THE END OF THE SABBATH
Matthew 28:1 ¶ In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. 2 And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.
This is a new day for the entire universe!There has never before been a day like this. Never before has Satan and his works been destroyed. Hebrews 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
Never before has the Father been so satisfied with fallen man! Isaiah 53:10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. 11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
Never before has mankind been allowed to enter into the holy place to come boldly before the very throne of God! But as the flesh of the final sacrifice was torn, so was the curtain in the temple ripped, separating the Holy of holies, allowing even Gentiles to enter before God. Matthew 27:50 Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. 51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
For never before has redemption been fully accomplished! John 19:30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost. Hebrews 10:12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
For now God has made “all things new!” Revelation 21:5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. 6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
And even the humanity of the Son of God is different! 2 Corinthians 5:16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. 17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. John 14:19 Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. Luke 22:37 For I say unto you, that this that is written must yet be accomplished in me, And he was reckoned among the transgressors: for the things concerning me have an end. John 20:15 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.
Luke 17:22 And he said unto the disciples, The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it. 23 And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them.
The ending of the Sabbath brings the end of seeking God in a religious place. The new ‘first day of the week worship’ rather brings upon the true worshippers, sought out by the Father, a spiritual condition of worship! John 4:20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. 21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
It truly is the end of the Sabbath. It is the dawning of the first day of the week – the Lord’s day! The first covenant of the law has ended, and the second covenant of grace is “established!” Hebrews 10:9 Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. 10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. God’s dealing in the natural realm (the Old Testament) has now transversed into his dealing in the spiritual (the new covenant of grace). And the spiritual shall soon bring in the glorious (the eternal day)!
Luke’s writings reveals to us that those transitioning from the old day into this new day of grace tried to continue on in the only way they had ever known. They gave attention to a dead body, preparing themselves to anoint the body of that final and last sacrifice. {However it had already been anointed before hand! Mark 14:6 And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me. 8 She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying. 9 Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.}
And even in this last Sabbath they had to await the new, first day to attempt to do so. But they soon discovered that none of their expectations could be accomplished. For God’s ‘clock’ had ‘ticked’ its last second in that old day, with the next ‘tock’ bringing in an entirely new age! Luke 23:55 And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid. 56 And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment. 24:1 ¶ Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. 2 And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. But they found no dead carcase to bathe, for he was now the risen Lord!
And in Matthew 28:2 of our text (listed above), we see that this transition, from the Sabbath into the first day of the week, was attended by an earthquake. And so the Lord reveals to us that his new kingdom was brought in by his shaking of the heavens, that is, the spiritual realm! Hebrews 12:26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. 27 And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: 29 For our God is a consuming fire.
Never again would Christ’s flock be allowed to return to the old economy, with its Sabbath, now referred to as “weak and beggarly elements.” Galatians 4:9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? 10 Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. 11 I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.
All their focus is now for a pressing forward, forgetting all which is behind them. Philippians 3:13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. For their Master is “I AM,” not “I Was!” And he is the ‘atmosphere’ in which they live and move and have their being! Exodus 3:14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. Acts 17:28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
For in the Lord Jesus Christ they have a continuous present, possessing their souls in a patient consciousness of being, not regarding or defining their existence by any definition from accomplishment, but from the eternal awareness of being and existing in Him. Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. 2 Corinthians 4:18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
They view things from an eternal consciousness, being already seated with Him in a heavenly awareness! Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
With their new spiritual sight they ‘look at’ the Lord Jesus and see the glories of the Eternal Father. John 6:46 Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father. 9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? Colossians 2:9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. 10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:
Matthew 13:15 For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. 16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
They have been made to see that which religion terms “heaven,” as more of a state of being and not just an imagined location. John 17:24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; (not in a ‘place,’ but in a state of being), that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. 2:11 This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him. Heaven to the true spiritual believer is a place of abiding righteousness! 2 Peter 3:12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
“’Tis heaven to me;
Where ‘ere I may be,
If he is there.”
And the only way that they can “behold my glory,” is for them to have been brought into that same glory! 1 John 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. Colossians 3:4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
To those who seek for the Lord’s glory, he will grant eternal life. And then he will grant every individual who “worketh good,” eternal glory! Romans 2:7 To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: 10 But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:
Before the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, even the apostles believed that they would receive the resurrected Christ as Lion of the tribe of Juda! But he was revealed to them as a Lamb as it had been slain! For it is only God’s Lamb that could open up the new first day of this new week and lead the true believers into his reigning administration of his spiritual kingdom! Revelation 5:5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. 6 ¶ And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. 7 And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. 6:1 ¶ And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. 14:4 … These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.
We must carefully regard the angel of the tomb’s message: He is not here: for he is risen,
Pastor Gene Breed
April 29, 2022
