“One Sabbath day as Jesus was walking through some grainfields, his disciples broke off heads of grain, rubbed off the husks in their hands, and ate the grain. But some Pharisees said, “Why are you breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath?” Jesus replied, “Haven’t you read in the Scriptures what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He went into the house of God and broke the law by eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the priests can eat. He also gave some to his companions.” And Jesus added, “The Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath.” On another Sabbath day, a man with a deformed right hand was in the synagogue while Jesus was teaching. The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees watched Jesus closely. If he healed the man’s hand, they planned to accuse him of working on the Sabbath. But Jesus knew their thoughts. He said to the man with the deformed hand, “Come and stand in front of everyone.” So the man came forward. Then Jesus said to his critics, “I have a question for you. Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing evil? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?” He looked around at them one by one and then said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” So the man held out his hand, and it was restored! At this, the enemies of Jesus were wild with rage and began to discuss what to do with him.”
Luke 6:1-11 NLT
There is no law in the New Testament commanding the Sabbath. Jesus did ministry on the Sabbath—sometimes intentionally. The Pharisees objected to His “work” being done on the Sabbath, but Jesus was willing to do God’s work and help people, no matter what day it was. He did not come to abolish God’s law but to fulfill it; His life shows the right way to understand and live it. Jesus did not let a human interpretation of God’s rules get in the way of loving people.
God does want you to rest. Though one specific day is not commanded, rest is still needed every day, week, month, and year. Christians have misunderstood these verses to say that we don’t need to rest. That looks a lot more like our burnout culture than the way of Christ. Jesus regularly rested and often withdrew from the crowds to spend time alone with the Father. Christ showed us a rhythm of life that we are meant to follow. God doesn’t want us to run a frantic pace of life where we put our worth in our busy schedule and accomplishments. We are His children—our significance comes from His love. We need a day off to rest, play, and focus on God. Rest helps us remember that our worth is in Christ, not work. No matter when our time off is, we need to be ready to do God’s will, help people, and draw closer to Christ.
Why does God command humans to rest? How can you make sure you do good on your day of rest, without burning out? How are you doing with rest?
