Thursday 19th January
Read Genesis 2:1-3
“Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.
2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.” (NIVUK)
The ‘rest’ that God into after creation was completed was not a ‘rest’ like many of us do after a long day’s work. It is not a rest of exhaustion or inactivity. It is a rest that follows achievement. God continues to work to uphold His creation in full which the psalmist also recognised (Psalm 104). Later in the Torah and scripture we will have variations on the purpose and place of ‘sabbath’ (the root word for ‘rest’), not least of which in the decalogue (or ten commandments). But here, at the conclusion of the creation narrative, it is best summarised by our Lord Himself.
When challenged by the Pharisees because His disciples were eating grain because they were hungry and in need of sustenance, Jesus rebuked them for misunderstanding the very nature of the Sabbath. “Then he said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.’” (Mark 2:28) (NIVUK). In Jesus’ view, the Sabbath was made for man. It is provided as a blessing and set apart for that purpose. In the words of Genesis ‘God blessed the seventh day and made it holy’ (v3).
If the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath, then for us to fulfil the Sabbath we need to rest in Him. We need to accept that the work He completed for us is indeed all that we need for life and sustenance and hope. In the words of the pastor to the Hebrews: “But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. 14 For by one sacrifice he has made perfect for ever those who are being made holy.” (Hebrews 10:12-14) (NIVUK). Jesus rested after all His labour, He sat down, because His great work was complete – He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy, just as the Lord rested on the sabbath, blessed it, and made it holy…
