Part III: The Third Commandment.

PART III: THE THIRD COMMANDMENT OF THE DECALOGUE

§ 123. The Third Commandment is: “Remember to hallow the Sabbath Day. Six days you shall labor and do all your works, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work—you or your son or your daughter, your manservant or your maidservant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath Day and hallowed it” (Exod. 20:8–11). It has two parts: the commandment and the rationale for the commandment. The commandment prescribes observing the Sabbath both by hallowing it and by rest from one’s exterior labors. In this commandment, ceremonial matters must be carefully distinguished from moral matters; hallowing the Sabbath [must be distinguished] from abstaining from those works which hinder divine worship. That is, when the public ministry of the church is established for certain days and that time is given to the ministry of the Word for the sake of good order, this is moral. But hallowing the seventh day—that is, assigning to this worship the Sabbath of the Jews as it was observed in the Old Testament—is ceremonial, as we shall show in greater detail in its own place [§ 141; cf. On the Ceremonial and Forensic Laws (Commonplace XVI), §§ 27, 39–41]. The rationale for the commandment sends us back to the example of God Himself and to His primeval institution, for God Himself performed His tasks for six days when He created heaven and earth in the beginning, but on the seventh day He rested and hallowed that day by resting.

“Remember.”

§ 124. To investigate the aim and end purpose of the commandment, we must first pay careful attention to the individual words. (I) God does not simply say, as He does in the rest of the commandments, “You shall hallow the Sabbath Day,” but He first uses a word for attention: “Remember to hallow the Sabbath Day.” In Hebrew, [“remember”] is in the infinitive, and this kind of commanding is very serious and weighty. Therefore it is accusing the slothfulness of our corrupt nature that we are frequently unmindful of piety and divine worship. Therefore the stimulus of this word rouses us from our lethargy. Furthermore, this word admonishes us that the observance of the Lord’s Commandments requires a remembering and watchful mind that thinks about keeping the Commandments night and day. Ps. 1:2: “Blessed is the man who meditates day and night on the Law of the Lord.” Ps. 119:16: “I shall not forget Your words.” Ps. 119:87: “I have not forgotten Your precepts.” Forgetting God’s Commandments is the most direct road to breaking them. In fact, because the word “remember” concerns a disposition of the mind rather than an external work, this word shows that this commandment requires not so much an external observance of the Sabbath as an interior one. Futhermore, what this commandment requires in regard to hallowing the Sabbath specifically is applied to all of God’s Commandments without exception in other passages. Deut. 6:8: “And this Law will be a sign upon your hand and as a remembrance between your eyes.” Mal. 4:4: “Remember the Law of My servant Moses, the statutes and ordinances that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.” Finally, because God hallowed the Sabbath right away at the beginning of the world’s creation, the word “remember” renews, so to speak, the memory of that fact. The rabbinic scholars make the ridiculous claim that the reason the word “remember” was placed at the beginning of this commandment is because in every precious thing one should have a recollection of the Sabbath; so if he has new clothing, he should wait for the Sabbath Day to use it first.

“To hallow.”

§ 125. (II) We are commanded to hallow the Sabbath, and it is in this that the aim and soul, so to speak, of this commandment consist. God hallows the Sabbath in Gen. 2:3 differently than men do. God blesses the Sabbath and hallows it; that is, He assigns it to divine worship, and “this blessing comes upon those who hallow the Sabbath according to God’s command,” as Rabbi Agnon says. God’s blessing is His well-doing [benedicere est benefacere]. Therefore those who hallow the Sabbath to honor God are filled with good things of every kind, especially spiritual ones. People hallow the Sabbath when they acknowledge that God has made it holy, when they regard it as holy, and when they leave room for holy works on that day. What are these works? Inner sanctification and spiritual worship are required by the first two commandments. However, because in this life that spiritual and inner worship needs some external exercise of the public ministry through which God causes, preserves, and increases that inner sanctification in us and in which the marks of that inner sanctification are produced, the Third Commandment should be taken to refer to the public ministry of the Word and of the sacred ceremonies. Exod. 31:13–14: “You shall keep My Sabbaths that you may know that I, the Lord, am sanctifying you. You shall keep the Sabbath, for it is holiness for you.” That is, I shall work inner sanctification in your hearts through the public, external ministry of the Word. Exod. 20:24: “In every place where I establish the remembrance of My name, I shall come to you and bless you.” What those exercises of the public ministry and of divine worship are will appear in the listing of the virtues of this commandment [§ 136].

“Day.”

§ 126. (III) We are not simply ordered to hallow the Sabbath, but we have the addition: “Remember to hallow the Sabbath Day”—not because God wanted to confirm a superstitious observation of days, but that we may be taught to hallow the entire day of the Sabbath and spend it in good works. It is a common and, indeed, very wicked custom to spend only a part of the holy day—and, in fact, the least part of it—on divine worship and to give the rest of that day to worthless idleness or even to dancing and feasting. However, we must remember that the day, not merely several hours of the Sabbath, must be hallowed.

Next, when we are ordered to hallow a day, it follows by common sense that a holy day requires also holy works and holy behavior, just as even the pagan poet writes:

The holy day dawns. Be kind in thought and word.

On this good day must good words be spoken.³⁹

Finally, because in addition to a Sabbath of days there are also Sabbaths of months and of years (Lev. 25:4, 8; 26:35), here there is express mention of the Sabbath Day to make it clear that this commandment is especially about the Sabbath of days. In other passages God generally speaks in the plural, as Exod. 31:13: “You shall keep My Sabbaths.”

“Sabbath.”

§ 127. (IV) The seventh day is specifically expressed as set apart for divine worship. The people of Israel were carnal and quite inclined toward superstition and idolatry. For that reason God prescribed for them not only rites and ceremonies to instruct them about the worship of God but also special times and days on which to exercise those rites and ceremonies. He did not leave it as a free matter of their choice to select whatever days they wished but bound them by certain laws that they might in this way be called away from self-chosen acts of worship. Deut. 12:8: “You shall not do, everyone doing what is right in his own eyes.” Additionally, the seventh day was selected above the rest most fittingly to be a reminder of the past (the Sabbath of creation) and as a sign of the future (namely, because of the Sabbath of redemption which Christ spent in the tomb and because of the eternal Sabbath). Exod. 31:13: “You shall keep My Sabbath, for this is a sign between Me and you.” Ezek. 20:20: “I gave them My Sabbaths to be a sign between Me and them.” We in the New Testament are free of this ceremonial trapping of the Law.

“Six days shall you labor.”

§ 128. (V) “Six days shall you labor and do all your works.” The word properly means “You will work slavishly.” Therefore God is showing the difference between external works and exercises of piety and divine service. The former He calls servile works, but He says that the Sabbath is hallowed by the latter. It should not be supposed that those vocational labors displease God, for in this very commandment about hallowing the Sabbath, He mentions those labors expressly and assigns six days for them. Only the seventh day does He command to be given to divine worship. Some take the words “six days shall you labor” permissively, in the sense that God has left His people free to decide what He wished them to do on any of those days. However, it is more correctly understood imperatively, as said in the form of a command, just as Luther translates it: “Six days you should work” [sechs Tage sollst du arbeiten], for God requires the labors of our calling no less than He does our hallowing of the Sabbath. Gen. 3:19: “By the sweat of your face you shall eat your bread.” Moreover, the form in the Hebrew verb is the same ,⁴⁰ etc. Because of the extreme corruption of man’s nature, slovenly idleness on the other days is no less forbidden than the hallowing of the seventh day is commanded. The rationale appended to this commandment proves this very thing, for it not only mentions that God rested on the seventh day but also that He worked on six days. Therefore just as the example of God is set forth for us in His resting on the Sabbath, so also we should see the same example being set forth for us in His work of six days.

§ 129. (VI) Six days are given to our servile labors while the seventh is given only to hallowing the Sabbath, not because the works to which the six-day period is devoted are more excellent and more worthy than those by which the Sabbath is made holy, but because God is aware of the extreme corruption of our nature, and because of it our flesh must undergo labor, lest it be lazy from idleness. In the beginning we were not created for those servile works, for that sweat of our face, but for those works by which the Sabbath is hallowed. In life eternal when we shall celebrate the Sabbath from the Sabbath, those difficult and servile works which serve the necessities of this life will cease, but due to our nature’s corruption, which originated with the sin of our first parents and has been handed down to us, those labors and drops of sweat have been multiplied as punishments. Therefore after the labors of six days have duly burdened and wearied us, the rest of a single day, the seventh, is given to us. On this basis it is clear what should be determined regarding the abundance of superfluous and superstitious holidays.

“And do all your works.”

§ 130. (VII) We are commanded to work for six days and to do or discharge ( means both) all our works, which is not without emphasis, for God prescribes for each person the works of his calling, which should be fulfilled without meddlesomeness [πoλυπραγμoσύνη]. 1 Cor. 7:17: “Let everyone lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him.” 1 Thess. 4:11: “Strive to live quietly and to do your own works, and to work with your hands as we charged you.” In 2 Thess. 3:11 they are said to walk ἀτάκτως [“disorderly”] who do not work but are busybodies. In fact, because those servile works are said to be “ours” and are distinguished from the works by which the Sabbath is hallowed, this means that it is not within the realm of our own strength to perform those holy works that are to be done on the Sabbath in such a way that they would please God, but rather that this is the work of God, who Himself hallows us. Exod. 31:13: “You shall keep My Sabbaths that you may know that I am Jehovah, hallowing you.” Ezek. 20:[20]: “I have given them My Sabbaths that they may know that I am the Lord, who hallows them.”

“The seventh day is the Sabbath of God.”

§ 131. (VIII) The seventh day is called “the Sabbath of the Lord our God.” Certainly, “the Sabbath was made for man,” as Christ declares (Mark 2:27), that is, for man’s use and benefit. But it is not called “man’s Sabbath” but “God’s Sabbath,” because God instituted it and because He celebrated it at the beginning of creation immediately after He had finished creating heaven and earth. Also, in these words lies the cause: the Lord, to whom the Sabbath belongs, is your God; therefore you will hallow the Sabbath for His honor and worship. In fact, these words prescribe something of the manner by which we should hallow the Sabbath; for since it is God’s Sabbath, it should be hallowed with the works of God, that is, with the works that God prescribes and requires, just as in the First Commandment the words “I am the Lord your God” command us not to worship God in any way other than He has prescribed to us in His Word. The very beautiful passage of Isa. 58:13 belongs here: “If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath and do not do your will” (, what pleases you) “on My holy day, then the Sabbath will be called a delight glorious in the holiness of the Lord; then you will glorify it, not doing your own ways or finding your own will.” (Here the noun “our will” means not only the corrupt desires of the flesh but also superstitious self-chosen acts of worship, as is clear from the meaning of the entire chapter.) Finally, with the words “It is the Sabbath of the Lord your God,” we are commanded to celebrate the Sabbath for the honor and worship of God alone and to give religious adoration to Him alone. Augustine (De civ. Dei, bk. 8, ch. 27): “We do not establish temples, priesthoods, rites, and sacrifices for the martyrs since they are not our gods, but their God is our God. To be sure, we honor their memories as holy men of God,” (etc.), “but we do not establish priests for them, nor do we offer them sacrifices,” (etc.). “That would be incongruous and illicit, because such is due to God alone.”

“In it you shall not do any work.”

§ 132. (IX) “In it you shall not do any work.” Münster reports (on Exodus 20) that the rabbinic scholars take these words to mean that on the Sabbath Day one is not permitted to put fruit onto coals to roast it, to pour wine over crushed mustard, or to peel the garlic you would like to eat. It was also forbidden to catch a leaping flea or to kill reptiles of either sex unless they threaten you. You were not allowed to climb a tree, lest you break off a branch. When you walk on the grass, take care not to uproot a plant with your shoe. Playing the cithara or any other musical instrument was not allowed, nor singing, nor any other sound to make a child stop crying, etc. They even say that the Sabbath is hallowed when people wear other clothes and eat and speak in ways other than they do on common days, namely, if they eat meat and fish, if they drink wine, etc. These frivolities, more absurd than Sicilian nonsense, we deservedly leave to their authors. What works God has forbidden us to do on the Sabbath is answered not only from other passages of Scripture but also from the very words of this commandment: “You shall not do any work,” that is, any servile work that would hinder the functions of the public ministry and worship of God, for the word precedes, and slaves and beasts of burden are commanded to abstain from their work. Lev. 23:7: (“You shall do no work of servitude nor any slavish task”). The reason is added in Deut. 5:15: “Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought you out from there.” Therefore, in memory of that benefit, God commands that there be a rest from labor on the Sabbath even for slaves and beasts of burden.

Here again a careful distinction must be made between the ceremonial and moral parts of this commandment. You see, it is moral and perpetual that works are forbidden which hinder the exercise of the public ministry; nevertheless those works have not been forbidden which pertain to the worship of God, to sacred ceremonies, to the love of one’s neighbor, and to the necessities of life. On the other hand, the ceremonial law prohibited many things to the Jews, but we in the New Testament are no longer bound to them. Exod. 16:29: “Let no man go out of his place on the Sabbath.” And yet Christ often traveled on the Sabbath (Matt. 12:1). Jer. 17:21 gravely pronounces: “Burdens must not be carried on the Sabbath Day.” But in John 5:8 Christ orders a man to take up his bed. There are some who interpret these words allegorically, that we should not do our works on the Sabbath—that is, we should not do those things which stem from our corrupted nature. However, this allegory belongs to the topic of the spiritual Sabbath of Christians which is perpetual and should be celebrated every day of our life. It does not belong to this passage, though, because one must abstain from such works of the corrupt flesh not only on the seventh day but also on the six intervening days as well.

“Neither you nor your son nor your daughter, nor your manservant,” etc.

§ 133. (X): “In it you shall not do any work, not you nor your son nor your daughter, nor your manservant nor your maidservant,” etc., “nor the sojourner who is within your gates.” From these words, we conclude: (1) Although the hallowing of the Sabbath does not consist primarily and properly in external rest, this commandment still forbids servile works in clear language because they do hinder the true hallowing of the Sabbath. From this a general rule should be deduced which should be observed regarding all the commandments of the Decalogue: that the Law of God has forbidden not only sins but also the occasions for sins, and the Law of God not only requires virtues but also commands us to turn away from all those things which are a hindrance to virtues. Also, from this it is clear with what an attentive mind, with what serious zeal, and with what attention sacred things should be handled! Also, with what eagerness and willingness of spirit the Word of God should be heard!

(2) Because there is explicit mention of children, servants, and sojourners, one gathers from this that parents, heads of households, and magistrates are not only required to hallow the Sabbath themselves but also to see to it that the children, servants, and sojourners entrusted to their hospitality and care hallow it as well. As far as the sharing of religion [religionis communicatio] is concerned, there is no difference between parents and children, masters and servants, rulers and subjects, “for there is one Lord of all, one faith for all, one hope and inheritance for all” (Eph. 4:4–5).

(3) Finally, because foreigners were commanded to rest from working on the seventh day, it is clear that even though they were not forced to assume Israel’s religion, those foreigners were still required to submit themselves to God’s Law in external matters. This has been set before the Christian ruler to be imitated in its own way. Had sojourners been allowed to work on the Sabbath, not only would their example have been a source of offense to the Israelites, but also their own servile tasks could have resulted in a fraudulent evasion of the Law through them.

“Nor your cattle.”

§ 134. (XI) God even remembers the cattle in this commandment, not that “God is concerned about oxen” (1 Cor. 9:9)—that is, not that He gave His Law to animals or that the hallowing of the Sabbath applies even to beasts—but rather He commands rest for the cattle on the Sabbath for these reasons: (1) Because the work of oxen requires a human handler.

(2) Had no mention of cattle been made expressly, the Jews could have evaded the divine Law by loaning their oxen to Gentiles to do their work for them.

(3) God wanted them to be refreshed on the seventh day because not only people but even cattle need some rest. The fact that the commandment connects man’s rest and that of cattle shows that the genuine observance of the Sabbath does not consist in the external rest from servile tasks—which is common to man and animal—but hallowing is also required. This hallowing is proper to man and is the reason why the external rest is required.

(4) Because God also grants some rest to animals, we should learn from this how much more kindness and clemency He has bestowed upon us.

(5) This word invites us to show humane treatment not only to servants and pilgrims but even to beasts, because cruelty to animals engenders and increases hostility toward one’s neighbor, as is witnessed by the example of Domitian, who learned his tyranny from his daily practice of killing flies. Prov. 12:10: “A righteous man has regard for the life of his beast, but the heart of the wicked is cruel.”

“For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth.”

§ 135. (XII) Here the Israelites are reminded of the original establishment of the Sabbath. Therefore this addition gives the cause: “Hallow the Sabbath Day,” etc. “For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore God blessed the Sabbath Day and hallowed it” [Exod. 20:11]. It was fitting that, among other things, the Sabbath be a permanent reminder of creation. This is why the Israelites are reminded of this article. Just as God created all things in six days and on the seventh day rested and saw what He had made, so also we should work for six days and on the seventh rest and think about the benefits given to us in the article on God’s creation and providence.

But how did God rest since, properly speaking, He did not labor in the task of creation? He spoke, and it was done. We respond. “Rest” can be understood in two ways: either to denote the end or terminus of an action, or to express a period of refreshment after working. Rest is attributed to God in the prior way, but not in the latter. Just as one should not think that God tires in His work, so neither is there idleness in God’s rest. Furthermore, God stopped making new kinds of creatures and observes and governs what He has made. Christ says (John 5:17): “My Father is working ἕως ἄρτι [“until now”], and I am working.” (See Augustine, De Genesi ad lit., bk. 4, ch. 12.) Elsewhere these words are explained in greater detail.

Here let us note the added reason for the commandment. On the seventh day, after He had created man, God rested. Surely, then, man should also rest in God so that God may rest in him. Since God rests on the seventh day without ceasing from all work, but preserves and governs the entire universe, so also hallowing the Sabbath does not consist of slothful idleness but that we do those things which have to do with the glory of God.

The virtues required in the Third Commandment.

§ 136. From these foundations the virtues of the Third Commandment are easily concluded. (1) In Lev. 23:3 the Lord says to the Israelites: “Six days shall work de bone, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, (‘a holy convocation’).” (This is repeated in vv. 7, 8, 21, and 27.) Therefore the law regarding the Sabbath requires that public assemblies of the church be instituted so that the faithful may gather to the public ministry. 2 Kings 10:20: “ ‘Sanctify an assembly unto Baal.’ And they convoked it.” Here the words are taken from the Third Commandment.

(2) In those public assemblies, true doctrine⁴¹ must be propagated, and God’s Word must be preached and heard. Lev. 10:11: “Let the priests in the tabernacle of the church teach the people of Israel all the statutes which Jehovah has spoken to them.” In Luke 4:16 Christ teaches on the Sabbath in the synagogue at Nazareth. Acts 13:14–15: “On the Sabbath Day, Paul and Barnabas entered the synagogue and sat down. After the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them and said, ‘Brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say it.’ ” Verse 44: “The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered together to hear the Word of God.” Acts 15:21: “From ancient times Moses has had in every city those who preach him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.”

(3) In those same assemblies, the divinely instituted ceremonies should be administered, especially the Sacraments. Although in the New Testament they are not bound to a certain time and place, nevertheless it is fitting that they be actively administered especially in the public assembly of the church. 1 Cor. 11:20: “When you meet together in one place, this is not to eat the Lord’s Supper.” Acts 20:7: “On the first day of the week, when we had gathered together to break bread, Paul spoke to them.”

(4) The public, solemn invocation and praising of God must be instituted in which our praise, thanksgivings, and prayers are joined together with the church. Ps. 22:[22]: “In the midst of the congregation () I shall praise You.” Verse 25: “From You comes my praise in the great congregation.” Acts 16:13: “On the Sabbath Day we went outside the city where there seemed to be a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together.”

(5) Alms should be gathered to support the poor. Isa. 58:7[, 13]: “Share your bread with the hungry and bring the needy into your house. This will be called the holy Sabbath of the Lord,” etc. 1 Cor. 16:1–2: “Concerning the collections which are being made for the saints: as I directed the churches at Galatia, so you also are to do. On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as it pleases him.” (See Justin, Apol. 2, p. 77, where he very beautifully describes the assemblies of the church at his time.) To this belongs also all other works of mercy, which certainly do not profane the Sabbath. Frequently Christ healed the sick on the Sabbath and defended this activity of His against the superstition of the Pharisees.

(6) One must abstain from manual, servile, and mechanical works, which hinder the public exercise of divine worship.

The sins against the Third Commandment.

§ 137. Therefore the following sins conflict with the Third Commandment: (1) “Neglecting to meet together” (Heb. 10:25). Not to be involved in the public assemblies of the church, to think little of them, and to attend the holy assemblies rarely.

(2) To waste holy days in slothful idleness; to neglect reading, meditating on, and hearing the Word; and to change doctrine according to the feelings and desires of others.

(3) To neglect the administration and use of the Sacraments, to change their divine institution, to exclude from participation in sacred rites those who should have been admitted, and to admit those who should have been excluded. Ezek. 23:38[–39]: “They profaned My Sabbaths when they sacrificed their children to idols.”

(4) To hold the public prayers of the church in contempt; to absent oneself from them without urgent cause; to be present for public prayers and to recite them, but without feeling or attention; and to pray in an unknown language. 1 Cor. 14:17: “You may give thanks well enough, but the other person is not edified.”

(5) To give little or nothing for the support of the poor; to sound the trumpet when you give your alms (cf. Matt. 6:2), that is, to make a display of oneself in giving alms.

(6) To give no rest to domestic servants; to do works on the Sabbath which hinder and could distract one from hallowing the Sabbath.

The duties of ministers of the Word.

§ 138. Furthermore, since not all people can perform the office of prophet (1 Cor. 12:29), the sanctioning of this commandment establishes a distinction between ministers of the Word and hearers. Each of these is assigned their own responsibilities and roles.

The duties of ministers are: (1) To set before the flock entrusted to them the true and full teaching of the Law and Gospel. 1 Pet. 4:11: “He who speaks, let him speak as one who utters the oracles of God.” To this belongs the catechetical instruction of the untaught, the refutation of those who are opposed to the truth, the comforting of the afflicted, etc. (2) To administer the Sacraments correctly according to their divine institution. 1 Cor. 11:23: “I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you.” (3) To preserve the discipline of the church. Matt. 18:17: “Tell it to the church.” To this belongs admonition, correction, rebuke, and the use of the Keys in absolution and in excommunication. (4) To pray for the entire church. In 1 Sam. 12:23, Samuel says, “Far be it for me to sin against Jehovah by ceasing to pray for you and instructing you in the good and right way.” (5) To set an example for his hearers of an approved life. Titus 2:7: “Show yourself in all respects a model of good works,” etc. We shall speak about this in greater detail in our chapter on the ministry [On the Ecclesiastical Ministry (Commonplace XXVI), §§ 265–89].

The duties of hearers

The duties of hearers are these: (1) To hear the Word of God from the mouth of ministers as from the mouth of God and to beware of false prophets. (2) To use the divinely instituted Sacraments. (3) To be obedient to ministers; to avoid brethren who walk disorderly [2 Thess. 3:6]; not to greet the excommunicated; etc. (4) To pray for ministers; to thank God for faithful preachers of His Word. (5) To adorn their confession of doctrine with honorable living. (6) Finally, to love and honor ministers, to live peacefully with them, to do good to them, to make a contribution to feed those who teach and learn in schools, to bear with the weaknesses of ministers that do not seriously ruin or hinder their office or give rise to public scandal.

The antithesis shows easily what ministers and hearers must avoid: [becoming] little mindful of their office and [becoming]⁴² transgressors of the Third Commandment. One should also add the promises and threats as well as the examples that illustrate that obedience to this commandment is rewarded while disobedience is punished.

** In regard to the Sabbath, the Photinians sin by deficiency, for they say that in the New Testament “[the Sabbath] was abrogated in such a way that nothing” (and thus not even the moral Law) “remained.” [Those who sin] by excess are: (1) The Jews, who still today under the New Testament claim that observing the Sabbath is necessary. They imagine that “all the Gentiles who have not kept the Sabbath suffer terrible torments in hell and are compelled, whether they will or no, to keep the Sabbath even in hell. That is, at the moment when the Jews begin their Sabbath on earth, the damned are summoned to rest by an angel when the signal is given and are immediately recalled to their punishment right when the Jews conclude the Sabbath” (Helvicus, vol. 4, Giss. disp. 9). (2) The Ebionites [sin in excess] not so much because of Mosaic rigor but because of the apostles’ examples that are extant in Acts: they observed the Jewish Sabbath along with the Christian Sunday (Eusebius, Hist. 27, bk. 3). (3) In our time, the Christians in Ethiopia act similarly to the Ebionites, according to Bellarmine (De cult. sanctor., bk. 3, ch. 9). Perkins (Casuum consc., bk. 2, ch. 16) poses the question: “Is it within the power of God’s church on earth to transfer the day of the Sabbath from the seventh day to any other day?” To this he gives a negative response but adds moderately that he “is not determining anything absolutely but is only proposing that which seems to him to agree most closely with truth and reason.” Schönfeld more strictly demands necessity (Syllogismo septimo D. Mentzero opposito). His minor premise reads as follows: “Christian children [should learn] the Decalogue in its entirety” (word for word and letter for letter) “so that they both keep in mind the distinction between the ceremonial and moral laws and [know] that in place of the ceremonial Sabbath the seventh day in general” (which is moral) “and actually every day should be celebrated as the Lord’s Day.” To the contrary, Mentzer responds (vol. 2, Giss. Disp. 1, th. 145): “It is not a moral law that each seventh day be a Sabbath; but this is moral, that of every seven days one or more be specifically given to divine worship.” Luther (vol. 8, Jena edition [1562ff.], f. 348)⁴³ in translation renders it as der Feiertag [“the holiday”]. (Cf. Balduin, q. 6 on Colossians 2; and Meelführer, Vindic., Dom. 17 post Trin., th. 46.) **

How many Sabbaths there are.

§ 139. (I) The question arises: How many Sabbaths are there?

We respond. (1) There is the Sabbath of creation (Gen. 2:2), when God rested from all the works He had performed and blessed the seventh day.

(2) There is the Sabbath of Moses, where the seventh day was appointed for the public exercise of divine worship and rest from household and civil works (Exod. 20:10). Furthermore, because the works by which the Sabbath is hallowed are the end purpose for which man was created, the entire week of the other days is called among the Jews “Sabbath” or “Sabbaths.” To this Sabbath of Moses also should belong the Sabbath of years, which was every seventh year, when the Israelites were commanded to interrupt their cultivation of fields and vines (Lev. 25:3[–7]). For this reason it is also called the Sabbath of the land [Lev. 25:6].

(3) There is the Sabbath of redemption, when Christ rested in the tomb for the entire Sabbath Day (Luke [23]:54, 56). Just as God rested on the seventh day when He had finished the work of the first creation, so also Christ in the same way wished to rest in the tomb when the work of our re-creation and reforming [ἀνακτίσεως καὶ ἀναπλάσεως] had been completed, to show that He has won eternal rest for us. Augustine (De Genesi ad lit., bk. 4, ch. 11):

On that Sabbath Day Christ rested in the tomb, and He kept that entire day as the day of His holy rest. This was after He had finished all His work on the sixth day—that is, the day of Preparation, which they call “the sixth of the Sabbath.”⁴⁴ For on that day were fulfilled on the very tree of the cross all things which were written of Him. He even used that verb when He said, “It is finished.”

** Sipontinus claims that “Sabbath” is derived from , which means “seven,” because it is the seventh day of the week. Plutarch (Sympos., bk. 4) derives it, but poorly, from σαβάξειν [“cry out in honor of Bacchus”] or Σάββoις(“Bacchanals”). Most accurately, it is derived from (“he rested”). **

(4) There is the Christian Sabbath, where, according to the apostles’ arrangement, the first day of the week was set aside for the public assemblies of the church. We shall say more about this in its own place [§ 141].

(5) There is the inner, spiritual Sabbath wherein we rest from the works of our corrupt flesh and let God work in us. This Sabbath should be continuous and perpetual within the reborn. Isa. 56:2: “The one who keeps the Sabbath will keep his hands from doing any evil.” Isa. 58:13: “Do not do your own pleasure on My holy day.” Heb. 4:10: “Whoever enters God’s rest also ceases from his labors as God did from His.” Ignatius (Letter 3 ad Magnesianos): “Let each of us keep the Sabbath spiritually, happily attending to the Law, not indulging the body, marveling at God’s creation,” etc. Augustine (De Gen. ad lit., bk. 4, ch. 13): “In the season of New Testament grace, one observes a permanent Sabbath who works whatever good he does with the hope of the rest to come. He does not boast of those good works of his as if he had some good thing on his own, which he had not received [cf. 1 Cor. 4:7],” etc. “He rests from his former works since now, walking in newness of life, he knows that God is at work in him.”

** Isidore of Pelusium (bk. 1, Letter 71): “You shall call the seventh day holy. You will not do on it any servile (λατρεὑτoν) work, but everything will be done for every soul.” By λατρείαν here he means “servitude.” He says: “Therefore on the Sabbath Day you will do no servile activity which would draw you away as servants from time set aside for the worship of God, lest any sinful burden weigh down upon you. For it is a day to be recreated and forgiven. Its dignity is not served by being disgraced with the bonds of sins nor being afflicted with dishonor. Furthermore, this follows: that whatever is done must be done for the soul. Through these words He orders that all those things which benefit the soul be done: prayer, rest, admonition, doing good, chastity, self-control, truth, purity,” etc. **

Without this spiritual Sabbath, the external observance of the Sabbath is not pleasing to God; in fact, the observance of the ceremonial Sabbath was established as a figure of the spiritual Sabbath. Irenaeus (bk. 4, ch. 30): “The Sabbaths taught all-day persistence in devotion to God.”

(6) There is an eternal Sabbath on which we shall rest in both soul and body from the sins, calamities, and miseries of this life. Isa. 66:23: “It will be Sabbath after Sabbath.” Heb. 4:6: “It remains for some to enter rest.” Verse 9: “So, then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.” Origen (on Numbers, homily 23): “Beyond this world there is an observance of the true Sabbath.” This Sabbath is begun in the reborn through the spiritual Sabbath of this life and will finally be fulfilled in the life which is to come. There “God will be all in all” (1 Cor. 15:28).

** The question arises: Was the Sabbath in practice before Moses? Although Moses says, “God rested on the seventh day” [Gen. 2:2], he does not add that either a blessing or a hallowing had been enjoined upon man, when he had been created, by a command, nor is there any trace of hallowing the seventh day in Genesis before the promulgation of the Law. Consequently, the rabbinic scholars say (Bereshit Rabba): “Abraham did not observe the Sabbath.” Thus in the publication of the Law, the Sabbath is established as a memorial not only of resting from the work of creation but also of the liberation from Egypt. **

To what end the Sabbath was established.

§ 140. (II) The question arises: To what end did God establish the Mosaic Sabbath?

We respond. There are several ends: (1) That there would be a certain day on which the public assemblies of the church would be provided and the doctrine of the true knowledge of God would be proclaimed publicly. Lev. 23:3: “The seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation.” To this belong the sacrifices, prayers, hymns, etc., by which the Sabbath was truly hallowed.

(2) That there would be a permanent reminder of the article of creation. The words of this commandment have this in mind. Exod. 20:[9–]10: “Six days you will labor, for in six days God made heaven and earth and rested on the seventh day.”

(3) That there would be a memorial of their liberation from Egyptian slavery and of the thanksgiving that is owed to God for their rest from the severe labors which they had experienced in Egypt. Deut. 5:14–15: “But the seventh day will be a Sabbath to Jehovah, and you will remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and Jehovah your God brought you out with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore God commanded you to keep the Sabbath Day.”

(4) That physical rest would be given to animals and people—to animals for the sake of men and to men for the sake of divine worship. Exod. 20:10: “You will not do any work, nor your manservant, nor your cattle.”

(5) That the spiritual and internal Sabbath, the Sabbath of redemption which Christ accomplished in the tomb, and the eternal Sabbath would be impressed upon the Israelites. Exod. 31:13: “You will keep My Sabbath because it is a sign between Me and you.” Ezek. 20:12: “I gave them My Sabbaths for a sign between Me and them.” Augustine (De Genes. ad lit.,⁴⁵ bk. 4, ch. 11): “One can probably say that the Jews were commanded to observe the Sabbath as a shadow of the future, to prefigure the spiritual rest which God, by the example of His own rest, promised by arcane signification to His faithful who do good works.”

** Reuchlin (De Cabbala, bk. 3). The Cabalists say: “The Sabbath is a mystery of the living God, for it stands as a symbol of the world above, that is, as a symbol of the eternal jubilee where all work shall cease. Therefore [the Sabbath] is mentioned in the laws in a twofold use. Deut. 5[:12]: ‘Keep the Sabbath Day.’ This He wants to be applied to outward actions according to this lower world below. Then, in Exod. 20[:8]: ‘Remember the Sabbath Day to hallow it’—that is, by joining the power of the soul to the mind for the increase of contemplation according to the world above.” (See more there; and in connection with this, see also Galatinus, bk. 11, chs. 8ff.) **

Why the first day of the week has taken the place of the Sabbath.

§ 141. (III) The question arises: In the worship [sacris] of the New Testament, why was the first day of the week appointed to replace the Sabbath?

We respond. We shall speak later about the abrogation of the Sabbath [cf. On the Ceremonial and Forensic Laws (Commonplace XVI), §§ 27, 39–41]. Here we should explain why the apostles appointed the first day of the week for the public exercise of divine worship. This is something that was confirmed later by a special regulation of Constantine, according to Eusebius (De vita Constantini, bk. 4, ch. 18).

** That the apostles observed the first day of the week to conduct assemblies can be concluded from Acts 20:7 and 1 Cor. 16:2, where μία σαββάτων is “the first day of the week.” This day seems more fitting than all others for sacred assemblies because for the second time Christ solemnly committed the apostolic ministry to the disciples when they had gathered together on the eighth day after His resurrection—that is, on the first day of the week (John 20). **

The primary and most important reason is because Christ rose from the dead on that day, as is seen from the Gospel accounts of Matt. 28:1 and Mark 16:1. Thus the first day of the week is called ἡμέρα κυριακή (“the Lord’s Day”) (Rev. 1:10).

(1) Just as the Sabbath was instituted in the Old Testment in remembrance of the benefit of God’s six-day work of creation and His rest from it on the seventh day, so also in the New Testament the first day of the week is celebrated in remembrance of the benefit of Christ’s victorious return from the dead in glory on the first day of the week after He had accomplished the mystery of our redemption through His suffering and death.

(2) Just as in the Old Testament the Sabbath was instituted as a memorial of the liberation from Egypt (Deut. 5:15), so also in the New Testament the Lord’s Day is a memorial of our spiritual liberation from the kingdom and captivity of Satan, which was given to us through Christ’s resurrection. The Israelites’ deliverance from Egypt was a type of this.

(3) Through Christ’s death and resurrection the Levitical ceremonies and shadows of the Law have been abrogated. The Sabbath was counted among these (Col. 2:17). Therefore exchanging the Sabbath for the Lord’s Day is a public testimony that Christians have been freed from the shadows of the Law and from the distinction of days which God had sanctioned formerly. Ignatius (Letter 3 ad Magnes.): “Let everyone who loves Christ celebrate the Lord’s Day, which has been consecrated to the resurrection as the queen and princess of all days.” Moreover, it is not absurd that in this respect there was usually also a reference to the article of creation, seeing as it was on the first day of the week that light was divided from darkness at the beginning of creation. Justin (Apol. 2, p. 77): “We all have an assembly together on Sunday because it is the first day, the day on which God drove away the darkness, changed matter, and made the world—the same day on which Christ, our Savior, rose from the dead.”

** Augustine ([Sermon] 136 de temp., t. 10, col. 186):

The entire gift of the Sabbath and that ancient festival of the Jewish people was changed by the solemnity of that (the Lord’s) day. On the Sabbath the Jews would perform no servile work. Now we do not perform any servile work on the Lord’s Day because we are not slaves to sins and vices. The Jews would not go out of their homes. Now we do not go out of the house of Christ, for we are in the church. They would not light a fire on the Sabbath Day. On the contrary, we kindle the fire of the Holy Spirit within ourselves and cook out every fault of our sins. About this fire the Lord says, “I came to send fire upon the earth” [Luke 12:49]. [The Jews] would not take a trip on the Sabbath Day, for they lost Him who said, “I am the way” [John 14:6]. However, we say, “Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the Law of the Lord,” etc. [Ps. 119:1].

Blasius Viegas has discussed the prerogatives of the Lord’s Day in detail (commentary on Revelation 1, p. 55). Origen claims (on Exodus 16): “The manna first rained in the desert on the Lord’s Day.” He concludes this from Moses and adds: “Since manna rained from heaven on the Lord’s Day and did not rain on the Sabbath, the Jews should know that our Sunday was preferred to the Jewish Sabbath already at that time, and this indicated that no grace came down from God from heaven to them on their Sabbath.” Ambrose (commentary on 1 Corinthians 10), Augustine (Sermon 257 de temp.), and the Council of Caesarea have the same opinion. Bede reports this in his letter De celebr. pasch. For it was for six whole days that it rained manna continuously, namely, from Sunday through Friday inclusively. Förster (Thes. catech., decad. 1, prob. 8):

With singular zeal and forethought did the Holy Trinity desire solemnly to consecrate the first day of the week as a perpetual remembrance [ἀνάμνησιν] of His cardinal benefits: the Father, because of the work of creation which He began that day; the Son, because of the work of redemption which He completed with His resurrection on that day; and, finally, the Holy Spirit because of His work of sanctification—for the performing of which He was visibly poured out upon Christ’s disciples on that day. **

Whether household and civil tasks have been forbidden absolutely on the Sabbath.

§ 142. (IV) The question arises: Have the tasks of this life—that is, household and civic works—been forbidden on the Sabbath absolutely and simply?

We respond. The Jews are very superstitious when observing the Sabbath. However, let us remember that the aim of this commandment is that it be hallowed, that is, that the Sabbath be spent in holy works. Therefore whatever works do not hinder or impede the public exercise of divine worship are not banned in this commandment. Moreover, in the New Testament Christ teaches that there is a greater freedom (Matt. 12:1; John 5:8; Luke 14:5). In fact, if, for example, necessity or the love of one’s neighbor demands certain works on the Sabbath, one does not sin against this commandment by performing them. There is a little verse about this that includes the four cases in which one may work on the Sabbath: “small things, necessity, the state, with piety.” In Matt. 12:1 the disciples pluck heads of grain on the Sabbath due to hunger. Matt. 12:12: “It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” Luke 13:15: “Does not each one of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it?” Luke 14:5: “Which of you, having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a well, will not immediately pull it out on the Sabbath Day?” Irenaeus ([Advers. haeres.,] bk. 4, ch. 19, p. 244): “The Law commanded one to refrain from every servile work, that is, from all greed that is motivated by business or any other worldly activity. Furthermore, it encourages the doing of works of the soul; these are done through wisdom and kind words to help our neighbors.” [Corpus Iuris Civilis,] bk.3, C. De feriis, l. Omnes should be understood in reference to those cases: “All judges, all the people of the city, and the duties of all trades should rest on the venerable day of Sunday. However, those in the country may freely and lawfully work in the cultivation of their fields, lest they miss the useful opportunity given by heaven’s providence (because it happens frequently that grain may not be put to the plow or vines to the irrigation ditch more suitably on another day).” Also ([Ius canonicum] (De consecr., dist. 3., cap. Pervenit.): “Word has reached me that some men of perverse spirit have sowed among you some corrupt ideas that are opposed to the holy faith, such that they forbid anything to be done on the Sabbath. We have said that they are nothing else but the preachers of the Antichrist,” etc.

Apart from a case of necessity, the Sabbath is profaned by servile and household works. Therefore we seriously disapprove of what the Jesuit Toletus writes (Instruct., bk. 4, ch. 25): “When these things cannot be done except on a feast day, one may take a trip (having first heard the sacred [Mass]) or may hunt, he may study over litigation for financial reasons, he may sell meat or kill animals to eat for money, he may build places for spectacles on solemnities.”

** Casaubonus (Exerc. 1 ad ann. Baron., ch. 9, p. 66):

The rabbinic scholars make the universal declaration that every immediate peril of losing one’s life supercedes the Sabbath. They have a saying: “One may relieve the necessities of life on the Sabbath.” Josephus (p. 670) said it in this way: “For the sake of the body alone one may resist even on Sabbath days.” Here “body” is what the rabbinics call “the peril of one’s life.” In his book Περὶ ἀπoικίας, Philo reports that “there have been some teachers who taught that written laws were the symbols of intellectual things.” These men were making the observance of the Sabbath according to the letter of little import. Consequently, Philo rebukes them here and urges them to change their opinion. On the other hand, some Jews who relied on the written word were claiming that all work must cease on the Sabbath with no exception and that one should not even resist an enemy who is cutting his throat. Matathias Maccabeus tempered this harshness. He originated the decree that it was lawful to restrain an enemy who was taking one’s life and still keep the Sabbath (as is reported in 1 Maccabees 2:41 and Josephus, bk. 12, ch. 8). Matthew of Paris writes (1260): “At the same time, at Theocesbery, a certain Jew fell into a latrine. Because it was the Sabbath that day, he did not allow himself to be pulled out until the following Lord’s Day because of his reverence⁴⁶ for the Sabbath. So it happened that the Jew died in the stench.” Münster tells a similar account of another Jew who also fell into a latrine on the Sabbath (Evangelium Hebraicum secundum Matthaeum, ch. 12).

Azorius (Instit., vol. 1, bk. 7, ch. 7, p. 55) allows an interruption of divine worship. Suarez (De festor. observat., bk. 2, ch. 4, no. 3, f. 153) claims: “God dedicated the seventh day to the worship of Himself in mind and intent but not in performance.” Again: “God did not set down an obligation or law of hallowing the Sabbath.” Cajetan (In Thom., part 2, q. 122, art. 4) and Suarez (f. 154): “God made the worship of the Sabbath in the actual outward resting from servile works. He did not command action but only a cessation of action.” Albericus Gentilis (De nupt., bk. 1, ch. 6) says that “it is lawful to bring in grain on the Sabbath Day if ecclesiastical [duties] are not hindered” ([Corpus Iuris Civilis,] throughout bk. 3, C. De feriis). (1) “The gods help those who act,” says Varro (De re rust., 1), “and our hands must invoke the present help of the gods.” (2) Laws and rights allow one to do certain things even on holy days. (3) It is unnecessary to spend entire days on divine worship. (See Covarruvias, Variar. resol., bk. 4, ch. 19.) (4) One may pick up a sheep on the Sabbath and cut ears of grain for the hungry. (5) According to Panormitanus (c. 3, De consuet.): “One may fish on holy days out of necessity or pursue a fleeing debtor.” (6) “The Sabbath was not changed into the Lord’s Day but was abrogated,” says Bernard (Homily 30 on Song of Songs). (7) Theologians thus teach that people were not commanded to abstain from their daily labors on the Lord’s Day. (8) “If there is time for books, why not also for plows? Surely God has regard for our vocations.” **⁴⁷

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