Question: Mr. McLemore, Should people today observe the Sabbath? Is Sunday "the Christian Sabbath?"

Answer: Please read Exodus 20:8-11 and Deuteronomy 5:12-15. Sabbath means "rest." The Lord rested from his creative work on the seventh day, and therefore he blessed and consecrated the Sabbath. From Sinai, he commanded that the Israelites do as God did by remembering to rest on the Sabbath. In this way they would be keeping the Sabbath holy. Jesus commented on the purpose of the Sabbath in Mark 2:27: "The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath." In other words, God commanded the Israelites to rest one day per week because it was beneficial. By Jesus’ time, a legalistic view of the Sabbath had developed. Jesus sought to help people recognize that the intent of the command to observe the Sabbath was practical rather than ritualistic. Therefore, the early church did not observe the Sabbath as a religious practice (cf. Colossians 2:16, 17). This also explains why the idea of Sunday as a "Christian Sabbath" has no basis in the New Testament.