Shabbat is a Party: A Lesson Learned at the Western Wall

              “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” Exodus 20:8

'

What words come to your mind when you hear the word “Sabbath”? If you had asked me that question a short time ago, my word list regarding Sabbath would have looked like this: rest, church, Jewish, old-fashioned, restrictive. This list shows I wasn’t completely picking up what the Lord was putting down in His Word about Sabbath. Thankfully, He sent me on a field trip to Jerusalem to clarify things a bit…

              Sundown was approaching on the eve of Shabbat (Hebrew for Sabbath) as our group filed through security to enter the Western Wall Plaza. The Western Wall is the only fragment of the Great Temple to survive Roman destruction and the Jewish people believe the Divine Presence has never departed from the site; therefore, it is the most sacred structure to them. I had mentally prepared myself to participate in a time of deep and somber religious exercise. What I next encountered was certainly exercise, but not the kind I imagined for such an occasion in such a place…Dancing, singing, clapping, laughter. Children running, greetings shouted, hands joined. Families, friends, and strangers united in prayer and worship. HAPPINESS! The Shabbat meal brought an abundance of food, wine, more singing, and more JOY! Joy! Of course! That’s what I was missing. It makes complete and total sense…

The purpose of Shabbat is twofold – rest and remembrance. First, God did not create our bodies to work non-stop. Shabbat is a time to cease from labor. God made us in His image and then rested on the seventh day of creation as an example for us to follow (Genesis 2:3). Second, God consistently saved and saves His people from bondage. He provided Shabbat as a gift so we would remember and not forget what He has done and who we are because of that. Rest from work and the remembrance of God’s grace and mercy are two good reasons for a party! How could I lose my joy over this command?!

Well, my dear American woman, I do not need to tell you what our culture thinks about Sabbath. You know the struggle is real. There is an ever-present pressure to put in overtime for whatever your job title may be. Conversely, the action of rest in our culture has become warped by selfish entitlement at the heart level. The practice of a regular Sabbath in our lives doesn’t seem particularly practical considering the demands placed on us. But, this is nothing new...

Back in Jesus’ day, the Jews recognized the outside pressure to capitulate to the world’s demands as well. Their response was to create over 1,000 prohibitions to keep the Sabbath holy. This certainly sounds stressful, not to mention joy-stealing! However, I can relate. I want to know the best way to keep the Sabbath holy. What should I do? What shouldn’t I do? What should my response be? Part of my joy is lost here. I get so caught up in trying to figure out how to obey the letter of the law that I miss the purpose of the law. The Word sets our focus on Christ…

Colossians 2:16-17 says, “So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality” (NLT). Christ has come to be our rest! “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). If you can make that statement, then Jesus lives in you to move you to rest and remembrance. Everything Jesus did on the Sabbath was meant to draw people toward himself and glorify his father, even if it went against the practice of his culture. This is our example…

 Jesus healed, cast out demons, ate and drank with friends, read the Scriptures, built relationships, taught, served, and loved his father all on the Sabbath. Thank God we don’t need to depend on rules and prohibitions to guide us into the correct observance of Sabbath. We have been given this gift by the Father, freed by Christ, and enabled through the Spirit to joyfully keep the Sabbath holy. Rest and remembrance is still relevant for us. It will eternally be relevant. It’s exciting to know that the Lord of the Sabbath is currently preparing a place for us to enter our final rest. It’s going to be a party and we are privileged to get a little taste of it as often as we celebrate the Sabbath.