Actually, the Sabbath is mentioned more often in the Gospels than in the books of Moses. But it is mentioned in the context of the times. Nobody was questioning the validity of the Sabbath among first-century Jews or even in the early church for that matter, so there was no need for the repetition of direct commands to keep it. People were rather questioning how the Sabbath should be kept, and all the discussion turns on that point. Jesus went out of his way to heal people on the Sabbath. In fact, in the Gospel of Luke , every time Jesus heals someone on his own initiative, it is on the Sabbath. Jesus showed by this that it is not only appropriate to help those in need on the Sabbath, but that the Sabbath is a witness of salvation.
Jesus was faced with a
different
concept of the Sabbath, mainly a Rabbinical one. Rabbinical method
developed as a new thing about that time. It was a religious change
that accommodated to the Roman Empire. The Romans feared any rival to
the emperor. So the Jews focused on the law and set the divinely
appointed interpreter and implementer of the law aside. The Pharisees
used Rabbinical method to apply the law
to all aspects of life without making appeal to the divinely appointed
implementer and interpreter of the law, the Messiah. The Sadducees
limited the law to what it specifically states, thus dispensing with
the need for the Messiah. Using opposite means, both groups appeased
the Romans and supported the status quo of Roman rule. Jesus opposed
that
strongly, not only in regard to the Sabbath, but in regard to
everything else as well. He presented himself as the Messiah and
refused to accommodate to Rome.
In principle, that is still the challenge today. We must accept Christ's authority and reject the authority of Rome.
Related information on our site:
- Sabbath is Not Mentioned in the New Testament
- New Testament Sabbath
- Institution of the Sabbath
- Sabbath Reform
