Jesus and the Ten Commandments

REMEMBER THE SABBATH DAY TO KEEP IT HOLY. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.

This is the different Commandment. It has been called the fourth of the "Love the Heavenly Father" commands. It should be viewed as the inclusive commandment. Keeping it, shows respect and love for the Heavenly Father and our fellow men.

The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God is one Lord. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, namely this, You shall love your neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. …

Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the Sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath …? in this place is one greater than the temple.

Jesus asserts His authority to explain proper use of the Sabbath.

The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath.

A concise, statement of the origin, ownership and purpose of the Sabbath.

Is it lawful on the Sabbath days to do good or to do evil? To save life or destroy? What man shall there be … that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the Sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it and lift it out? How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days.

… My Father works hitherto, and I work.

A bit confusing. Did He refer to completing creation before resting? Or does the Father work to keep this old world revolving? Or was it the process of answering prayer, of which Jesus spoke? Do you suppose He hears the prayers that are spoken on the Sabbath. Maybe it was a reference to the Jews idea of activities they considered wrong. The healing Jesus performed was certainly permissible.

… you on the Sabbath day circumcise a man. If a man on the Sabbath day receive circumcision that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry at me because I have made a man whole on the Sabbath day?

You hypocrite, does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall and lead him away to watering? And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?

Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath day? Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit and will not pull him out on the Sabbath day?

But pray that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day.

This prophecy of activities to come almost 40 years later, shows Sabbath continuity to that time. There can only be one Sabbath: because there is no way to honor the Heavenly Father by using another day for that purpose, and I cannot keep the Sabbath if my boss has the right to decide when the rest day will be observed. The day I use for the Sabbath shows who I follow. Constantine followed this concept when he made Sunday the rest day for all who lived in his jurisdiction. Jesus taught "the Sabbath was made for man". No man, Constantine, Church officers, priests or presidents have the right to decide, which day will be set aside as the Father's Sabbath.