or omega:-) in the word sabbaton. If you use omega, then it is in plural. In the original text, even at Lu 18:12, and Mark 16:9, the omega is used. Some “literal” translations “simplify” the “o” and omit “omega”. A quotation from my article:”Some scholars claim that the word “Sabbath” is often used in Greek to mean a whole calendar week. In their view, which is widely shared, this is the explanation of the use of the plural of the word “Sabbath” in the four Gospels. There is, however, no evidence to contradict the assertion that if the word “Sabbath” is in the plural it could mean at least two “Sabbath” days, one weekly and/or one or more annual ones.”
Sandor,
Interesting view. I have never encountered that particular interpretation before. I need to do some more research on sabbatwn from other sources.
Jeremy, determining the day of the week on which Jesus died is a jigsaw puzzle. Without determining the exact calendar day (March 25 /Nisan 15(!)/, 31 CE), we can just be “shooting in the dark”. We should put together ALL pieces of the puzzle. I appreciate your being engaged in these issues and will, perhaps later today, read your about this topic with great interest.
Sandor,
Here is my link. I use many of the same arguments as you, but went with “week” for sabbatwn. Since it is a blog post, I did not go into as much detail as you did either.
The Case for the Thursday Crucifixion
OK, Jeremy, I of course welcome any comments, especially yours being seriously interested in revealing true facts from the Bible. I’m going to read your (the one you’ve just linked) about Thursday Crucifixion. Actually, I would be very glad to have someone in the US with whom I could co-operate on this issue (and also other biblical issues).
Jeremy, I’ve read your Thursday Crucifixion theory. What I’m missing is the determining of the exact calendar date of Jesus’ death. If we rule out all years that can’t be taken into account as the year when Jesus died, we come to the year 31 CE. Then, we should rule out all such weekdays that can’t be taken into consideration as the day of the week Jesus died on. Then, we come to a Tuesday. Let us take 3 hours for laying Jesus’ body in the tomb. Then, if we add 72 hours, we come to 6pm on a Friday. By the time the women went to the tomb, Jesus had been resurrected. The details incl. the interpretation of the Greek word “opse” is included in my article I referred to. I look forward to your comments with great interest and expectation.
Sandor,
Yes, there are some calendrical problems with my theory. I tried to find an exact date which fits my theory and was not able to, so I will admit that this is a major flaw in my theory.
However, I seem to remember reading that the exact calendar dates were not developed until the Middle Ages sometime, and so I believe a mistake was probably made somewhere in the calculations.
Jeremy, you may be right, of course, concerning the calendrical calculations. Nevertheless, I followed the Hebrew calendar to the extent it was necessary for me to identify – first – the exact date of Jesus’ death, and then that of His birth (and baptism and resurrection, the dates of His death and resurrection being the most important for us, Christians). This reverse chronology sounds strange but there’s no way around it! We have to go back into the past from today! This is of major importance! Otherwise we’ll get lost in the labirynth of time:-)Jeremy, you seem to be on the same wavelength with me. You may well be tasked with supporting the theory I was privileged to reveal. There are interesting things here. Not mystical but interesting. Just fancy, I wrote my book Palm Wednesday first in Hungarian (its Hungarian title is Virágszerda /Viragszerda/)and the front cover showed the palm of my left hand. At that time I didn’t know that I would get my English friend to translate it into English. I mean that when I take a photo of the palm of my left hand I didn’t know that it would be a kind of fun in English – a palm of a hand and the title being Palm Wednesday! In Hungarian there is not any correlation between the title and the front image. My book has two endings reflecting the actual events of my life (spring, 2005). The first ending is followed by an epilogue that gives a diferent conclusion. I was confused about the dates then and I had to use the Hebrew calendar!
Jeremy, please check out the arguments included in my article “How Could Jesus Spend Three days and Three Nights in the Tomb?” again and also consider Leviticus and Deuteronomy mentioned in it, which constitute additional support to my/our theory.
Please help me introduce this theory to the thinking religious public in the US. I’m sure you have the ability and capacity to do this.
Blessings, Sandor
… correction: … when I took a photo … (soory)
sorry:-)
Sandor,
Where do you live? Do you live in Hungary? So you studied and wrote this in Hungarian?
Anyway, my influence here is negligible, at best. I am a tiny molecule of water in an ocean of theological blogs and writers.
I will need to print off your article and consider it again.
Why Is It Nearly Impossible To Break Through The Wall Of Resistance?
by Sandor Balog
8/28/2011 / Bible Studies
If you are a non-US writer who has come up with a new religious doctrine and have insufficient funds to promote your writings, the only chance you have is if someone in the US happens to read about you, is interested in what you wrote and has the potential to mention your writing and/or your name in the US mainstream media. Promoting a book on a religious topic, in particular the one at issue (PW) is, in my view, a useful kind of evangelization. You can write articles so that you publicize yourself and post them to religious websites. You can also try to contact leading media players and recommend your book or actually send them a copy, you can spend some small amounts of money in advertising your book on a limited number of websites, you can do direct mail advertising by contacting thousands of US bookstores and so on. I have done all this but to no avail. I have just been wondering why?
1/ If you are not a US citizen, why do you want to have your book published in the US?
2/ Why do you think your book might be of interest to any US reader, anyway?
3/ If you come up with an old doctrine expressed in a new way, they may say that “it’s old wine in new bottles”. If you come up with a “brand new” doctrine, you are rejected because your doctrine has not yet been proved to be correct.
Who would be interested in a book supporting and trying to gain acceptance for the doctrine based on biblical and historical evidence that Jesus died on March 25, 31 CE, at 15.00 hours, on a TUESDAY and was resurrected by His Father, Yahweh God, at about 18.00 hours, on a FRIDAY, thus fulfilling His own prophecy contained in Mat 12:40, whereas He would be three days and three nights in the tomb? Cui bono? (Good for whom?)
1/ An atheist or Pagan? Surely not! They simply do not want to be given evidence of the fact that Jesus was a real, historical person.
2/ A Muslim? Surely not! They do not accept Jesus as the Son of God. They are rather interested in trying to prove that He was a liar, for example due to not fulfilling His prophecy about three days and three nights (Mat 12:40).
3/ A religious Jew? Surely not! They do not accept Jesus but regard Him as a liar. One of their arguments against Jesus is the very verse above (Mat 12:40).
4/ A Catholic or any member of the other big “traditional” churches? Surely not! They have been teaching for several centuries (Catholics for about seventeen centuries!) the doctrine of the Friday Crucifixion and Sunday Resurrection.
5/ Any modern-day or other Christian denominations accepting the mainstream doctrine of the Friday Crucifixion and Sunday Resurrection? Surely not! They also teach the same untrue doctrine as the Catholic Church does.
6/ Any other Christian denominations accepting the three days and three nights doctrine but failing to determine correctly the day of the week that Jesus died on (being especially reluctant to determine the exact calendar day of His death), including Sabbatarians? Surely not! A Friday Resurrection would deprive them of one of the cornerstones of their faith (of their Old Testament reference to keeping the Sabbath holy).
5/ Jehovah’s Witnesses? Surely not! They accept and teach the Friday Crucifixion and Sunday Resurrection.
6/ Any religion other than Jewish, Muslim or Christian? Surely not! They are only interested in practicing their own religion.
Is a man possessing and intending to spread the true doctrine of Jesus’ death able alone to break through this wall of resistance? His only solution is to wait humbly and pray for God’s help.
By Sandor Balog
Yes, Jeremy, I wrote both my book and my article “How Could Jesus…” first in Hungarian, early 2010. The book PW was published on Amazon on Sept 29 in Paperback format and on Nov 7, 2010 in Kindle Edition. I’ve written since 11 additional articles and published them at Faithwriters and Faithreaders, Bible Studies. As you can see from my English, I’m not a native speaker. My English friend checks an corrects what I publish. The article I quoted above (sorry for taking up so much space) is one of my 12 articles. Unfortunately, the interest in such “religious” topic in Hungary is negligible. I thought if my book would become known in the US, it could then “come back” to Hungary with some promotion back-up. This is why I tried to make it international.:-)
If you, of course only after you’ve persuaded yourself of the correctness of this theory, can try something, perhaps making this issue the subject of a verbal or written public debate asking comments by theologians, I would be grateful for that. I’m pretty sure that a “breakthrough” of this “new” doctrine is inevitable. It has to come. The only question is when.:-
Sandor,
Your English is better than many who speak it here in the US! Ha!
Anyway, I do think that the publishing industry is getting flipped upside down, so if you publish your books on Amazon for the Kindle, you have as good a chance as I do for having people read it. Just keep writing on your blog, and point people from your blog to your book, and who knows what might happen? I will, however, try to study those Greek terms soon, as I am curious.
Thanks, Jeremy, for the compliment and also for encouraging me. I’m confident that – sooner or later – there’ll be a breakthrough, i. e. the response threshold to the (hopefully ultimate) 3 days and 3 nights doctrine will be reached.:-) Interestingly, I’ve received a Twitter email from the C. S. Lewis Society at Oxford University @cslewisU (Oxford) that they follow me. They only follow one person at a time, maybe at random, and they are followed by over 17,000. Well, I don’t know. I’m continuously expanding the circle of people I’m going to follow and many follow back. We’ll see. Await your comments on the article. Take care.