Happy Sabbath
This sermon was preached on January 26, AD 2025 at King's Cross Church in Moscow, Idaho.
The Text
10 Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11 And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up. 12 But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.” 13 And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.
14 But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath; and he said to the crowd, “There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day.”
15 The Lord then answered him and said, “Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it? 16 So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound—think of it—for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?” 17 And when He said these things, all His adversaries were put to shame; and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by Him (Luke 13:10–17).
Introduction
A common phrase heard in our churches, especially on the Lord’s Day or leading up to it, is “Happy Sabbath.” But what does this mean? What exactly is the Sabbath and what makes it happy? And are there ways in which, under glad obedience to Christ, we can order our lives to make the most of this great gift from God to His people?
Summary of the Text
It is not uncommon to read stories in the Gospels of Jesus healing on the Sabbath, nearly always in front of people inside a synagogue. This is something Jesus seems to intentionally be doing, and throughout the Gospels there are seven unique accounts of Him doing so.
Now in Luke’s Gospel, we find four of these accounts. In Luke 4, he heals Peter’s mother-in-law, although this was in a private home and did not receive opposition. In Luke 6, He heals the man with the withered hand, and he receives opposition from the scribes and Pharisees. In Luke 13, our passage today, He heals this crippled woman and is confronted with anger from the leader of the synagogue. And then lastly, in Luke 14, in the home of a Pharisee He heals a man with dropsy – but this time they remain silent… perhaps finally having learned their lesson. But the story of this particular woman here in Luke 13 is found only here in Luke’s account.
And so our passage begins with Jesus teaching in a synagogue on the Sabbath. As part of their Sabbath observance, the Jews religiously attended prayer services and sat under teaching in the local synagogues — for they were more accessible than the Temple.
We are then told that present there was a woman who had “a spirit of infirmity,” or a “disabling spirit” as the ESV says, for eighteen years, and she was bent over and could not straighten her back or lift up her head. Now, it’s not clear exactly what medical condition this woman was suffering from, but Jesus attributes her affliction to the work of Satan in verse 16, hence Luke—a medical doctor nonetheless—calling it a spirit of infirmity.
When Jesus sees this woman, He had compassion upon her, called her to Himself and declared, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.” He then laid hands on her to heal her, and she was immediately straightened and glorified God. If we were to stop here at verse 13, we’d say that this is simply a brief and wonderful story of Jesus’ compassion on the weak and afflicted. But that is not all that happened.
Observing all of this was the leader of the synagogue. And he was very angry. Out of all the responses he could have to watching Jesus perform a miraculous healing in the midst of his synagogue and people—from feeling honored to marveling or glorifying God with her—he is instead indignant. And he is angry because he believes Jesus violated the Sabbath.
Rather than responding directly to Jesus, he rebukes the crowd, with perhaps one of the most ridiculous statements of opposition to Jesus in the Gospels. For he says, “There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day.” Think about this for a moment. That is wild. No compassion. Essentially – there are six other days to get miraculously healed. Go do it then.
Jesus then responds directly to his challenge, declaring him a hypocrite. For this ruler has no problem with men “working” on the Sabbath to loose—notice that word again—their animals from their stalls and lead them to water. And this is true. The rabbis even had special regulations in their tradition for how to rightly care for animals on the Sabbath. One law said—again these are the traditions of men not biblical law—that men were permitted to lead their animals out by a chain, as long as nothing was carried by them. Likewise, water could drawn for them into a trough (trawf) – but a Jew was not to hold a bucket of water for them to drink from. In these practices, they sought to balance rest and the necessary work needed to give their animals rest and proper care.
So if Jews zealous for the Sabbath had these sort of exceptions or rules regulating the work needed to care for animals – how much more should they be willing to see mercy extended to a weak and afflicted woman on that day? Jesus says, they are willing to loose their animals, but not loose this woman from bondage to Satan.
And so our passage concludes with two responses from those present. The synagogue ruler and those who agreed with him were all put to shame, while the rest of the people rejoiced and glorified God for what Jesus had done in their presence.
The Fourth Commandment
Now, an overarching point that I want us to take from this passage and keep in mind for the rest of the sermon is the fact that Jesus is our perfect example of what it means to keep the Sabbath.
In his day, the Jewish leaders had so twisted the commandment that it no longer was a blessing but rather an additional burden placed on the people. And despite their opposition to His various works on the Sabbath—from healings to picking grain to eat with His disciples—Jesus did not break the Sabbath commandment, but rather upheld it and honored it for what is was truly meant for. But before we consider the ways in which we should observe the Sabbath, it would be helpful to simply review the command itself.
This command was given as part of the Ten Commandments, which we consider to not be done away with in the New Covenant, but continually binding on believers as part of the moral law. So in Exodus it reads, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it” (Ex. 20:8–11).
The commandment is again repeated in Deuteronomy 5, with a major change being the last line, regarding the reasoning for the commandment. In Exodus, God making the heavens and the earth and all that is in them on six days and resting on the seventh gives us, His people, the pattern for our work and rest. And in Deuteronomy, now the Israelites are called to remember God’s work of salvation in the Exodus that gave them rest. As it reads, “And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand by an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day (v. 15).
Now note the first part of the commandment – we are to remember the Sabbath day by first, keeping it holy. That means it is to be sanctified and set apart unto God. The Sabbath is not meant to be just like any other day, or just one more Saturday off of work, but a unique day dedicated in a special way to the Lord. As we will discuss shortly, the first way that we do that is by gathering together every week as the people of God, in order to offer our Lord worship in public. This is what we saw happening in our passage – where Jesus, this crippled woman, the synagogue leader, and all the people had gathered together on the Sabbath for worship, prayer, and teaching.
The second major emphasis of Sabbath observance is rest. “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work…” It is this part of the commandment that the synagogue ruler believes Jesus and the woman violated—with Jesus’ healing of her defined as work.
So the Lord’s Day Sabbath is set apart for two things: worship and rest. Those are the two goals or categories you should have in mind when you prepare for and enjoy the Lord’s Day each week, and they are what we will consider now one at a time.
Worship
So first, let’s consider the command to worship.
The Lord’s Day is first kept holy by the reverent and joyful worship of God. We first offer this worship in public together as God’s covenant people. As Leviticus 23:3 states, “Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation…” Holy convocation there meaning a sacred gathering of God’s people for worship and fellowship. It is a special time set apart for this particular holy purpose. And so here you are. Every Sunday you all come together through those doors and offer your worship to God.
This gathering is both a service of ours to God, we are coming before Him as living sacrifices, seeking to give Him the honor He is due in our songs and prayers. But even more so, here in a special way we meet with God and receive from Him. Take a moment – consider this – what do you receive from God here in this holy convocation? You receive and participate in what we call the means of grace. You receive His Word declared, taught, and preached. And you receive the sacrament of the New Covenant—the Lord’s Supper—which is none other than Christ’s body and blood offered to you. In this worship service, God is offering more and more of Himself to you each week.
This is not something to be taken lightly or to be neglected easily. Corporate worship should not be “skipped” for trivial reasons—whatever they may be.
Instead, one way to think about church attendance is that it should be a one-time decision your family. You should decide that on the Lord’s Day, unless providentially hindered by something like sickness, you and your family will worship God with the saints. Compare that kind of mentality, to what many Christians do each Saturday night or Sunday morning—asking themselves if they will go to church based on their feelings or what other events are happening that weekend.
Now to be clear, again I am not talking about being sick or staying home with a sick child—may the Lord bless you in that and I can assure you that people appreciate the courtesy. But many American Christians have elevated leisure, recreation, organized youth sports, vacations, the NFL—you name it—to a place that intrudes upon Lord’s Day worship.
Consider again the woman in our passage today. Luke says she had a “spirit of infirmity”—she was literally being oppressed by Satan in a way that left her physically disfigured and crippled—hunched over for eighteen long years. If anyone had an excuse to say, “It’s too hard” or “I don’t feel like it,” she did. And yet our Lord still found her observing the Sabbath, worshiping with the people of God. And she certainly received her reward that day from Christ.
But we want the Sabbath and worship to be more than a mere duty. We want it to not be simply a “got to” but to become a “get to” for your families. This gathering and this day is meant to be one of great joy for you. As Psalm 122 says, “I was glad when they said let us go into the house of the Lord…” But let’s be honest… does it always feel that way? No. Certainly not. It’s hard work getting all of your kids here in one piece and then attempt to keep them still.
If I could peer into your homes on Sunday morning, I imagine that morning you might be more prone to sinning against one another with the stresses of getting out the door. But if that’s the case for your family, then ask yourselves – what can we be doing to help our family get the most out of this time? Are there some practical changes we could make to help us enjoy Sunday morning worship and not in some cases dread it?
Here are some ideas. For one, it is helpful to prepare the night before by setting out your family's clothes or knowing what you will make for breakfast. Also, it's important to not stay up too late and to set an alarm for an hour that realistically gives you enough time to get ready without stress. And remember this as you get the kids ready—nobody here cares if your kid’s socks match. What I mean by this is don’t fuss about the little things but instead endeavor to keep your heart clean before the Lord as you come to worship.
When it comes to the worship service itself, there are also a few practical things that can help you not get flustered or overwhelmed with your family.
First, teach your children to worship. Often we jump first to how to distract them, but I want to encourage you to first help them participate as they are able. When they’re little this means having them kneel with you when you confess your sins and reminding them to stand during the reading of God’s Word. Of course, you don’t have to be rigid about it, but things like that help them know that they are part of what is happening rather than just spectators. As they get older, teach them to pay attention to the sermon by drawing pictures of what the pastor is talking about or taking notes. Maybe read the sermon passage at dinner the night before, to help them (and you) be more ready to hear. And of course, you are welcome to bring quiet snacks, board books, drawing pads, color pencils—basically anything that wouldn’t distract your seat neighbor.
I’ll also add the way you speak about Lord’s Day worship in your home around your children goes a long way. Think about how you get them hyped for Christmas. You talk excitedly and you count down the days—it is something to look forward to. Likewise, our Lord’s Day is the true weekly holy day—a feast unto the Lord. And so talk about it like it actually is a blessing. This is why some of us say “Happy Sabbath!” It’s our weekly “Merry Christmas!” Our as my children say, in the most reverent and joyful way, “It’s the Lord’s Day, my dude!”
We should also note that while Sunday mornings are set apart for this public worship, this worship is not meant to stay in this building but flow out into your homes and inform how you approach the rest of your day. What I mean by this is that it’s called the Lord’s Day, not the Lord’s hour and a half. And so it is worthwhile to consider if there are good things you would like to do on the Sabbath that you might not get to other days of the week. This might be reading or listening to good Christian books or biographies or singing some extra psalms and hymns at lunch time. Again, these are just examples.
Some traditions have Lord’s Day evening services, a practice that has not been cultivated here in Moscow, largely due in part as an attempt to still preserve a semblance of rest on the Lord’s Day for our families. But once a month—and as it turns out our next one is tonight—we do host an evening psalm sing, as does Christ Church. Those are a great way to continue worshiping the Lord on the Sabbath—while also learning songs and getting fellowship time with fellow church members.
Lastly, some of you may be wondering, or have wondered why we observe the Sabbath on Sundays, and not on Saturdays as the people of God did under the Old Covenant. Question 59 of the Shorter Catechism asks, “Which day of the seven hath God appointed to be the weekly Sabbath?” And the answer is, “From the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, God appointed the seventh day of the week (Saturday) to be the weekly Sabbath… and the first day of the week (Sunday), ever since, to continue to the end of the world, which is the Christian Sabbath.”
So from the beginning of the world until the resurrection of Christ—Saturday. From the resurrection until the end of the world—Sunday. What is it about the resurrection that initiated this change? This is a big topic so here are just a few bullet points arguments.
First, the setting apart the seventh day as the Sabbath was part of God’s original work of creation. And what is Christ’s resurrection, but a new creation? It’s also a new and greater exodus, leading to eternal rest. And this resurrection took place on the first day of the week—Sunday. Second, in Revelation 1, John refers to being in the Spirit on the “Lord’s Day”—indicating there is a day that Jesus had claimed as His own. Third, we have good reason to believe this was the first day of the week, as that is the day the Lord rose and also when we read the church gathered, such as in Acts 20.
And so one of the implications of this change to the Sabbath being on the first day of the week is that the following six days of work and labor are meant to be performed out ofthat rest and refreshment you have already received. It is a glorious thing to start each week then not in hurried work, but in the worship of God.
Rest
Now let’s consider the second part of Sabbath observance—rest.
As we read in the fourth commandment, the Lord’s Day was given for genuine rest—for the family, the servants, and even down sojourners and work animals. While faithful Christians typically do not get worked up regarding the obligation to worship and attend church on the Lord’s Day, the defining of what it means to obey the command to rest can quickly become controversial—as we saw in our passage this morning—the synagogue leader’s definition of rest excluded a work of mercy done by the Messiah.
On a basic level, given that the rest is described in the commandment as not laboring as you usually do on the six other days, the rest described here is that of ceasing from our normal vocations and routines. For the working adults present, this means that you should do everything in your power to not work on the Lord’s Day. This might mean appealing to your manager or even eventually finding a new job. I understand that this can be difficult at first to navigate and figure out, but the blessing that comes with this Lord’s Day rest is worth the sacrifice.
The one exception to this general practice would be vocations that involve works of mercy or necessity—such as hospital workers, first responders, or farmers milking their cows. As Jesus showed with His work of healing the woman on the Sabbath, that kind of work does not violate the law but instead fulfills its true purpose of loving the Lord and loving your neighbor.
For students, this would look like pausing your studies, either from Saturday dinner to Sunday dinner—or from Sunday morning through Sunday evening.
And for the children present, Sabbath rest for you looks like pausing from your vocations—namely your school work or even rigorous chores that could be done on another day. Note: by rigorous chores I do not mean basic household jobs like helping mom with the dishes or taking out the trash. But maybe something like mowing the lawn or cleaning out your closet could be done on Saturday or wait until Monday.
And so we are to cease from our normal vocations and routines, not just on Sunday morning but also throughout the day. Rather than viewing this as a restrictive burden, this call to lay your usual labor aside is meant to be liberating for God’s people, making the Sabbath a true delight. As Isaiah 58 promises, “If because of the Sabbath you turn your foot from doing your own pleasure—as in whatever you think is best—on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, and honor it, desisting from your own ways… then you will take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth…”
The fourth commandment is requiring you to lay down your own desires and ideas one day a week, in order to take up the Lord’s. It is the Lord’s Day, and so you should be offering it up to Him. And what does He desire for you to do? What is He asking of you on this day? He’s asking you to rest. Rest. He’s saying sit down, relax… it will be okay. God is commanding you to take a break from your hard work. He’s telling you to lay down the tools of your trade and to open your empty hands that He may fill them with His blessings.
But as you know, it takes work in order to set the day aside for genuine rest. Without preparation beforehand, Sundays are prone to be like any other day. And so this is a great area for you as husbands to take the lead in your families. Remember—the commandment was for the whole household to rest—not just you and the kids while mom is still stuck in the kitchen.
And so it’s worth asking yourselves again, and your wives, what sort of things could be done to even attempt to make Sundays a bit more restful. There’s obviously things that need to be done on Sundays that are work – like preparing meals, attending church, and changing diapers. These are all works of necessity or mercy. But what could be done to maximize the blessing that the Sabbath is meant to be?
Here again I’ll offer some ideas, not as rules but as food for thought as you consider what works best for your families.
First, back to the worship services, this is a great opportunity for husband’s to help with the kids. If someone in your crew is getting restless or needs discipline, it is a great blessing to your wife for you to take initiative. One of the fun things I have heard visitors notice about our congregations is that there are lots of kids… but also lots of dads actively engaged with their children. This is glorious and can be a real help to your wife.
In terms of preparing for the day, it’s good to do your shopping beforehand. Have food in the fridge and pantry ready for the Lord’s Day. Some families in our community have the weekly tradition of Sabbath meals or Sabbath feasts, where they make dinner on Saturday night, and have enough for Sunday leftovers—avoiding the need to spend a lot of time cooking on the Lord’s Day. Another way to prepare is to help mom tidy up the home by Saturday night, so she doesn’t feel the need to complete that pile of dishes immediately after church. Again, these are just a few suggestions. But it’s worthwhile as time goes by to occasionally re-adjust and find ways to make the day more restful for your families.
Now it would be helpful for us to touch on two final practical topics connected to Sabbath rest.
You may know that the Westminster Confession of Faith, which our pastors and elders agree to teach and uphold, prohibits “worldly employments and recreations” on the Lord’s Day—stating that the entire day should be taken up in the public and private exercises of worship, and in the duties of necessity and mercy — necessity being things that must be done (changing diapers, driving to church) and mercy being acts of love and care for those in need.
But note the prohibition there against recreation. Our church, along with Christ Church, takes a relatively common exception to this statement regarding recreation. In our documents we state that, “We believe that along with the works of piety, necessity, and mercy, the command also calls us to rest our bodies on the Sabbath. We do not believe the intention of Scripture was to exclude recreation, especially in the context of the fellowship of God’s people.” What this means is that we do not teach what could be called strict Sabbatarianism. A view that all recreation is unlawful on the Sabbath. Recreation here is typically defined as unnecessary activities like playing basketball in the driveway, going for a walk, reading fiction books, playing board games—basically any activity that is not directly connected to either worship, necessity, or mercy. We believe these activities can be in keeping with the purpose of the Sabbath and part of glorifying God and enjoying it within our families and as a church community.
Lastly, you may have questions regarding whether it is good to shop on the Sabbath or if stores should be closed. Our general teaching in this community has been that it is good and righteous for stores to honor the Lord’s Day by closing and giving their employees the day off. In the Book of Nehemiah, the people of Judah were working on the Sabbath and engaging in commerce, buying and selling as if it were any other day. And such activity was called “evil” as it profaned the Sabbath day (Neh. 13). Therefore, setting aside casual and unnecessary shopping on the Lord’s Day is a great way to keep it set apart for the Lord.
However, this is a good practice example for keeping first things first. Say you meet a new family this morning and want to invite them over for lunch after church – but in order to do so you’re going to need to run to the grocery store. Do you do it? Which is keeping more in step with the Sabbath – refusing hospitality, fellowship, and care for someone new so that you can abstain from shopping… or welcoming someone in?
I’d contend that it honors the Lord more to gather more food in order to be hospitable and to celebrate the Lord’s Day together. And it’s scenarios like this why Pastor Doug and Pastor Toby have in the past taught that perhaps – in an ideal future Christian society – it would be perfectly legitimate for grocery stores or gas stations in a town to rotate being open on Sundays – in order to be of service in the work of mercy and necessity, fulfilling the Sabbath command.
Conclusion
In conclusion, remember that Jesus taught the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath (Mk. 2:27). It was given to you as a gift from God. The Lord’s Day is not primarily about rules and regulations, do’s and don’ts, but embracing what God has done and is doing for us.
Many interpreters, from the church fathers to the Puritans have seen the woman with the spirit of infirmity—the daughter of Abraham—to be a picture of the church. Just as she was hunched over, head toward the ground and afflicted, so too were you once without Christ. And just as she was called to Christ, with no initiative of her own and in a sad estate, so too has Christ sovereignly called you. And just as she was “loosed” from her burden and pain on the Sabbath, so too are you “loosed” from your burdens and sins in Christ, who is our eternal Sabbath rest (Heb. 4). And in Him you are now made whole, able to stand tall and look toward heaven. It is in Christ’s merciful healing of her on the Sabbath that is forever a great demonstration of what this day is all about.
And so if all of this Sabbath “stuff” is new to you this morning, don’t for a second give into guilt or feel overwhelmed. The Sabbath is meant to be a relief, not another burden. Start in the shallow end and keep the two basics of worship and rest. Come to church every Lord’s Day, and seek to do so with joy. And then head home and purposefully rest with your families. But ultimately, let the details be details and do not get lost in a set of rules while forgetting the Lord of the Sabbath who is offering you true rest.
Additionally, if you are someone who is Sabbath-maxxing already, who throws big Sabbath dinners and have your routine nailed down—do not fall into the trap of judging others regarding how they approach the day. This is the path toward slowly becoming like the synagogue ruler—forgetting the true purpose of the day with zeal for your own ideals and rules.
There were two responses that Sabbath day to the healing of the woman—some were angered and put to shame, while others rejoiced and glorified God for what Christ has done.
So let us then rejoice together in the Sabbath.