Sabbath in the New Testament

I was reading Dr. Bacchiocchi's book The Sabbath in the New Testament: answers to questions. In the first chapter Dr. Bacchiochi presents three understandings of the Sabbath's relation to the New Testament which serves as a backdrop for this whole presentation.

Abrogation View

Certainly we as Sabbatarians have heard this view. The understanding is that the Sabbath of the Old Testament was removed at the cross of Jesus Christ. The view rests on the belief that there is a "radical discontinuity between the Old and New Testaments."

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Samuele Bacchiocchi continues his defense of the creational origin of the Sabbath by looking at Hebrews 4:4.

Bacchiocchi sees this as the most explicit reference to the creation Sabbath found in Hebrews because two Old Testament texts (Genesis 2:2 and Psalm 95:11) are welded together. Geneses 2:2 traces the Sabbath back to the creation and Psalm 95:11 "includes the blessings of salvation" that are found in entering God's rest. (Hebrews 4:3, 5, 10).

Samuele Bacchiocchi continues his defense of the creational origin of the Sabbath by examining John 5:17.

In this passage, Jesus is accused of Sabbath breaking by healing a paralyzed man. Jesus answers by saying, "My Father is working is working until now and I am working." Bacchiocchi notes that this has traditionally been interpreted to mean that God has been continually working (creating and preserving the world) since the original creation of the world and thus he is justified in working on the Sabbath.

Dr. Samuele Bacchiocchi's first reason for believing in the validity of Sabbath observance for New Testament Christians is the continuity between the Old and New Testaments. We have discussed this in other posts on this blog.

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The book of Hebrews demonstrates both continuity and discontinuity between the Old Testament and the New. The fact that the writer of Hebrews wrote the book demonstrates the power that the Old Testament sacrificial system held over many of the believers in the Jesus movement.

Discontinuity

Dr. Bacchiocchi continues his arguments for the continuity between Judaism and Christianity by looking at some examples of continuity in the book of Matthew.

Christ Life and Teaching

Dr. Bacchiocchi argues that the description of the earliest Christian gatherings indicate a continuity between Judaism and Christianity and not discontinuity. This is one of the strongest arguments for the continuing validity of the Sabbath for Christians.

Synagogue Primary Place of Worship of Early Christian Community

Dr. Dr. Bacchiocchi continues presenting the evidence for the continuity of Judaism and Christianity in the Gospel of Luke. This time, he notes the connection between Gentiles and the Sabbath.

Jerusalem Council

After a discussion of the three views of the Sabbath, In the book, Sabbath in the New Testament, Dr. Bacchiocchi presents his arguments for "continuity" between Judaism and Christianity. Bacchiocchi rightly notes that the strength behind both the "abrogation" view and the "transference" view of the law of God is in the alleged radical discontinuity between Judaism and Christianity.