Midweek Message from the Mount – June 13, 2012

Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day. (Deuteronomy 5:15)

God blessed his people with the gift of the Sabbath Day so that they could find rest for their bodies and their souls.  Here, through Moses, God tells his people that he brought them out of slavery in Egypt and brought them into the Promised Land, which was accomplished only by his almighty power.  Because of that, they were to observe the Sabbath to remember just how much God loved and cared for them, both physically and spiritually.

You and I have been freed from the slavery of our sin.  We were locked away in the prison of our sinful flesh with Satan as our master. But God has broken that yoke of slavery through the life and death of our Savior and our Substitute who took the punishment for us.  We have been forgiven of our debt, we have been freed, and it’s all by God’s mighty hand and outstretched arm, and not by anything we have done or ever could do.  And so we too eagerly desire to remember just how much God loves and cares for us. 

 

But there is no longer that command to observe a certain day of rest.  Christ has cancelled the written code and all the observances and festivals (Col. 2:13-17). We have been set free and we are able worship and find rest whenever we want.  We worship not because we have to, but because we cannot help not to, knowing the grace and mercy God has showered on us through Christ.  That yoke of slavery to sin has been crushed by Christ, and he now gives us a blessed invitation:  “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matt. 11:28-30).

 

It’s in Christ that God’s commandment to keep the Sabbath Day was fulfilled.  It’s in Christ that we find rest from our sin and this sinful world.  It’s in Christ that we have the hope of eternal rest. 

 

Prayer:  Dear Jesus, Thank you for keeping the Law perfectly in my place and dying for my disobedience to the Law, so that I might be set free to serve you in faith.  Continue to lead me to eagerly seek you in Word and Sacrament where I find true rest for my soul.  Amen.