Sabbath (Teachings of the Orthodox Church)

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Don't be anxious for your life, what you will eat, nor yet for your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they don't sow, they don't reap, they have no warehouse or barn, and God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than birds! Which of you by being anxious can add a cubit to his height? If then you aren't able to do even the least things, why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow. They don't toil, neither do they spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if this is how God clothes the grass in the field, which today exists, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith? Don't seek what you will eat or what you will drink; neither be anxious. For the nations of the world seek after all of these things, but your Father knows that you need these things. But seek God's Kingdom, and all these things will be added to you.

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	Sabbath (Teachings of the Orthodox Church)

QUESTION:

I was wondering why -- and I assume this came before the Catholic/Greek split -- the church changed the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday.

I never realized it until a Jewish friend mentioned that their Sabbath was Saturday. When I thought about it, I realized that Saturday was the the Seventh Day on which God rested after creating the world.

Also, the word for Saturday in many European languages is a variation of the word Sabbath (e.g., in Italian, Sabato).

ANSWER:

The Saturday Sabbath is appropriate to the Old Testament.

In the New Testament -- which celebrates the resurrection of Christ on the first day of the week -- the central experience of our faith as Christians is commemorated every Sunday of the year. We find the fulfillment tothat which was revealed in the Old Testament.

We are under no more obligation to follow the Saturday Sabbath than we are to follow Old Testament dietary restrictions -- upon which today's Kosher laws are derived -- or to practice circumcision as a sign of our covenant with God.

Published in January 2011.

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