What are the worship parallels between Saturday Sabbath and Sunday worship?

Answer 1

In The Bible Old Testament, it was the law that the seventh day' should be kept holy and that it should be a day of rest. The word 'Sabbath' means 'seventh'. The Jews chose this seventh day as commanded by God because according to their beliefs, God made the world in 6 days and on the seventh he rested - making that day holy. The day that we recognise today as the 'Sabbath' is actually Saturday.

So the Sabbath day (Saturday) became a holy day of rest for the Jews - and still is.

The problem was, however, that the Jewsh lawmakers fabricated many other rules about the Sabbath - for example, you were not allowed to kindle a flame on the sabbath as this was 'work'. You were not even allowed to help someone in trouble as this was 'work'. Even walking was considered 'work' and so limits were placed even on this leisure activity to avoid it becoming 'work'. Even today, in strict Jewish homes, they have special light switches that work without the risk of an electrical spark (as this is common with normal switches) for fear of creating a spark which could be seen as kindling a flame and therefore 'work'.

When Jesus came along, he picked up on the hypocrisy of what the Jews were doing. Even if someone was sick or dying, the Jewish authorities would not tend to them until the Sabbath was over as this would be deemed 'work' - and often, a day llater was too late, or resulted in the infliction of unnecessary suffering. The Sabbath idea had begun to be the tail wagging the dog rather than vice versa - man was becoming a slave to the sabbath rules instead of what God originally intended. Jesus therefore flouted the Jews' laws by healing on the Sabbath and putting the Sabbath back in the place of what God intended - much to the anger of the lawmakers in the Jewish society.

So, modern Christians still observe the 'Sabbath' - although it is the Sabbath day as God intended. Instead of the Saturday being adopted as the 'seventh' day, Christians adopted the firstday of the week as a 'seventh' day - or Sunday, as it was on this day that the resurrection of Jesus, the major event central to the Christian faith, took place. This day became known as 'the Lord's Day' and is the equivalent of the Jewish Sabbath for Christians.

However, on Sundays, Christians are not bound by rules as are the Jews. Yes, Christians go to church, but then they also worship, if devout Christians, throughout the rest of the week too. Christians rest on Sundays, but also use them for leisure, meeting with family (we often have our daughters round and their respective spouses, for Sunday lunch), or catching up with things we want to do rather than things we have to do. However, Christians see little wrong if you are called to work on a Sunday if it is necessary (for example if you are a nurse, doctor, fireman, ambulance driver, power plant worker and so on) provided you take a 'day of rest' once in a week where you can unwind, worship God and forget work. My wife, who is a vicar, always 'works' on a Sunday - but she takes her 'Sabbath' on a Monday when the phone is off the hook and we disappear to the country. Christians should see nothing wrong in this as Jesus said - the Sannath was made for man - not man for the Sabbath."

Answer 2

The similarities between Saturday Sabbath and Sunday worship are many. There is reading of scripture, worship (a time of singing and praise), and a devotional time from the Rabbi, Pastor or Priest.