Sabbath: A vision of freedom and equality

For the Jewish people, the Sabbath was to be a day of rest.  The Sabbath is to be observed on a Saturday.  After finishing the work of creation, God rested on the Sabbath.  God set a natural order for humanity to observe.  There is a time for work and a time for rest.  When it is not observed, it doesn't affect God but it only affects us physically and spiritually.  

For us today, Sunday (not Saturday) is a Sabbath because it is the Lord's day.  The Lord rose from the dead on that day.  We see the resurrection in light of it being a new creation.  That is why we set aside Sunday to be a holy day.  

 For our Jewish ancestors, the Sabbath is not something optional, but mandatory.  Rest is mandatory.  

The Pharisees observed Christ on a particular Sabbath.  He performed the work of healing of man with dropsy which was ideally forbidden.  The Lord gave freedom to the man.  He is no longer subject or enslaved to his dis-ease. This is a vision of the heavenly kingdom.  

But the Lord taught that the Sabbath was made subject to man, and not man for the Sabbath.  The Pharisees were worried that the Lord is changing doctrine.  

Good works or necessary things can be done on the Sabbath.  If your son or on falls into the cistern, would you not pull them out?  

Essentially, the Sabbath is a vision of freedom.  The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.  In other words, humanity is not enslaved to the sabbath.  The Sabbath is a vision of freedom.  On the Sabbath, master and slave are equal.  On the sabbath, all are equal.  On the sabbath, it is a rest from all subordinate relationships.  On the sabbath, it is a rest from the burden of physical labor; it is rest from anything and everything that binds us in chains. 

The Sabbath is a foreshadowing of what is to come, the eternal Jerusalem, or the heavenly kingdom, or the kingdom of God.  It is a preview of what it means to be truly free, and a preview of equality for all people.  

The sabbath is not just an absence of work, as the Pharisees though.  It is so much more.  It is a vision of freedom and equality.