Mark 2 · a question people ask
Is the Sabbath command for Christians today?
This is the chapter the question keeps coming back to. When the Pharisees asked why his disciples did "that which is not lawful on the Sabbath day" (2:24), Jesus answered with what David did (2:25-26), and then said, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath" (2:27), and "Therefore the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath" (2:28). The command itself gives its reason, reaching back to creation: "for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy" (Exodus 20:11). Christians who share the same beliefs read what the command means for them in three main ways, set out in the chapter on Exodus 20 and given here as they are there. All agree that rest is God's gift, and that "the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath" (Mark 2:28).
How Christians read it
Where Christians differ, Favor sets out the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.
The seventh day still
Those who hold this view note that God "blessed the seventh day, and made it holy" (Genesis 2:3) at creation, before there was an Israel, and that the command itself rests on creation (Exodus 20:11). After Jesus' death the women who had followed him "rested according to the commandment" (Luke 23:56). They read "The Sabbath was made for man" (Mark 2:27) as a day given for everyone.
Genesis 2:3 · Exodus 20:11 · Luke 23:55-56 · Mark 2:27
The Lord's day
Those who hold this view keep the pattern of six days' work and one day's rest (Exodus 20:9-10) on the first day of the week, the day the women found Jesus' tomb empty (Mark 16:2, 16:6). They point to the disciples gathering "On the first day of the week" to break bread (Acts 20:7; also 1 Corinthians 16:2), and to John being "in the Spirit on the Lord’s day" (Revelation 1:10), which they take to be the first day.
Exodus 20:9-10 · Mark 16:2 · Mark 16:6 · Acts 20:7 · 1 Corinthians 16:2 · Revelation 1:10
Fulfilled in Christ
Those who hold this view read the Sabbath day among the things Paul calls "a shadow of the things to come; but the body is Christ’s" (Colossians 2:17), so that no one should judge anyone "with respect to a feast day or a new moon or a Sabbath day" (Colossians 2:16). They leave the keeping of days to each believer (Romans 14:5-6), and find the rest itself in Christ: "There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God" (Hebrews 4:9), and "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28).
Colossians 2:16-17 · Romans 14:5-6 · Hebrews 4:9-10 · Matthew 11:28
The verses
““Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. You shall labor six days, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. You shall not do any work in it, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates; for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy.”