Rest Will Come: A Biblical Theology of Sabbath (Part 4)

Rest from Self-Salvation

I remember the first time I heard the story of Martin Luther, the German monk who led the way in the Protestant Reformation. It resonated with me in a powerful way. Initially Luther was just a faithful Catholic monk, wrestling with his own salvation. He was continually plagued by the question, how can he be sure of his standing before God. As he saw it, his sins were many and constant and therefore God must always be angry with him. Luther spent hours in confession, to the sheer exhaustion of the priest hearing his confession, would deny himself every luxury and even tortured himself all in hopes of appeasing God’s anger against his sin. It was to no avail. Luther was slowly coming to realize that he could not save himself, and in fact all attempts to do so are draining.

The world is full of those who are attempting to get to heaven, appease God, earn salvation by means of their own work and righteousness. There are two problems with this approach, however, that lead to not only our failure but our exhaustion. First, the fact is that none of us is perfect. We all make mistakes, have shortcomings, possess character flaws (however you want to term it. We are all sinners, the Bible says. And even on our best days we still aren’t perfect. Furthermore, even if we could be perfect from this moment on we can never make up for what we have done. Our past imperfections don’t just disappear because we help old ladies cross the street. We have real sin to deal with and it has real consequences. Second, and this was Luther’s problem, how do you know when you’ve done enough. How do you know that all your “perfect” deeds are enough to grant you access to the throne room of the just and holy Creator? There is always one more thing we could have done, one more person we could have helped, one more hour we could have spent in prayer, etc. How do we know if we’ve reached the “heavenly quota?” We can’t, and all this worrying, working, self-righteousness, and failing leads to exhaustion. The alternative is much more inviting: trust an external savior for your righteousness and receive rest from your self-salvation.

In Matthew 11:28 and following we read this invitation from Jesus:

28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

In the context of Matthew 11 Jesus is testifying to his testimony as the Messiah (v. 4), but he swiftly turns to consider those who having witnessed all the signs of his messiahship remain unrepentant and unconvinced. To such people Jesus issues a stern warning:

20 Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent.  21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.  22 But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you.  23 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.  24 But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.” (Matthew 11:20-24)

But, Jesus then shifts the focus again. To those who, unlike these unrepentant ones, are tired and weary from seeking their own self-salvation, and are ready to submit to Jesus as the only Savior, they will find rest.

Friends, Jesus is the answer to your desperate desire and futile attempts to save yourself. He offers real salvation, and it is joined to a rest for your souls. This is where the Sabbath is ultimately pointing, to the Jesus who ends our working for our own salvation!