I remember years ago our Baptist minister asked us not to swim on Sundays. A real narrow Baptist view! This consumer society and the fact that people work stressfully requires relaxation and rest. Rest doesn't always mean the Sabbath rest but rather the opportunity to shop, have fun, go to movies etc. Doing no work and seeking no recreation on the Sabbath is,in our modern age, the Christian's prerogative. However, it should not affect others who want to seek out ways to relax.

Summing up: You live life the way you want to but don't try to impose restrictions on others who do not view the Sabbath in the same way.

The Sabbath, Friday evening through Saturday evening concludes with a havdalah service. During the Sabbath we should not work. This technically means not to light a fire, turn on a light, cook, drive, turn on a television, etc. The Torah is quite clear about these things (the definition of work) and the rabbis explicated it through the Talmud. Modern people have stretched and wiggled and rationalized so that honoring Shabbot is little more than a thoughtful recognition or a day off. Too bad really. We should through our bodies honor God. Small sacrifice.

Be well.

Restrictions on others certainly is not my intent. I'm inwardly focused on my life and what I hold to be truth and how I hold up that truth. Walking the talk.

My concern for others would be in the ways that my actions would cause them to stumble. As in my desire for consumption on Sundays would prevent them from keeping it Holy if it is their intent. I know of many people who are 'forced' to work on Sunday or lose their job. If I as a Christian believe that it should be held Holy then how can I consciously expect of others what I believe to be contrary to God's Word?



My question specifically addresses (or seeks to address) the Sabbath and the commandment that applies to it, not rest in general.

Wow . . . And I thought I struggled with legalism . . .

Wow. Has anyone stopped to consider the makeup of a deity who is concerned with what days you exert yourself? This cat makes the entire universe and cares what day you wash your car on? C'mon people. Crawl out of the hole.

Here's a fun puzzle. The earth has slowed since it was *cough* created, so a day isn't what it once was. You no longer really know what the Sabbath day is. It could be from 2:13pm on Wednesday to 1:45 on Thursday now. Have fun.

If you're offended by this, no worries. I'm going to hell - you won't have to deal with me. And since there IS a god, THANK him - vice versa.

My earlier reply was from an orthodox Jewish point of view. My own is simple: as to how to keep it holy I personally recognize no difference between any day, all days are holy. There are no differences between the sacred and the profane: the entire universe is God and thus, is comprised of Buddha-nature. So, to keep it holy means to keep myself, therefore the universe, holy. How? Cease doing evil, do good, and bring about good for all beings.

The second part of your question is a bit more challenging. First, I do not think it wise or appropriate to assume that others in your workplace or other workplaces are Christian and celebrate Shabbot apart from its original day. Best to take good care of our own house. And through such caring, model holiness.

Be well.

OckhamsRazor,

Please delete your post. If JU wasn't so wonky lately I would do it myself, but I can't.

Your response is not in the spirit of this discuss. I'm specifically asking the question of believers. Obviously you are not one.

Please do not post here or on any of my other articles, past or future. Thank you.

I try to avoid doing anything that would force others to work ona day I consider a day of rest and worship. Therefore, no shopping, movies, eating out etc etc. Exceptions....labor, emergencies etc. Housework is another story. The concept is that you shoudl do all you need to BEFORE the sabbath to avoid working that day. I still cook and do housework even though I could avoid it.

I honestly believe, as a believer that times have change and some of the Commandments need to be interpreted to fit with the way we live today. I know I'll probably stir up a hornets nest with that thinking. But think about it this way, not everyone's idea of the day of rest is the same. Because most people have to work for a living, that day of rest could be any day of the week. IT could be any day they don't have to go out and toil, even if they have to go home and cook dinner so that their family eats, as long as they don't do any thing that is considered work, that's their sabbath. And I do also fully believe that the sabbath can also be a day that any individual chooses to do nothing else except relax and get closer to their God. They find time for themselves and doing what they love. Believe it or not, many christians do go to church then go shopping on the sabbath!

As always QOD you have another great question. The first thing we need to remember is that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

It was instituted for rest and relief for us. The OT Sabbath was given for their sakes. Therefore any action that provides rest, relief and general well being was permissable. Jesus ran into (as you know) all sorts of head ons with the Pharisees who wanted only to heap burdens on the people turning a good day into a day of burden with all sorts of rules attached. They were very legalistic as are some people even today. Jesus walked in on the scene and challenged their "laws." Jesus seems to choose the Sabbath Day purposely for healing services because such actions honored that day.

Having said that, all of the OT points to Christ. In the NT Christ said he was now our rest. "Come to me all who are heavy burdened and I will give you rest." Jesus came to fulfill the law which he did in his death, burial and resurrection. He is declared as fulfillment of scripture.

Paul says through him "we have been released from the law" which once "bound us." (Rom 7:6) and seeking to establish his own rightwousness (Rom 10:3) had only brought Paul into opposition of God rather than into peace with God.

He also says that the law "was our custodian until Christ came." (Gal 3:24). Its temporary function has now been accomplished and Christ is the end or the fulfillment of the law.

Now this is most important. The command to observe the Sabbath is the only one of the 10 commandments NOT even repeated after Pentecost.

Paul said to the Colosse believers who were asking the same question as you....

"Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink or in respect of a holy day or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days; which are a SHADOW of things to come; but the BODY is of Christ." Col 2:16

The OT law was but a shadow of the real thing which was to come...Jesus.

I think we have a good example in the NT Christians. They met on the First Day of the Week (Sunday) to praise and worship God and edify and encourage each other.

As the Sabbath was a celebration of creation so too is Sunday a celebration of the resurrection/redemption of Christ. He is our Sabbath rest. How we celebrate is a personal thing. It's not cut and dried. Today, as Christians, every day should be a Holy Day as he said in all we do we should be giving glory to God. Meeting once a week for a worship service definitely gives glory to God. If you have to work, don't fret about it, make sure you do so giving glory to God that day. If at all possible yes, it would be nice to take Sunday off because that is the normal day to worship God as a family but if not, give the day to God even so.

Some of this may be addressed better in depth in my upcoming blog "It is Finished." I should be able to put that out tomorrow as I'm way too beat tonight. I would recommend reading Romans 7-10 especially 10:4. Gotta go get some rest myself!!

Hello KFC, All,

While I have no wish to argue with you, I must ask what purpose it serves to continue to malign the rabbis. We all have rules. Jesus did not ever suggest that we not follow the rules as far as I know. And I really don't think God changed His mind. The rabbis did not make a burden of Shabbot, in fact they did everything they could to protect it.

As we go through the Sabbath, we light the Shabbot candles and say the brucha, we welcome Shabbot as a bride. We make a nice meal, the table is dressed especially nice. We bake challah. We chant and study. We examine what the Sabbath is, a mark that, in honoring her, honors God.

Sometimes (as I am reform) I may chose to work in some respect (i.e. write, drive, cook, etc.), but most of the time I am very aware that the day is the Sabbath and should be treated with reverence. I try to study the Torah, the weekly parsha, as study it is said is prayer. And at the end of Saturday, we light our Havdallah candle, pass around the spices, and mourn the close of the Sabbath day. These are not burdens any more than attendance at an Easter service is a burden, abstaining is a burden or any other Blue Law is a burden.

Rules and rituals provide a cup within which we can pour our tea. No cup, the tea has no container and is everywhere. Christians often seem to make it sound as though Jesus liberated Jews from the survitude of honoring God by following God's commandments. How strange is that? God's commandments are just what they are and they will not change, cannot be "fulfilled," transformed or morphed into something they are not.

Be well.

When did I do that?

You have to remember I'm a Christian and as one I read the NT and it's all recorded therein. I'm not making anything up here. The burdens put on the people were well known and written about. I have many books written by Abraham Eldersheim. Are you familiar with him?



Rules and laws are made for lawbreakers not for the law abiding. When we love someone we want to obey them, the laws are there but are not needed. We obey out of love, not law. I love my husband. I don't need a law to tell me not to commit adultery. It's the same with God. When we love God, we follow him with our hearts, not law. Consider this from your own OT:

"I hate, I despise your feasts days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. Thoughy you offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them; neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts. Take away from me the noise of your songs for I will not hear the melody of your violins. But let judgment run down as waters and righteousness as a mighty stream." Amos 5:21-24

God looks at the heart. It's all about the internal. It's not about the externals. The Rabbi's of Jesus' day were all about the externals. Jesus was very harsh with them. He called them some not very nice names because he knew they were putting a heavy yoke on the people for gain. It was all about money, power, control. He even said "except your righteousness shall exceed the righeousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven."

How could this be? The Pharisees were considered very righteous. The Pharisess' righteousness was external only. While practice of religion was flawless, they had no love of God. Jesus knew what is in all men. God is the discerner of all hearts.

"Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, mine ears have you opened; burnt offering and sin offering have you not required.......I delight to do your will O my God; yes, your law is within my heart." Ps 40:6-8.



I believe that every letter of every word of the OT is vital and will be fulfilled completely. Jesus said himself...."Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets I am not come to destroy but to "fulfill."

So I'll take his word for it.

Be Well Sodaiho

You say rules are for law breakers, but they are God's rules. He made them to teach us this way and that. One must internalize rules, just as a child learns as he grows, integrating the rules so they are him. This fact does not set aside he rules. You should still follow the rules. I am not a Christian and I see Jesus as a good, if not sometimes misguided man. He was certainly not an enligtened Master and not the incarnation of God, in my opinion, and the opinion of millions of other faithful, religious, and dare I use that Cheristian phrase, spirit filled, people.


Frankly, I see today's evengelicals to be today's Pharisees. They seem to judge everything according to some spiritual litmus test only they have the true, real, access to. You may say, "no, everyone has the same access, the NT" but if this were true, there would be no need for preachers to read from it, teach from it, and, test from it.

I think the QOD has to do with our behavior, however, not our belief. Believe one thing, do another, is hypocracy. How do we keep the Shabbot holy?


Be well.

Thank you for writing this Question of the Day. I'm late getting in and have seen that it is opening good discussion. I haven't read the entire thread and so some this may be repetitious.

These are good questions concerning the Third Commandment of Almighty God. Since this is a direct commandment of God, that tells us right there that we must honor it to its fullness. There is no getting around that we must obey the Commandments. Note the word “blessed” in v. 11. That means God ordained that this day should bring a blessing both to soul and body on those who keep it holy. There are 4 parts to the Commandment that should be considered in knowing what we are commanded. In a nutshell, we are commanded to keep Sundays holy by worshipping God (for me that’s by hearing Holy Mass) and resting from servile work that we may have the time and opportunity for prayer and gaining rest and refreshment for the coming workweek.


QofD POSTS: But it feels like a contradiction – hypocritical – to do these things that require others to work. My consumption causes others to break one of the Big Ten. I feel the need to refrain.

Good for you to recognize this “feeling’, this inner conscience. The 3rd Commandment is like the others in that it is a natural precept which is inescapably written on our hearts. The worship of God and the practice of religion which it comprises are precepts of the Natural Law. Nature itself prompts us to the worship of God and we can easily see this played as demonstrated by the fact that throughout the world people participate in the solemnities of religion and divine worship. So, just as nature requires time to be given to necessary functions of the body, like sleep, repose, etc.; nature also requires that time be devoted to the mind, to refresh itself by the contemplation of God. Although the law of nature prompts us to worship God, it fixes no particular time or day. This Commandment (V.11) does just that. It tells us the time that is set apart by God, the Creator, Himself. Now, that’s what I call AWESOME.

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church 2nd Ed.-------

The Third Commandment recalls the holiness of the Sabbath. “The seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord.” Ex. 31:15. God’s action is the model for human action. So, it doesn’t get any better or more clear than this. If God “rested” and was “refreshed” on the 7th day, we too are to rest and should let others, including animals,rest and be refreshed. So the Sabbath brings everyday work (not extraordinary work like firemen, police, etc.), to a halt and provides a respite. Look at it as a day of protest against servile work and the worship of money. Neh. 13:15-22; 2Chr. 36:21. The Gospel reports many incidents when Jesus was accused of violating the Sabbath law. But He never fails to respect the holiness of this day. St.Mark 1:21; St.John 9:16. He gives this law its authentic and authoritative interpretation: “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” St.Mark 2:27. Christ declares the Sabbath for doing good rather than harm, for saving life rather than killing. St. Mark 3:4. The Sabbath is the day of the Lord of mercies and a day to honor God. St.Matt.12:5; St.John 7:23.


For Christians, the Jewish Sabbath changed to Sunday, the Lord’s Day by the Apostles. They consecrated the first day of the week to the divine worship of God and called it the Lord’s Day. It stands to reason that we cannot easily honor or worship God while occupied by worldly affairs, and so this certain, fixed time is set aside so that worship, prayer,piety and contemplation of God may be performed.

Another way we know the Lord’s Day is Sunday is because it’s the day of Christ’s Resurrection: the new creation. Jesus rose from the dead, “on the first day of the week.” St.Matt. 28:1; St.Mark 16:2; St.Luke 24:1; and St.John 20:1. Going back to Genesis and Creation, as on the day that light first shone on the world, so by the Resurrection of our Redeemer on the same day, and we are called out of darkness into light.


The word “Remember” is at the beginning of the Commandment. This is no small thing for if the faithful comply with it, then all will be disposed to observe with their whole heart the law of God during the rest of the week.

“Keep Holy” prove that the day is sacred to religion and set apart for works of piety and devotion to God. That means to the best of our ability a cessation of bodily labor, worldly affairs and from business. On Sundays,the Lord’s Day, we are to devote our whole being in a special manner to the worship and contemplation of God, in our thoughts, words and actions.


“Thou shalt do no work on it, says the Lord, nor thy son, daughter, servants, beast, nor stranger.....”
These words teach us to avoid whatever (all worldly) may interfere with the worship of God. As far as work is concerned, anything which draws the mind or body away from the contemplation of divine things or alienates us from God should be avoided. So, it’s not difficult to perceive that all servile works are forbidden, not because they are improper in themselves, (they aren’t), but because they withdraw our attention from God which is the great end of the Commandment.

I try to honor the Commandment to its fullest making Sunday a day of worship and rest. I even cook during the week meals leftover for Sunday. I do no house work whatsoever nor do I shop, even for groceries. After Mass, I read, relax, take a nap, spend time talking and visiting with my family, friends, and relatives. I refrain from reading and posting on JU in matters of controversy. The same with TV programs.

As Christians, we were never given the Sabbath. It was given to the Jews. In the NT the first day of the week was as the OT Sabbath was to the Jews. It speaks of the New Covenant that Jeremiah spoke of:

"Behold the days come says the Lord that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in that day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt (Mosaic) which my covenant they broke although I was a husband to them says the Lord." Chap 31:31-34

The prediction and promise of a new covenant here to the Jews proves the inadequacy and temporary nature of the Mosaic Law. A Jewish writer to the NT put it this way: Hebrews 8:6-10

"But now has he obtained a more excellent ministry by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant which was established upon better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless then should no place have been sought for the second. For finding fault with them he said, Behold the days come says the Lord when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.......For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days says the Lord I will put my laws into their mind; and write them in their hearts and I will be to them a God and they shall be to me a people."

While the first covenant "atoned" for the peoples sins which means to "cover" Jesus came and "took away" our sins. It was a better covenant. One that the OT consistently pointed starting from Genesis 3:15.

The covenant Christ mediates is a better covenant since it is enacted on better promises. The new covenant is contrasted with the first, which is the Mosaic Law. Christ's blood is the basis of the new covenant and pays for the sins of all. Christians are ministers of it and it will yet have an aspect of its fulfillment in relation to Israel and Juda in the future as predicted in Jeremiah 31:31-34.

Peace/Shalom