The answer
This commandment dates back to the story of creation, where the Bible announced:
And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. (Gen 2: 2-3)
The commandment of Torah then came to commit the Jews to this Godly image …
Later on when Christ came to redeem man had destroyed and to renew his original creation, He declared the true meaning of keeping the Sabbath holy:
And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath. (Mark 2: 27 - 28)
Christ kept on explaining the idea of “the spirit of the commandment” and not its “letter”, i.e. literal meaning. He therefore carried on performing His miracles on the Sabbath, for example:
- Healing the man at the pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-15)
- Healing the man with the withered hand (Mark 3:1-5)
- Allowing the disciples to pluck heads of grain on the Sabbath. (Matt 12:1-8)
Our Lord Jesus Christ mentioned the Ten Commandments in His teachings … but made sure to add to them adding to them:
“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. (Matt 5:17)
- In the commandment “You shall not murder” (Ex 20 :13) He added:
You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment. But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca3 shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool! shall be in danger of hell fire. (Matt 5: 21 - 22)
- In the commandment “You shall not commit adultery33 (Ex 20 :14) He added:
You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery. But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (Matt 5: 27 - 28)
- In the commandment
“You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain. (Ex 20: 7)
He declared
Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, hut shall perform your oaths to the Lord. ’ But / say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne. (Matt 5:33- 34)
It was quite clear that He who gave Moses the commandments in the Old Testament is the same One completing them in the New Testament, liberating them from the Pharisaical literality and was imposed upon them ... What then would make it unacceptable that the Saturday Sabbath, which has become marred by the Fall, Sin and literal application is liberated and transformed to become a New Day at the beginning of the week … as a symbol for a New Life.
It is to be noted also that Saturday (Sabbath) had been linked in the minds of the Jews to the idea of Salvation. We read in Deuteronomy:
And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day (Deut 5:15)
And since this kind of salvation ended by the end of the Old Testament, as the new concept of salvation of the whole world from the slavery of sin towards the glory of the children of God, it was therefore necessary to change the day being honored. St. Paul writes:
For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works”; and again in this place: They shall not enter My rest.” Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, again He designates a certain day, saying in David, “Today,” after such a long time, as it has been said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts.” For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. (Heb 4: 4- 9)
The phrase: “a rest for the people of God” denotes that the Sabbath was completed upon the entry to Canaan; and a new day was needed for a new rest … a spiritual rest and a new Eternal Life. That is why the prophecy foes: This is the day the LORD has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it. Save now, / pray, O LORD; O LORD, / pray, send now prosperity. (Psalm 118: 24 - 25)
Note also that St. Paul refers to the ritual of the Sabbath as a sign and symbol of the old order:
So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. (Col2: 16- 17)
To retain the ritual of Saturday as the Sabbath would mean keeping the Jewish feasts, the new moon and the special food allowed by the Law, forgetting that our Lord Jesus Christ declared to St. Peter:
And a voice came to him, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” But Peter said, “Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean. ” And a voice spoke to him again the second time, “What God has cleansed you must not call common.” (Acts 10: 13 -15)
As for Sunday, its Status is very clear in the New Testament...
- It is the day of our Lord’s Resurrection and our Resurrection as well,
Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week besan to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. (Matt 28:1)
- Sunday is the day Our Lord Jesus Christ appeared to His disciples
And after eisht days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace to you!” (John 20: 26)
- Sunday is The day of Pentecost
When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. (Acts 2: l)
- Sunday is the Day of the Lord, according to St. John, in his Revelation for it is the eighth day after the seventh (Saturday, the Sabbath), which makes of it a clear sign to the Eternal Life (the life after the earthly one) … a New and Glorious Day.
I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet. (Rev 1:10)
We, therefore, assert once more that the Sabbath (Saturday) is part of the Jewish law that could not save man … that we are no longer under that literal law … as it is very clear from what St. Paul tells us in the following verses:
- For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. (Ro 6:14)
- Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. (Gal 3: 24 - 25)
Fr. Daoud Lamei