There were several times in which Jesus was accused of not keeping the Sabbath. This was because the Jewish people had incorrect concepts about Sabbath keeping. Moses taught, “remember the Sabbath to keep it holy”, Exodus 20:8. However, when Jesus was falsely accused of breaking the Sabbath, he rebuked them saying “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath” Mark 2:27 – 28. Moses explained how to keep the Sabbath when he wrote, “you shall do no servile work”. Servile work has to do with work that one does to earn money and or pay a debt.
The Apostle Paul gave us an oxymoron in Hebrews 4:11 when he stated, “Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest”. So how does one “labor to enter into rest”? Consider Jesus’ example: Jesus did most of his miracles on the Sabbath. He preached and healed the people on the Sabbath – sometimes to the point of his own exhaustion. Jesus’ example defines acceptable Sabbath labor.
Was he doing servile work? Absolutely not. He was laboring to pull us out of the pit. As he stated in Luke 14:5, “which of you shall having an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the Sabbath day?” Now Adam was the ox and we are all asses. Both God and Jesus are laboring to pull all of us out of the pit of Adamic death. Jesus stated in John 5:17, “My Father works hitherto, and I work”. So should we keep the Sabbath? Absolutely. And how do we keep the Sabbath? By doing our best (labor) to bring people to Christ.