God crea\u00adted the earth in six days and on the seventh he res\u00adted. The\u00adr\u00ade\u00adfo\u00adre, he bles\u00adsed it and gave it a spe\u00adcial mea\u00adning and endo\u00adwed this seventh day with heal\u00ading power. But he not only bles\u00adsed this day, he sanc\u00adti\u00adfied it. He set this day apart from all others becau\u00adse it was the day when God hims\u00adelf res\u00adted from his crea\u00adti\u00adon. But God did not rest becau\u00adse he was exhaus\u00adted, but becau\u00adse ever\u00ady\u00adthing was ful\u00adly yiel\u00added. In the New Tes\u00adta\u00adment, Jesus Christ repea\u00adted\u00adly col\u00adl\u00adi\u00addes with the com\u00admon ide\u00adas of what is or is not allo\u00adwed on the seventh day, the Sab\u00adbath. Jesus Christ shows the holi\u00adne\u00adss of this spe\u00adcial day anew.<\/p>\n
God bles\u00adses the seventh day \tDo you under\u00adstand the dif\u00adfe\u00adrence bet\u00adween bles\u00adsing and sanctifying? God crea\u00adted the earth in six days and res\u00adted on the seventh. He the\u00adr\u00ade\u00adfo\u00adre bles\u00adsed it and gave it a spe\u00adcial mea\u00adning, endo\u00adwing this seventh day with heal\u00ading power. But he not only bles\u00adsed this day, he also sanc\u00adti\u00adfied it. He set this day apart from all others becau\u00adse it was the day\u2026<\/p>","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":7091,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","wpfc_preacher":[79],"wpfc_sermon_series":[90],"wpfc_sermon_topics":[],"wpfc_bible_book":[],"wpfc_service_type":[12],"class_list":{"0":"wpfc_preacher-cedric-bruegger","1":"wpfc_sermon_series-heilig-heilig-heilig","2":"wpfc-sermon-single","3":"post-7087","4":"wpfc_sermon","5":"type-wpfc_sermon","6":"status-publish","7":"has-post-thumbnail","8":"hentry","11":"wpfc_service_type-gottesdienst"},"acf":[],"sermons_blog_filters_topics":"\t\t\t\t
\nHoly, holy, holy. This is our the\u00adme for the year. We are loo\u00adking in depth at the holi\u00adne\u00adss of God. This holi\u00adne\u00adss is often very abs\u00adtract and inac\u00adces\u00adsi\u00adble to us. It can the\u00adr\u00ade\u00adfo\u00adre be hel\u00adpful if we look at how the natu\u00adre of God radia\u00adtes on cer\u00adtain things. For God\u2019s most intrin\u00adsic qua\u00adli\u00adty is holi\u00adne\u00adss. Holy is the\u00adr\u00ade\u00adfo\u00adre the only cha\u00adrac\u00adte\u00adristic of God\u2019s natu\u00adre that is spo\u00adken about him three times. The angels call out to one ano\u00adther: \u00ab[\u2026] Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almigh\u00adty! The earth is fil\u00adled with his glo\u00adry!\u00bb (Isai\u00adah 6:3 NLB<\/span>). The Almigh\u00adty crea\u00adted the earth and it in turn is fil\u00adled with his glo\u00adry. Crea\u00adti\u00adon is God\u2019s very own mira\u00adcle, which we have been deal\u00ading with throug\u00adhout the past year. But it is pre\u00adcis\u00ade\u00adly in this con\u00adtext of the crea\u00adti\u00adon sto\u00adry that we find the word holy for the first time. Let us now del\u00adve into this ver\u00adse. In the first chap\u00adter of the Bible, we find the crea\u00adti\u00adon of the earth. God crea\u00adted the earth and just as a pain\u00adter embel\u00adlishes his pic\u00adtu\u00adre more and more and goes into detail, so does God with his crea\u00adti\u00adon. In the begin\u00adning, God crea\u00adtes in broad strokes until he final\u00adly arri\u00adves at man\u00adkind. God crea\u00adted the earth in six days and then? \u00abSo the crea\u00adti\u00adon of hea\u00adven and earth was com\u00adple\u00adted, with ever\u00ady\u00adthing that belongs to it. On the seventh day God finis\u00adhed his work and res\u00adted from his labour. And God bles\u00adsed the seventh day [\u2026]\u00bb (Gene\u00adsis 2:1\u20133 NLB<\/span>).
\nIt is hard to belie\u00adve. The almigh\u00adty God, who crea\u00adted the earth in six days, rests on the seventh day. We will go into what this means in more detail later. But the begin\u00adning of the third ver\u00adse is decisi\u00adve. God bles\u00adsed the seventh day. Bles\u00adsing goes back to the Hebrew word \u00abbarak\u00bb. This means that a per\u00adson or an object is endo\u00adwed with heal\u00ading power. It is not just a well-inten\u00adtio\u00adned wish or a good thought that is expres\u00adsed here. Rather, it is the power of God that sett\u00adles on some\u00adthing full of sal\u00adva\u00adti\u00adon. God bles\u00adses the seventh day here \u2013 the Sab\u00adbath. The spe\u00adcial natu\u00adre of this day is empha\u00adsis\u00aded once again by giving it a spe\u00adcial name. As a result, this day has been given a share in divi\u00adne grace and power. This first Sab\u00adbath day stands out from all the others. Inde\u00aded, it is the only day on which God ever rested.
\nIt is also inte\u00adres\u00adt\u00ading to see how the Israe\u00adli\u00adtes orga\u00adni\u00adse their days. Our days start in the midd\u00adle of the night. This is when most peo\u00adp\u00adle are hap\u00adpy to rest, becau\u00adse they have to get up ear\u00adly the next day. The con\u00adscious start to the day is work. The first thing you do on a new day is get up, get rea\u00addy and go to school or work. But the Jewish under\u00adstan\u00adding is quite dif\u00adfe\u00adrent. The\u00adre, the new day beg\u00adins in the evening. So does the Sab\u00adbath, which starts on Fri\u00adday evening. But how is evening defi\u00adned? It beg\u00adins when you can no lon\u00adger distin\u00adgu\u00adish a grey thread of wool from a blue one. For us, the evening usual\u00adly has three main func\u00adtions \u2013 eating, lei\u00adsu\u00adre and slee\u00adping. The day beg\u00adins with refuel\u00adling, rest and only then in the last half of the day does work fol\u00adlow. Sin\u00adce God hims\u00adelf res\u00adted, the\u00adre is bles\u00adsing in rest and espe\u00adci\u00adal\u00adly on the seventh day of the week.
\nGod decla\u00adres the seventh day holy
\nSo far, the who\u00adle thing has\u00adn\u2019t had much to do with holi\u00adne\u00adss. But this fol\u00adlows now. \u00abAnd God bles\u00adsed the seventh day and declared it holy [\u2026]\u00bb (Gene\u00adsis 2:3 NLB<\/span>). What is the dif\u00adfe\u00adrence bet\u00adween bles\u00adsing and sanc\u00adti\u00adfy\u00ading? As alre\u00ada\u00addy men\u00adtio\u00adned, when some\u00adthing is bles\u00adsed, it recei\u00adves a share in God\u2019s grace and power. When some\u00adthing is declared holy, it is set apart for some\u00adthing spe\u00adcial. You will hear this over\u00adar\u00adching mea\u00adning of holy over and over again, at least when I preach. But this mea\u00adning is cru\u00adcial. Becau\u00adse the seventh day is set apart from all others. It belongs to God alo\u00adne. This seventh day is dif\u00adfe\u00adrent from all the others. The point of refe\u00adrence is the crea\u00adti\u00adon sto\u00adry, becau\u00adse God also res\u00adted on this day. The reason why this day is bles\u00adsed and holy also fol\u00adlows this pat\u00adtern. This day is so spe\u00adcial \u00ab[\u2026] becau\u00adse it was the day on which he res\u00adted from his work of crea\u00adti\u00adon\u00bb (Gene\u00adsis 2:3 NLB<\/span>). This rai\u00adses the ques\u00adti\u00adon of why God had to rest. Was he so exhaus\u00adted? Did he reach the limits of his strength with the crea\u00adti\u00adon of the earth to such an ext\u00adent that he only crea\u00adted it with dif\u00adfi\u00adcul\u00adty and hard\u00adship? Do we see God at the limit here? No, by no means. Becau\u00adse God did not rest becau\u00adse he was exhaus\u00adted. He did not rest becau\u00adse he nee\u00added to. Rather, he res\u00adted becau\u00adse ever\u00ady\u00adthing was per\u00adfect\u00adly crea\u00adted. It is also the only day in the crea\u00adti\u00adon account that is not said to pass. This means that the divi\u00adne ser\u00advice continues.
\nThis first descrip\u00adti\u00adon of the Sab\u00adbath does not yet con\u00adtain a com\u00admandment for peo\u00adp\u00adle. It mere\u00adly descri\u00adbes the fact that God res\u00adted. Howe\u00adver, it is also clear that the seventh day is dif\u00adfe\u00adrent from the others. When God choo\u00adses his holy peo\u00adp\u00adle, the Israe\u00adli\u00adtes, he gives them a multi\u00adtu\u00adde of com\u00admandments. In what is pro\u00adba\u00adb\u00adly the most famous coll\u00adec\u00adtion of laws, the Ten Com\u00admandments, the\u00adre is also an ins\u00adtruc\u00adtion about the seventh day of the week. \u00abRemem\u00adber the Sab\u00adbath and keep it holy. Six days a week you are to work and ful\u00adfil your dai\u00adly duties, but the seventh day is a day of rest for the LORD<\/span> your God. On this day no mem\u00adber of your house\u00adhold may do any work. This appli\u00ades to you, your sons and daugh\u00adters, your male and fema\u00adle slaves, your live\u00adstock and all for\u00adeig\u00adners living with you. For in six days the LORD<\/span> crea\u00adted the hea\u00advens, the earth, the sea and all that is in them and on them, but on the seventh day he res\u00adted. That is why the LORD<\/span> bles\u00adsed the Sab\u00adbath and declared it holy\u00bb (Exodus 20:8\u201311 NLB<\/span>). God\u2019s peo\u00adp\u00adle are to rest on the seventh day. This seventh day is a day of rest for the Lord. This was not only uni\u00adque at the time, but revo\u00adlu\u00adtio\u00adna\u00adry. For this Sab\u00adbath com\u00admandment also included slaves, for\u00adeig\u00adners and even live\u00adstock. Ever\u00ady\u00adthing should rest on this day, but not for its own sake, but for the honour of God. The fact that no work is done on this day is a ser\u00advice to God. It is a step\u00adping back and say\u00ading that ever\u00ady\u00adthing has its time and that ulti\u00adm\u00adate\u00adly God has ever\u00ady\u00adthing in his hands.
\nThe obser\u00advan\u00adce of the Sab\u00adbath is a sign of God\u2019s holy peo\u00adp\u00adle. Both for the peo\u00adp\u00adle of Isra\u00adel and for all fol\u00adlo\u00adwers of Jesus Christ. \u00abAnd I gave them my Sab\u00adbath as a sign of the coven\u00adant bet\u00adween them and me. By this they were to reco\u00adg\u00adni\u00adse that it is I, the LORD<\/span>, who sanc\u00adti\u00adfy them\u00bb (Eze\u00adkiel 20:12 NLB<\/span>). Here, too, the sanc\u00adti\u00adfi\u00adca\u00adti\u00adon of the peo\u00adp\u00adle is shown in their sepa\u00adra\u00adti\u00adon from other peo\u00adp\u00adles. But why is this Sab\u00adbath day so important, this divi\u00adne day of rest? \u00abGod is never sel\u00adfi\u00adsh; he is holy and sanc\u00adti\u00adfies, i.e. he draws peo\u00adp\u00adle into his com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adty. The day of rest was crea\u00adted by God as an image and con\u00adstant remin\u00adder of the\u00adse facts, and we should also keep it. It is also a remin\u00adder of the per\u00adfect rest that we can look for\u00adward to\u00bb (Hans Brun). When fol\u00adlo\u00adwers of Jesus Christ share in God\u2019s rest, this beco\u00admes a bles\u00adsing for them.
\nJesus\u00bb rela\u00adti\u00adonship to the Sabbath
\nBut what does Jesus Christ hims\u00adelf think about God\u2019s pro\u00admi\u00adsed day of rest? At the time of Jesus Christ, the reli\u00adgious lea\u00adder\u00adship was anxious to keep all the laws and orders that God had given to the Israe\u00adli\u00adtes through Moses and the pro\u00adphe\u00adts. Their actions were cha\u00adrac\u00adte\u00adri\u00adsed by fear. They wan\u00adted to do ever\u00ady\u00adthing right so that they would not incur God\u2019s wrath. For exam\u00adp\u00adle, at that time the\u00adre was a punish\u00adment of 40 las\u00adhes. But becau\u00adse befo\u00adre God no one should recei\u00adve more than 40 las\u00adhes, the usu\u00adal punish\u00adment at the time of Jesus was 39 las\u00adhes. But why? If someone had mis\u00adcoun\u00adted and given one lash too many, then the 40 would not have been excee\u00added. Accor\u00adding to Jewish tra\u00addi\u00adti\u00adon, Moses does not only recei\u00adve the Ten Com\u00admandments at Sinai, of which the Sab\u00adbath com\u00admandment is one. He recei\u00adves a total of 613 com\u00admandments and pro\u00adhi\u00adbi\u00adti\u00adons. The lea\u00adders of the peo\u00adp\u00adle did not want to make it fun\u00adda\u00admen\u00adtal\u00adly dif\u00adfi\u00adcult for the peo\u00adp\u00adle, but for them the obser\u00advan\u00adce of the law was the top prio\u00adri\u00adty. It is pre\u00adcis\u00ade\u00adly on the ques\u00adti\u00adon of what is and is not allo\u00adwed on the Sab\u00adbath that Jesus Christ repea\u00adted\u00adly clas\u00adhes with the reli\u00adgious leadership.
\nAs an exam\u00adp\u00adle, I would like to empha\u00adsise two inci\u00addents from the sto\u00adry of Jesus Christ and go into them in more detail, even if this can only be done in a cer\u00adtain super\u00adfi\u00adci\u00adal way. \u00abAs Jesus was wal\u00adking through the corn\u00adfields on a Sab\u00adbath, his disci\u00adples began to tear off ears of wheat. The Pha\u00adri\u00adsees said to Jesus: \u00abThey are not allo\u00adwed to do that! It is against the law to work and har\u00adve\u00adst grain on the Sab\u00adbath. But Jesus repli\u00aded: \u00abHave you never read in the Scrip\u00adtures what David did when he and his com\u00adpa\u00adn\u00adions were hun\u00adgry? He went into the house of God (at the time when Abiat\u00adhar was high priest), ate the spe\u00adcial bread reser\u00adved only for the priests and also gave it to his com\u00adpa\u00adn\u00adions. This was also a vio\u00adla\u00adti\u00adon of the law. And he con\u00adtin\u00adued: \u00abThe Sab\u00adbath was made for the good of man and not man for the Sab\u00adbath. And that is why the Son of Man is Lord of the Sab\u00adbath!\u00bb \u00bb (Mark 2:23\u201328 NLB<\/span>). So what about this day being holy and res\u00adt\u00ading from work on the seventh day? But Jesus responds to the accu\u00adsa\u00adti\u00adon that the disci\u00adples are brea\u00adking this holy day with ano\u00adther bibli\u00adcal inci\u00addent. The\u00adre are things that can\u00adcel out even the stric\u00adtest com\u00admandments. I would ven\u00adture to sug\u00adgest that this is espe\u00adci\u00adal\u00adly the case whe\u00adre peo\u00adp\u00adle are in the fore\u00adground. Howe\u00adver, this does not mean that sud\u00adden\u00adly ever\u00ady\u00adthing is allo\u00adwed, but that the\u00adre are excep\u00adti\u00adons to the rule under cer\u00adtain con\u00addi\u00adti\u00adons. In the case of the Sab\u00adbath, this is the case when the well-being of peo\u00adp\u00adle is con\u00adside\u00adred more important than the obser\u00advan\u00adce of the law. The Sab\u00adbath was crea\u00adted for man as a day of rest, but if this is not pos\u00adsi\u00adble becau\u00adse man finds hims\u00adelf in a hope\u00adl\u00adess situa\u00adti\u00adon, then this can\u00adcels out the Sab\u00adbath com\u00admandment. The main focus of the Sab\u00adbath is the encoun\u00adter bet\u00adween man and God.
\nThe fol\u00adlo\u00adwing sto\u00adry takes place imme\u00addia\u00adte\u00adly after this inci\u00addent. \u00abAgain Jesus went into the syn\u00adago\u00adgue. The\u00adre he noti\u00adced a man with a cripp\u00adled hand. His oppon\u00adents were wat\u00adching him very clo\u00adse\u00adly. If he hea\u00adled the man\u2019s hand on the Sab\u00adbath, they could accu\u00adse him. Jesus said to the man, \u00abCome here and stand in the cent\u00adre. Then he tur\u00adned to his oppon\u00adents and asked, \u00abIs it lawful to do good on the Sab\u00adbath, or is it a day to do evil? Is this a day to save life or to des\u00adtroy it?\u00bb But they remain\u00aded silent. Angry and sho\u00adcked at their hard-hear\u00adted\u00adness, he loo\u00adked at them. Then he asked the man: \u00abStretch out your hand. The man stret\u00adched out his hand and she was hea\u00adled! The Pha\u00adri\u00adsees then with\u00addrew and met secret\u00adly with Herod\u2019s fol\u00adlo\u00adwers to plan how to kill Jesus\u00bb (Mark 3:1\u20136 NLB<\/span>). It is this sto\u00adry that laid the foun\u00adda\u00adti\u00adon for the plan to kill Jesus Christ. But why did Jesus per\u00adform healings on the holy day? For the reli\u00adgious lea\u00adders, not\u00adhing was allo\u00adwed to hap\u00adpen on this holy day. They were dead\u00adlo\u00adcked in their view. They could not even make an assess\u00adment of what could or could not hap\u00adpen. The day was so set apart (holy) for the Pha\u00adri\u00adsees that not\u00adhing was allo\u00adwed to take place on this day that chan\u00adged the sta\u00adtus quo even a litt\u00adle. Howe\u00adver, this day was actual\u00adly holy (set apart) becau\u00adse it was to be spent to the honour of God. The holi\u00adne\u00adss comes from the dif\u00adfe\u00adrent focus of this day. The focus must be on Jesus Christ.
\nIt is no coin\u00adci\u00addence that Jesus Christ per\u00adfor\u00admed his mira\u00adcles pre\u00adcis\u00ade\u00adly on the Sab\u00adbath. First\u00adly, he was often on a con\u00adfron\u00adta\u00adti\u00adon cour\u00adse with the wrong views of the Jews of that time in order to show them God\u2019s way. On the other hand, this crea\u00adtes a link with the very first Sab\u00adbath. God res\u00adted on the seventh day, after ever\u00ady\u00adthing had been won\u00adderful\u00adly crea\u00adted and the\u00adre was not\u00adhing left for him to do. For ever\u00ady\u00adthing was per\u00adfect and in a flaw\u00adless con\u00addi\u00adti\u00adon. Through the healings on the Sab\u00adbath, Jesus Christ brings res\u00adto\u00adra\u00adti\u00adon. He sanc\u00adti\u00adfies the Sab\u00adbath all the more becau\u00adse through the healings the focus is on God. Glo\u00adry and honour belong to him, espe\u00adci\u00adal\u00adly also on the seventh day of the week.
\nPos\u00adsi\u00adble ques\u00adti\u00adons for the small group
\nRead Bible text: Gene\u00adsis 2:1\u20133; Mark 2:23\u20133:6<\/p>\n
\n\tWhat do you think of the Jewish divi\u00adsi\u00adon of the day? How about adop\u00adting it, at least mentally?
\n\tWhy is the Sab\u00adbath so spe\u00adcial and dif\u00adfe\u00adrent from all other days?
\n\tWhat does the seventh day of the week mean to you? How do you rest? In what way do you give glo\u00adry to God on this day?
\n\tWhat sto\u00adry comes to mind in which Jesus Christ clas\u00adhes with the Sab\u00adbath com\u00admandments of that time? Why this one in particular?
\n\tHow did Jesus cor\u00adrect the mea\u00adning of the Sab\u00adbath so that it cor\u00adre\u00adspon\u00added to the ori\u00adgi\u00adnal thought?<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"