The answer to the question presented may at first seem obvious. However, upon closer scrutiny, a problem becomes apparent. There is a difference between how Jesus worshipped God and how the modern Christian church worships God. These differences in practice should cause the contemporary church to examine its methods and beliefs. If Christianity centers it faith and practice upon the teachings of Jesus Christ, should it not resemble its leader? Moreover, a consideration of the religion of the Jewish carpenter from Nazareth confronts us with a most unsettling question: Is Jesus Christ the founder of Christianity? If He isn’t, then who is? In an effort to direct the inquirer, this paper addresses five differences between the religious practices of Jesus of Nazareth and the modern church. The reader should be prepared to examine his “Christianity” in light of the principles and practices of the Jewish rabbi called Jesus.
The first difference is that while the contemporary church worships God on Sunday, Jesus went to the synagogue on the Sabbath. Luke 4:16 says: And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up; and he went to the synagogue, as his custom was, on the Sabbath day. And he stood up to read…. (Emphasis supplied) (RSV) In fact, many if not most of the miracles performed by Jesus were done on the Sabbath. In comparison, the modern day church believes that the day of worship was changed from the Sabbath to Sunday. One online Christian resource explains:
Still others Christians would say that we no longer observe the Jewish sabbath, but worship instead on Sunday, a distinctively Christian holy day. They argue that the early church very soon began meeting on Sunday in honor of the resurrection of Jesus, which took place on the first day of the week.
It is not the purpose of this work to explore the reason for the change or the timing of the change as there are many resources available for those who seek to know the historical truth. It is sufficient to state that according to Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, the day of worship began to change around A.D. 115. The point is that Jesus did not worship on the first day of the week; He worshipped God on the Sabbath.
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Tsade
1 day ago
1 comment:
I may be wrong in this, but my understanding is that the Sabbath was set aside by the Creator for a day of rest for his creations. God knew that humans would need at least one day off a week to continue to be productive. It is in this day that we are to give thanks for all that the Lord has done.
In all honestly are we not commanded to be in constant fellowship and worship with the Lord instead of just one day a week? The true problem with the church is that we are a ONE day a week church and when we leave on Sunday that's the end of it until the next week.
Is the Sabbath supposed to be adhered to the way they did in the Old Testament? In the Old Testament they were so strick they criticized Christ for healing and his disciples for eating food from the fields.
What would you say to medical professionals who work on Saturday's helping those are sick? Are we breaking the Sabbath?
According to Christ it is okay to help others on the Sabbath.
My view of the Sabbath,or day of rest, is that we all need ONE day a week off to rest and give thanks to God for all that's he provided. For some of us Saturday is the day and for others it may be a Tuesday.
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