Ao1 2006

The Sabbath

Assignment Task- AO1

The Sabbath is a day of rest. In Hebrew "Sabbath" means "rest". It is also a day to practice your faith. There are two days in which the Sabbath is celebrated. Firstly the Jewish celebrate it on Saturday yet Christians celebrate it on Sunday. They do this because they want to be individual. Christians are not Jewish and they feel that they should celebrate the Sabbath individually on their own- to be recognized as Christians. They also celebrate the Sabbath on a Sunday as that is the last day of the week for them, the day to rest. But more importantly, Christians celebrate the Sabbath on a Sunday, because that was the day Christ rose from the dead. To Christians this is the greatest event in history. The Jewish celebrate the Sabbath on a Saturday though, as their week ends on a Saturday and starts on a Sunday. So they listen to the Ten Commandments, and always rests on the seventh day- their Saturday. But even though they celebrate the Sabbath on a Saturday, their Sabbath actually begins on sunset on Friday and lasts until sunset on Saturday.

Throughout Mark's Gospel we can find three main passages which are very important for understanding the Sabbath. The first text is Mark 1: 21-28. Also known as "The man with an evil spirit." In this passage Jesus was teaching in the synagogue on the Sabbath. People were extremely surprised at his teaching as he taught like a rabbi and knew all the scriptures, but a man with an evil spirit was not fooled. He cried out to Jesus asking him what he wanted. At this Jesus sent the spirit away. The man was healed. This shows the authority Jesus could have over others. The passage is trying to tell us that the Sabbath is for healing. It is for helping others less fortunate than us, doing good towards others, and generally doing charitable work. The Quakers and the Salvation do what Jesus has told them to do, from this passage. They do not worship on the Sabbath in a church, they gather at meeting houses to worship, and to discuss the way in which to do as Jesus asked them. To help and heal others.

On the other hand, in Mark 2: 23-28, it writes that Jesus was out in a cornfields with his friends. He was breaking the Jewish Law as he was out of his house, picking corn; this is seen as work. The point of this passage is to try and get across the point that the Sabbath is for socialising with friends, and more importantly spending time with families. Many denominations do this, but not as the most important thing of the Sabbath. In this passage Jesus also says that "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." Both Catholics and Protestants solialise on the Sabbath.

The third and final main passage about the Sabbath is from Mark 3:1-6. It is when Jesus healed the man with the withered hand. Jesus had gone to the synagogue to worship his father when he came across a man with a withered hand. He asked the people who were watching him and wanting to accuse him of doing wrong, "What does our Law allow us to do on the Sabbath? To help or to harm? To save someone's live or to destroy it?" The people who were watching him kept quiet. Jesus was angry with this but also felt sorry for them, as they were wrong. They did not have faith in him. This passage is trying to get across the point of the Sabbath as being a day of worship and helping others have faith in God. It is also trying to say that even if you do go to worship on the Sabbath, it should be for worshipping God and believing in others around you, certainly not for wanting to accuse people around you of doing wrong. Catholics follow this passage by worshipping every Sunday.

They were the three passages, which help us to understand the Sabbath, yet, as there are many different explanations of the Sabbath, different religions make different interpretations of it. Within the Christian faith, there are many different denominations. All of these denominations have their different views and opinions of the Sabbath. Through a study of Mark's Gospel, we can begin to understand the meaning and importance of the Sabbath.

Firstly, Catholics believe that the Sabbath, which is celebrated on a Sunday, should be kept holy and every one who is part of the Catholic religion should attend church to worship God. Catholics see the Ten Commandments as rules, which should be obeyed, so they keep the Sabbath holy as God had asked them to do. They believe this is important and is part of their duty to God to do this. Another thing that Catholics believe is that worship is greater than charity. Catholics also socialise on the Sabbath, as they are not meant to work. Most of the faith of a Catholic is based on belief.

This is seen differently though, through the eyes of the Quakers and the Salvation Army, both are which of the Christian faith. They do believe that worship is important, yet they believe that charity work is more important. They believe in helping others more, than spending a Sunday in church worshipping God. This does not mean they do not worship God. They do. They gather at meeting houses to worship Christ, but they do not do it on a Sunday. From Mark's Gospel a Quaker or a Salvation Army worker could say that Chapter 12: 28-34, backs their works as Christ himself even agrees that charity is greater than worship. He says, "The second most important commandment is this: love your neighbour as you love yourself." He says this is more important than to offer animals and other sacrifices to God.

As you can see from the points I have raised, the Sabbath is extremely important in a Christian's life; but it can be important in totally different ways for different people. We can also conclude that even though the Sabbath is interpreted in many different ways, there is no wrong or right way; they are all valid in their own rights. Also, as long as the underlined objective: "Keep the Sabbath holy," is observed, it doesn't matter how we decide to spend the Sabbath. Whether it be, worshipping, charity work, or socialising.

Assignment task-A02

From the ten commandments we can see that number three tells us to "Observe the Sabbath day, and keep it holy." Jesus always taught us to obey the Ten commandments, and on Sundays, and other holy days of obligation, the faithful are bound to attend and participate in mass. In the universal church, a Sunday is to be observed as the foremost holy day of obligation. From Jesus' teachings a Christians life can be affected in many ways.

From Mark 12:28-34 Christ says that charity