The Sabbath in the Apostolic Age
By William Covert
The First Sabbath After the Crucifixion—How It Was Observed—Gentile Converts—How They Kept the Sabbath The disciples of Christ after His crucifixion early showed their attitude toward the Sabbath question. It was on this wise: Joseph, a councilor of the Jews, when Christ expired on the cross, "went unto Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. And he took it down, and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a sepulcher that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid. And that day was the preparation, and the Sabbath drew on. And the women also, which came with Him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulcher, and how His body was laid. And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment. Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulcher, bringing the spices which they had prepared." Luke 23:52-56; 24:1. DEFERRED EMBALMING THE LORD'S BODY
This is a most remarkable account of Sabbatic observance. None other in all the Bible is so explicit. And, too, it occurred this side of the cross. The resting was done according to the commandment, showing that the knowledge of the true Sabbath was preserved by them, and that they were purposely keeping it in harmony with the law of God. The disciples were preparing to embalm their Lord. Yet, when the Sabbath came, they suspended this work, and kept the Sabbath according to the commandment. The foregoing account settles the question as to how the followers of Christ viewed the Sabbath day, and their relation to it. It was the seventh day, and they knew it. They kept it from choice, in harmony with Biblical Sabbath law. We shall find the apostles observing it, too. Those who kept the Sabbath so decidedly while the Lord of the Sabbath rested in Joseph's tomb were the very kernel of the church of Christ. And this is the first recorded act of their loyalty to God this side of the cross. After His resurrection, they received their commission for gospel work. Matt. 28:16-20. When it was ratified (Luke 24:46-49; Acts 2:32, 33), they proceeded to give the glad news. The endorsement was manifested from heaven by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. On the day of their first meeting, three thousand accepted the faith and united in Christian fellowship. Acts 2:38-41. "The number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith." Acts 6:7. These were all Hebrews. The apostles were of the same stock, and of course all were keeping the Bible Sabbath. Christ had come in fulfilment of the promise made to Abraham; and when a lame man who was daily laid at the temple gate was made whole, Peter told the amazed multitude the story of the cross and its significance; for thousands came to behold the man, who was leaping, and shouting praises to God. Peter said, in substance, to the eager, listening throng: "You must not attribute this good deed to us. Give God the glory through Jesus of Nazareth, for He whom you crucified has raised him from the dead. The Crucified One, who is now in heaven, is God's own Son, who came here to save us from our sins. Our hope is in Him, and He is ready to save us from sin, as He was willing to heal our afflicted neighbor." He said to them: "Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. Unto you first God, having raised up His Son Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities." Acts 3:25, 26. It was God's plan to instruct all Israel in regard to the mission of Christ to our world, and to lead them out of sin into the fulness of salvation through Him. But the jealousy of the priests stood in the way of this good work, so only a remnant accepted it. It was on this occasion that the five thousand believed; and those who did believe, did so understanding that the whole typical system of the ceremonial law pointed to the cross and was blended in it. They believed that Christ's sacrifice was the culmination of what had been promised to the fathers, and that now they must follow Him. They were the promised seed and the church of Christ. Peter said they were the "elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience." Paul said to the Jews, "They are not all Israel, which are of Israel: neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: . . . that is, they which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed." Rom. 9:6-8. Peter was favored in his preaching on the day of Pentecost; because at that time "there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven." Acts 2:5. These devout ones were ripe for the gospel sickle; and it is most likely that the three thousand converted on that day were largely from these devout Jews, who came when they heard the sound of that "rushing mighty wind." EVERYWHERE SPOKEN AGAINST
The opposing Jews called those who accepted Christ "the sect of the Nazarenes." Acts 24:5. And they said of this sect, "We know that everywhere it is spoken against." Acts 28:22. But this sect was the humble, obedient followers of Christ, and we have seen that those who were chosen and taught by Christ "kept the Sabbath day according to the commandment." Luke 23:56. Jesus told His people, before He was crucified, that Jerusalem would soon be overthrown by the Romans; and for their own safety, they should flee before it was destroyed. But said He, "Pray that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day." Matt. 24:20. The city was destroyed by the Romans A.D. 70. Before this time, when a certain sign was given (Luke 21:20, 21), the Christians fled from Jerusalem, and not one of them was there when it was destroyed. FORTY YEARS PRAYING ABOUT IT
Here was a period of forty years, during the first part of the apostolic age, when the Christians were daily praying to God that in His providence He would favor them about their Sabbath keeping. Surely they were obedient to the Sabbath commandment during this time. In the Scriptural history of the apostolic church, there are many references to the Sabbath. First we notice Acts 13:14: "But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and sat down." Paul, being invited to speak, showed from the Old Testament promises that Jesus was the Christ, and many of the Jews and religious proselytes accepted the testimony produced. Acts 13:43. The Gentiles who were present requested that the same words which had been preached to the Jews might be preached to the Gentiles the next Sabbath. "The next Sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God." Verse 44. This move on the part of the Gentiles displeased many of the Jews. Nevertheless a large number of both Jews and Gentiles in that city believed, and a church was established. These meetings occurred about fourteen years after the resurrection of Christ, and their history was written much later. All through the book of Acts, the Sabbath is mentioned as an existing institution which was understood by all, so no explanation was needed. It is the seventh day, which God made for man at the beginning. Pisidia, where this church was established, was a Gentile country, and Antioch was a Gentile city. Gentiles and Jews together comprised its membership. We know that the Jews called the Christians heretics, and their doctrine a heresy; but Paul, in answering their charges, said, "After the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets." Acts 24:14. It was647Christianity that the Jews called heresy. Then, according to Paul, the Christians believed and obeyed the law, and accepted the teachings of the prophets. READ THE PROPHETS EVERY SABBATH
In the church, the prophets were read every Sabbath day. Acts 15:21. This reading of the Old Testament prophecies every Sabbath day was an important part of Sabbath worship. And of course it would be so, because in this manner the apostles were confirming the faith of the Christians in Christ as the Son of God. The converts to Christianity from among the Jews were Sabbath keepers. The devout Greeks were those who had been led to God by the teaching of Hebrew missionaries, so they were Sabbath keepers also. We pass into Europe, and of Philippi, in Macedonia, the account says: 'We were in that city abiding certain days [waited for the Sabbath to come]. And on the Sabbath we went out of the city by a riverside, where prayer was wont to be made [a customary day for prayer]; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither.' Acts 16:12, 13. A certain woman among them, with her household, obeyed Paul in his teaching, and these constituted the charter members of the church at Philippi. The good work could be done speedily with such women, because they were a praying band, seeking for more light. But Paul and his helpers found them devout Sabbath keepers when they first met them. So the church at Philippi was founded in a Gentile country, by Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, and it was composed of Sabbath-keeping converts drawn from the Gentiles. CHRISTIAN SABBATH KEEPERS
We next read of when the apostles came to Thessalonica. There 'was a synagogue of the Jews: and Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures. . . . And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few.' Acts 17:1-4. These gospel preachers were driven away by the ill-tempered Jews; but a strong church of Christians was established, who were Sabbath keepers, as may be seen from what Paul afterward wrote to them. In a letter to them, he said they 'became followers of the churches of God which in Judea are in Christ Jesus.' 1 Thess. 2:14; 1:6. We know that the Lord kept the Sabbath, the apostle Paul kept the Sabbath, and the churches in Judea were Sabbath-keeping bodies. In planting the church at Corinth, Paul and his helpers did self-supporting work, making tents. He reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews, and the fruit of their work ripened into the church at Corinth. What has been written is sufficient to show that the Sabbath day had neither been changed nor abrogated when the New Testament Scriptures were written.