Sabbath Observance in the New Testament Era

and Jesus’ Sabbath Theology

Alexander Mwita, Ph.D. Candidate
Adventist University of Africa, Nairobi Kenya

Introduction
The New Testament era refers to the time of Jesus’ life from his birth, his

crucifixion and the time of the ministry of the apostles in the apostolic church which

ended ca.100 C.E which also covers the canonical New Testament1 that begins the

Book of Mathew to Revelation. The New Testament worshipers included Jewish

groups such as Pharisees, Sadducees, Scribes, Zealots, and Essenes who observed the

seventh-day Sabbath as a day of worship. Apart from these Jewish groups, Gentiles

who were converted into Christian faith after Jesus' ascension also observed the

seventh-day Sabbath (Act 13:42, 44). The contemporary Sunday observance treaded

into Christian faith which raised controversy between seventh-day Sabbath

observance and Sunday (first day of the week) observance. The Sunday observance is

affirmed by the transference view which declares that the principle of Sabbath-

keeping in the New Testament was transferred to Sunday.2 Addressing this

controversy, this paper aims to analyze the transference view, study Sabbath

observance in the New Testament era and Jesus’ Sabbath theology to explore a

conclusive understanding of Sabbath observance.

1
Kwesi, Ifeoma I., "A University Course's Influence on Students' Perspectives
Regarding Sabbath-keeping as Spiritual Discipline" Doctoral dissertation (Andrews
University, Berrien Springs, Michigan, 2012), 45
2
Samuele Bacchiocchi. The Sabbath in the New Testament: Answers to
Questions. (Berrien Springs Michigan: Biblical Perspective, 2000), 9-13
 Transference View of the Seventh-day Sabbath

The transference view of the Seventh-day Sabbath declares that the principle

of Sabbath-keeping in the New Testament was transferred to Sunday. Bacchiocchi

comments that this position derives from recognition of the existence of a basic

underlying unity between the Old and New Testaments3.

This view was developed by Thomas Aquinas in giving theological

justification to political and ecclesiastical legislations of Sunday observance. Thomas

Aquinas and later John Calvin distinguished the moral law and ceremonial law from

the fourth commandment of which seventh-day Sabbath was split into two, first is the

moral aspect of setting aside a regular time for worship and rest and the second one is

the ceremonial aspect of specification and symbolism of the seventh day. In this case,

the moral aspect of setting aside time for worship is maintained and the ceremonial

part of the seventh-day was abolished by the coming of Christ. The Catechism of the

Council of Trent affirms this view by stating;

The word remember is appropriately made use of at the beginning of the

commandment, to signify that the sanctification of that particular day
belonged to the ceremonial law. Of this, it would seem to have been necessary
to admonish the people, for, although the law of nature commands us to give
religious worship to God, it fixes no particular day for the performance of that
duty4

In recent years the moral part and ceremonial part have been joined together in

ceremonialism5 of which Christ’s work abolished on the cross, therefore all Mosaic

laws including the fourth commandment no longer apply to Christians 6 thus the

seventh day Sabbath is rejected as a binding moral law.

3
Samuele Bacchiocchi, 10
4
Catechism of the Council of Trent, J. Donovan, trans. (New York, 1908), 343
5
Roger T. Beckwith and Wilfrid Stott, This is the Day. The Biblical Doctrine
of the Christian Sunday in its Jewish and Early Church Setting (London, 1978), p. 44.
6
James A. Borland. “Should we keep the Sabbath?” Christian Research
Journal, volume 26, number 2 (2003)
 Another reason for seventh-day Sabbath transference is the adoption of three

perspectives on the Sabbath namely; the Creation Sabbath (Creator-Creation

narrative), the Covenant Sabbath (Israel – Old Testament) and the Atonement Sabbath

(Church – New Testament). This view assumes that the first two perspectives do not

apply to Christian, Möller says;

Jesus Christ is our Atonement Sabbath who has unified us with the new
creation of God. This new creation has broken through with His resurrection
on the first day of the week that also symbolizes the first day of the new
creation. This day is called in the Bible the day of the Lord7

Since the cessation of the seventh-day was in the context of Christ death on

the cross, the resurrection day was supplied and was called the Lord’s day (Rev 1:10) 8

and was later given theological flavor by supplying biblical texts. These texts include;

1 Cor. 16:1-3 where donation for the needy was done on the first day, Acts 20:7-12

where Paul broke the bread on the first day of the week and Revelation 1:10 where the

Lord’s Day is mentioned. Therefore the seventh-day Sabbath was transferred to the

first day of the week (Sunday) which was called the Lord’s day.

Evaluation of transference view

Catechism of the Council of Trent claims that the Sabbath command fixes no

particular day. This idea lacks hermeneutical exegetical justification, for God himself

blessed and hallowed the seventh day in the first week of creation. After almost two

millennia, God repeated the command by referring to the same day of the creation

account, therefore, this view is incorrect. Moreover, the Catechism asserts that the

word remember at the beginning of the commandment, signifies that the sanctification

of that particular day belonged to the ceremonial law. This was also supported by

Thomas Aquinas and John Calvin who argued that the fourth commandment is
7
Möller, F.P. ‘Three perspectives on the Sabbath” (In die Skriflig 53(1),
a2394, 2019), 7. https://doi.org/10.4102/ids. v53i1.2394
8
Ibid, 7
divided into moral and ceremonial aspects of which the ceremonial part refers to the

symbolism of the seventh day. These views lack hermeneutical and exegetical

justification.

The word remember from the immediate context refers to the existence of the

law before Sinai (Exodus 16), and the knowledge of the Sabbath among Israelites.

The claimed ceremonial aspect of the seventh-day Sabbath contradicts Scripture

which explicitly recognizes the fourth commandment as a moral law because of its

origin and its inclusiveness in the Decalogue.

The adoption of three perspectives on the Sabbath namely; the Creation

Sabbath (Creator-Creation narrative), the Covenant Sabbath (Israel – Old Testament)

and the Atonement Sabbath (Church – New Testament) reveals another theological

weakness of transference view presupposition. First, theological understanding

affirms a single everlasting covenant relationship which was realized in the different

periods in history, they are not separate covenants as it is assumed rather related in the

context of the plan of redemption9

Second, the seventh-day Sabbath law given in the Decalogue is the same with

the creation Sabbath for God refers to the creation account as a justification of its

validity. “For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all

that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the

Sabbath day and made it holy.” (Exodus 20:11).

Last, the atonement Sabbath is not the seventh-day Sabbath as it is assumed,

rather a ceremonial Sabbath which pointed to the ministry of Jesus as the high priest

(Lev 23:27-31; Hebrew 9:7-11)

9
Norman R. Gulley. Systematic Theology: God as Trinity. (Berrien Springs,
Michigan: Andrews University Press, 2011), 309
 Since revelation 1:10 mentions ‘The Lord’s day’, the transference view

proponents translate it as Sunday, the resurrection day. This claim cannot be

hermeneutically justified for there is no scripture to the support. Analogy of scripture

assures the seventh-day Sabbath to be the Lord’s Day by the following reasons;

1. Genesis 2:1-3 asserts that God rested, blessed and sanctified the seventh day.

Scripture does not give any clue for the sanctification of the first day

2. Exodus 20:10 calls the seventh day as the day of the Lord (but the seventh day

is the Sabbath of the LORD your God)

3. In Isaiah 58:13 God calls the seventh-day ‘ my holy day”

4. Mark 2:27,28 asserts that Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath

These reasons affirm that the 'Lord's Day' in revelation 1:10 must refer to the

scriptures already established on the same topic. Ignoring this analogy by

supplying another interpretation that has no scriptural basis is incorrect and

cannot be hermeneutically accepted.

Moreover, the biblical texts that have been used to justify Sunday observance are

taken out of context and eisegeted. Let’s evaluate these texts;

1. “Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given orders to the

churches of Galatia, so you must do also: On the first day of the week let

each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that

there be no collections when I come. And when I come, whomever you

approve by your letters I will send to bear your gift to Jerusalem.” (1 Cor

16:1-3)

The context of this text has nothing to do with Sunday observance; rather it

refers to Paul’s initial instruction on donation to Galatian churches. Indorsing Sunday

worship to this text is injustice to biblical exegesis.

 2. “Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to

break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and

continued his message until midnight.” (Act 20:7)

This text has been referred to as the Sunday observance by the apostle Paul.

Breaking of the bread does not refer to the setting apart Sunday as the day of worship

because apostles had a custom of breaking the bread every day (Act 2:46). Moreover,

Jesus broke the bread on Thursday before his arrest (1Cor 11:24, 25), so breaking of

the bread on Sunday does not confirm its sacredness.

Jews and Sabbath-keeping in the New Testament era

There is less debate over the seventh-day Sabbath-keeping among the Jews in

the New Testament for it was a custom from Old Testament experience. 10 Luke 4:16

declares “And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His

custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read.” The text

informs that Jews used to worship in the synagogues on Sabbath, and Jesus used to

join worship services as the text affirms this custom.

Despite Jews’ Sabbath observance, their practice had degenerated from the

wrong concept for their religion had become legalistic ceremonialism. Desmond Ford

said that “In Christ's day, the Sabbath by legalistic perversion had become a burden

rather than a delight and honorable as God intended 11 Because of the legalistic

treatment of the Sabbath, several practices were forbidden12 these include; Bruising of

things which were considered threshing, walking on green grass for that would bruise

or thresh it, catch a flea; for that was a species of hunting, carrying any burden on
10
Eichrodt, W. Theology of the Old Testament, vol. 1 (London: SCM, 1959),
133
11
Desmond Ford. The Forgotten Day. (Newcastle: Desmond ford Publications,
1981), 52
12
Sabbath Manual of the American Tract Society, pp. 214, 215.
Sabbath day, no one should carry water to a thirsty animal, for that was a species of

burden; but he might pour water into a trough, and lead the animal to it, man might

minister to the sick for the purpose of relieving their distress, but not for the purpose

of healing their disease.

These prohibitions led Jews to accused Jesus for his acts of Healing on the

Sabbath day (Math 12:10; Mark 3:2; Luke 6:7, Jesus’ disciples picking of heads of

grain and rubbing on their hands (Math 12:1-2; Mark 2:23-24; Luke 6:1-2), and

allowing a healed man carrying his mat on the Sabbath day (John 5:1-16).

These observations affirm that in the New Testament era, Jews continued to

observe the seventh-day Sabbath, however in a legalistic manner that made it be a

burden of which Jesus' teachings had to correct.

Jesus’ Sabbath theology

The Bible portrays that Jesus was a seventh-day Sabbath keeper. Jesus’

Sabbath observance in the New Testament is descriptive and is revealed in synagogue

attendance, preaching and teaching on Sabbath. Among other texts, Luke 4:16 is

categorical. “And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was

His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read.” His

Sabbath observance was intended to bring back its original intention of making it a

delight and honorable (Isaiah 58: 13).

For him, the need for people was a crucial aspect of Sabbath observance, this

led him to defend his Disciples from Jewish accusation of plucking grains from the

field on the Sabbath day and defended his acts of performing healing miracles on

Sabbath. These events were considered as breaking the Sabbath law for the Jews

accused him of breaking the Sabbath (Math 12:1-2, 12:10; Mark 2:23-24, 3:2; Luke

6:1-2, 6:7; John 5:1-16) What does the Bible say on Jesus-Jews Sabbath controversy?
Did Jesus nullify the Sabbath? Definitely Not. Jews accused Jesus because he did not

keep the Sabbath from their standpoint, for the debate of Sabbath observance among

Jewish leaders and Jesus was not the ‘when’ but the ‘how’.

Jesus’ theology of Sabbath observance focused on the redemption of

humanity, an aspect which was overlooked by the Jews. He was protesting against

what the Jews had made out of the Old Testament Sabbath, against the legalistic

interpretation of the Sabbath and was opposed to the idea of making the Sabbath a

means of salvation. He was appealing to the original spirit of the Sabbath, an

institution meant for the enhancement of human life.

Besides the mentioned points, Jesus approved the seventh-day Sabbath

observance after His accession. Matthew 24:20 says, “But pray that your flight may

not be in winter, or on a Sabbath” The text indicates that Jesus knew that in the last

days, God’s people would be keeping the seventh-day Sabbath for his resurrection

would not nullify the seventh-day Sabbath. Regarding new creation Möller states;

We also celebrate this day as the first day of the beginning of the week of the
new creation in Christ by living every following day of the week an inner life
of rest in the Lord. This rest gives us a great gift, especially if in this rest, we
respond to the divine invitation to come to him. In him, we become our true
selves: loved children of God, able to share that love with others and to realize
that we are beloved lovers.13

In response to Möller’s view, Jesus' post-resurrection appearances in forty

days have neither any teaching on Sunday sacredness nor Sunday observance.

Apologetic question on the Möller’s view would be; why did Jesus keep silence on

the important issue that married his great work of new creation? why did he leave his

disciples in absurdity? Sunday observance as new creation has no biblical

13
Möller, F.P ., 9
hermeneutical justification; its interpretation follows the allegorical method of

Alexandrian school14

The absence of Sunday observance in Jesus’ theology led the early apostolic

Church community which was composed of the Jews and Gentiles who included all

non-Jewish ethnic groups from Europe, Asia, and Africa (Acts 2:8-11) to kept the

seventh-day Sabbath, for they had no other teaching to the contrary either from Jesus

or Apostles.

In the history of the apostolic church, we have several important references to

the seventh-day Sabbath observance as follows;

 “From Perga, they went on to Pisidian Antioch. On the Sabbath, they entered

the synagogue and sat down.” (Act 13:14)

 “The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in

condemning him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every

Sabbath.” (Act 13:27)

 “As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people invited them to

speak further about these things on the next Sabbath. When the congregation

was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed

Paul and Barnabas, who talked with them and urged them to continue in the

14
Walter C. Kaiser Jr. and Moises Silva. Introduction To Biblical Hermeneutics: The
Search for Meaning. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2007), 264.
They state that; the first teacher of Alexandrian school adopted the allegorical method
of Philo a Jewish philosopher who asserted that all scripture must be understood
allegorically viewing that all scripture is expressed in enigmas. The allegorical
method is built on the doctrine of correspondence which claims that for every natural
or earthly or event, there is a corresponding spiritual or heavenly analog that goes
with it. This idea was borrowed from Plato who divides the world into two worlds;
visible and invisible, which asserts that all life and all of secular history is allegorical
and descriptive of spiritual or heavenly things. They conclude that the Bible does not
teach such a doctrine of shadows and images.
 grace of God. On the next Sabbath, almost the whole city gathered to hear the

word of the Lord.” (Act 13:42-44)

 “Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted

by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and

blood. For Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and

is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath."(Act 15:20-21) other texts include

Acts 16:13-14, 17:1-2, 18:4.

Early apostolic church in this regard, observed the seventh-day Sabbath as a

moral law that is binding to all people and in all ages. James writes; For whoever

keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. For

He who said, “Do not commit adultery” also said, “Do not commit murder.” Now if

you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor

of the law.” (Jam 2:10-11)

In this text, James is referring to the Decalogue as a moral law in which the

seventh-day Sabbath is inclusive. Therefore whoever transgresses the seventh-day

Sabbath has equally transgressed by committing adultery. The apostolic church,

therefore, understood that the seventh-day Sabbath was a moral law binding to all

people, to them the Sabbath observance was valid and was kept holy as God intended

for they did not receive any teaching from Jesus to transfer the seventh-day Sabbath to

the first day.

Conclusion

The Seventh-day Sabbath as it was instituted from the creation is maintained

throughout scriptures. This observance is evident in the New Testament era. Despite

the Jews’ legalistic observance, the moral aspect of the seventh-day Sabbath did not
lose its sacredness, which was emphasized by Jesus' teachings and the early apostolic

church which took over in observing it and teaching it as one of the moral laws of the

Decalogue. From the time Israelites to the time of apostolic church after Jesus's

ascension, seventh-day Sabbath stands as a valid moral law that binds all people of all

ages.