The Sabbath
Shouldn’t we celebrate and put our Sabbath back to Saturday?
Although the Sabbath-keeping Commandment of
Exodus 20:8-11 is associated with the universally-applicable events of Creation in
Exodus 20:11, in context it is also associated with a particular event in the history of a particular people, namely, the Sabbath day when God liberated the Jewish people from their slavery in Egypt. (See
Exodus 20:2) Its association with that particular event in the history of that particular people is explicitly made in
Deuteronomy 5:15.
Because of the Commandment’s explicit association in the Old Testament with a particular event in the history of a particular people, you should not assume that “Man,” in general, “needs to keep it.” At most, you can only say that, under God’s Old Covenant with the Jewish people, the Jewish people need to keep it.
I know, arguments from silence are not very convincing but I think it worth noting that, in all the writings of the New Testament, neither Jesus Christ nor any of his apostles explicitly commanded their disciples to keep holy the Sabbath nor did they condemn Sabbath-breakers. And Jesus certainly had that the perfect opportunity to do it when he listed which commandments needed to be kept and he conspicuously omitted that one. (See
Matthew 19:18-19;
Mark 10:19;
Luke 18:20) In
Colossians 2:16-17, St Paul explicitly describes “a Sabbath” but only as a thing that is “a shadow,” i.e., as one of the devotional practices (of the Old Covenant), along with circumcising the flesh, not tasting certain foods and drinks, keeping the new moons and other appointed festivals, that are not part of the New Covenant and are not binding on Christians. Thus, St Paul elsewhere said, “One man esteems one day as better than another, while another man esteems all days alike. Let every one be fully convinced in his own mind.” (
Romans 14:5)
I suggest you read the section on “The Third Commandment” in the
Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 2168-2195; begin
here.
