We must realize that Yeshua is "One" with the plural unity that is Elohim.⁶ He is the very creative Word made flesh. He was in the beginning, and, in and through Him, all things were created (John 1:1-18; 10:30). He was part of the "Sabbath celebration decision." And thus, He was not, is not, and even cannot ever be, at odds with Yahveh Elohim's Sabbath tradition of restoration.

We see Yeshua's "oneness with the Sabbath" in that during His earthly sojourn, once, at the beginning of His earthly ministry, when He entered the synagogue, "The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, He found the place where it is written: 'The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.' Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And, the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and He began by saying to them, 'Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing'" (Luke 4:17-21; from Isaiah 61:1-9).

Messiah chose to use these particular verses to announce His ministry. Further, the "acceptable year of the Lord," which He says He was (and is) ordained to proclaim, speaks of the sabbatical, or Jubilee, year (Luke 4:18-21). The Jubilee year speaks of Sabbath freedom, of recovery, release, and, favor. It speaks of restoration, and, all who have found restoration in Messiah have experienced, at least in part, that Jubilee.

With this in mind, we ask, did Yeshua announce His Messianic ministry--in the context of fulfillment of the sabbatical Jubilee, with all its liberation promises--for the purpose of annulling the Sabbath? Or, did He identify His mission with the Sabbath because the Sabbath would serve as a memorial of His redemptive actions?

Restated, did our "Lord" and Messiah move "His special day" to Sunday? Is that the "Lord's Day," or is Shabbat, the "Lord's Day"?

Rabbinic literature certainly associates Messiah with the Sabbath. It is seen as a type of the world to come, the life span of the world being likened to a "cosmic week" of 6000 years, with an eschatological seventh day Sabbath marking the end-time, "Messianic Age." And, the majority of Christianity concurs with this conclusion! Thus, Christianity itself associates Messiah's end-of-the-age reign with the Sabbath.

As Samuele Bacchiocchi asks in his excellent, definitive book about the subject, From Sabbath To Sunday (available through House of David), "[Since] Christ never alludes to an eventual replacement of the Sabbath, one may ask, why would Christ want to change it? What new benefit could accrue to Christians by changing the day of worship? Would such an act bespeack stability and continuity in the divine plan of salvation?"⁷

The answer of course, is "No." A change in the Sabbath day does not speak of continuity. Further, lack of continuity is exactly the point the fourth century compatriots of Constantine wanted to make. The very point they wanted to prove was that "God was through with the Jew, and that they, the Christians, had replaced them as God's 'chosen people.'"

Of course, as Ephraimites, they were only following in the footsteps of their Northern Kingdom forefather, Jeroboam , who was the first one to change the God-given Sabbath and feast days of Israel (2 Kings 17: 22,23; 1 Kings 12: 25-33; Jeremiah 3:21-25).

However, regarding this Christian change, it must be said that they, meaning those who were originally part of the "Jewish sect," which was originally called "The Way," they were first kicked out of the synagogue by the majority of their Jewish brothers--and so they struck back (and still do), with a hateful, often physically oriented, vengeance.⁸ In this sad commentary we see an example of how Ephraim (which house became the fulness of Gentiles⁹) and Judah-- Christians and Jews--or, "both the houses of Israel"--stumble over He who wants to be a "Sanctuary" to them (Isaiah 8:14; John 2:22).

Returning to the "Sanctuary's" intent regarding the Sabbath, we see that Messiah Yeshua did not change the Sabbath day, but what He did do was to enrage the Pharisees with His many healings performed on the Sabbath: In the Capernaum synagogue, He commanded an unclean spirit to come out of a man. Then, He healed Peter's mother-in-law. And, He liberated a "daughter of Abraham" from an eighteen year long bondage (Luke 4:16-21,31-38; 13:10-17). Then, "it came about on another Sabbath, that He entered the synagogue and was teaching; and there was a man there whose right hand was withered..."(Luke 6:6-11). And so Yeshua healed him too.

Yeshua healed them because the Sabbath is fundamentally dedicated to man's well-being. As Bacchiocchi says, Yeshua did not "...intend to abrogate radically the Sabbath commandment." Rather, He "aim[ed] at restoring the institution to its original value and function." Also, "This original dimension of the Sabbath as a day to honor God by sowing concern and compassion to fellow beings, had largely been forgotten in the time of Jesus. The Sabbath had become the day when the correct performance of a ritual was more important than a spontaneous response to the cry of human needs" (page 34).

Our Messiah spoke for, merciful "sabbatical acts of kindness." He spoke for, "Sabbath saving activities." He did not speak against the Sabbath--as it was established by Yahveh Elohim. Instead, He spoke against the prevailing perversions of the Pharisees. For, such perversion turns into bondage that which Yahveh Elohim created to be a day of joyous celebration.