“Did Moses not give you the Law, and yet none of you carries out the Law? Why are you seeking to kill Me?” The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill You?” Jesus answered them, “I did one deed, and you all are astonished. For this reason Moses has given you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and even on a Sabbath you circumcise a man. If a man receives circumcision on a Sabbath so that the Law of Moses will not be broken, are you angry at Me because I made an entire man well on a Sabbath? Do not judge by the outward appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.” (vv. 19-24)

Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is the keeping of the commandments of God. (1 Corinthians 7:19)

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. All that matters is faith, expressed through love. (Galatians 5:6)

Circumcision does not mean anything. It is only a shadow of the new covenant. Circumcision is a shadow of the true circumcision, which is the circumcision of the heart. As the only Mediator of the new covenant, Christ brought the new covenant.

The Sabbath was not made for God. It was made for mankind. To be more precise, it was made for the church, God’s elect people. With this in mind, we conclude that all things including the law were given for us to seek Christ. But many of the Jews did not recognize Christ because God blinded them.

“Make the hearts of this people insensitive, Their ears dull, And their eyes blind, So that they will not see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, Understand with their hearts, And return and be healed.” (Isaiah 6:10)

We now see that it was not only the Jews that God blinded but most people in the world. Even people who call themselves Christians are not true Christians. We know this because of their understanding. Theologians and ministers are only interested in money and fame. They preach lies to people. There are few who truly know God.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves. (Matthew 23:15)

Not knowing God or His ways is the beginning of all sins. Among those who are ignorant and dull, God saves some and gives them understanding. Paul was one of those who did not know God although he received much education under the Jewish system. The knowledge of God comes from understanding the words of God through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is not about having dreams or having mysterious experiences.

In John 7, we see that the Jews emphasize the law and yet, do not understand God’s words. They do not believe in Christ, whom the prophets foretold in the OT. They circumcise babies on a Sabbath but do not know the meaning of circumcision or the Sabbath. This is still happening in the world. There are people who say that we must worship God on Saturdays. These people emphasize the Ten Commandments but do not know the meaning of the Sabbath. We must be careful not to be persuaded by them. There is no true worship without understanding Christ. Churches have been worshiping God on the day Christ resurrected, which is Sunday. So we worship God on Sundays. But worshiping God on Sundays is meaningless to those who do not know Christ. There are many people in churches who do not know God. Worshiping God is not about what we must do. It is about what we know and understand.

True Sabbath is Jesus Christ.

So the Son of Man is Lord, even of the Sabbath. (Mark 2:28)

We need to pay attention to the fact that Christ referred Himself as the Son of Man, not the Son of God, when He talked about Him being the Lord of the Sabbath. The Son of God became the Son of Man to free us from a conditional covenant. Adam was under a conditional covenant. Therefore, all the conditional covenants in the OT existed for the one and only eternal covenant, the new covenant. No one can fulfill a conditional covenant. We are slaves under a conditional covenant. We perish as slaves. But the Son is different. If the Son sets us free and makes us the children of God, we are free indeed. The Father does not make a conditional covenant with the Son because the Father does everything for the Son. It is absurd to say that Christ had to fulfill a conditional covenant when the Father and the Son are one. I have been telling you that the Son came to fulfill the law, not to keep it. Keeping is for the slaves. The Son came to perfect the law. Christ mentioned that he worked on a Sabbath like the Father. Strictly speaking, He broke the law by working on a Sabbath. He knew what the Jews were thinking and deliberately said that He worked.

Some Christians make a list of things that they must do to keep a commandment of God. That was what the Jews did in Jesus’ time. But they did not know why the law was given. They merely thought that was what God wanted and that they would get punished if they did not keep the law. Most people kept the law as a way to get prosperous. Thus, they did not see the difference between God and idols. They could not understand Christ. They were angry at Christ because He cured sick people on a Sabbath. Jesus cured people throughout the week. But it was important that He cured people on a Sabbath because He needed to show them why He came. Jesus Christ is the Lord of the Sabbath.

All the four writers of the Gospel put Christ’s death and resurrection at the end because it was the very reason why the Son of God became a man. The true Sabbath is linked to the cross of Christ. The Covenant Theology and the Active Obedience of Christ claim that the cross of Christ is not enough for us to have the eternal life. The Son became a man so that His people would become like Him. The Son died and resurrected. He lives eternally. So we, who are united with Him through the Holy Spirit, live eternally in the coming kingdom of God.

When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. (Revelation 1:17-18)