Scholarly Reflections
Daniélou, Jean, S.J. "Chapter Fourteen: The Mystery of the Sabbath." The Bible and the Liturgy." Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1956, pp. 222-241.
Daniélou observes that as the biblical records inform the sacramental acts of the Church, they can also be expected to inform the other occasions of the Church, specifically the weekly and annual calendar of worship (Daniélou 1956, 222). He therefore begins with comments on weekly worship, then moves in subsequent chapters to the prominent feasts on the calendar.
The weekly worship gathering has some roots in the Old Testament Sabbath, which serves as a day of rest and a foreshadowing of the person and work of Christ (Daniélou 1956, 223). In the New Testament it is made clear that Jesus is the day of rest for the Christian. Particularly, in the Fathers, "the true Sabbath, the true anapausis, is not to cease from physical work, but to cease from sinning" (Daniélou 1956, 224). Daniélou illustrates the concept of Christ both freeing people from sin and being greater than the Sabbath commands through his purposeful violations of the Sabbath as interpreted by the Jews (Daniélou 1956, 225). The Fathers continued to interpret these events as evidence that Chrsit himself was the true Sabbath. Daniélou illustrates biblical statements of Christ as the fulfillment of the Sabbath in some detail, without significant reference to the Fathers.
A problematic issue, then, is how Christians would view a Sabbath. It was fulfilled in Christ, yet its observance was based on texts recognized as the authoritative word of God (Daniélou 1956, 230). Daniélou briefly discusses solutions including maintaining the Sabbath and denying that it bore any significance. Justin Martyr, however, pioneered a stream of interpretation which was followed later. The Sabbath commands allowed for exceptions, such as circumcision, which ultimately pointed to God's grace revealed in Christ (Daniélou 1956, 231). Further, God never takes a day off from his work of governing the world (Daniélou 1956, 232). It is therefore not a requirement that is inescapably binding to all people in all times. Rather, it is a sign to Israel of their need to trust God and submit to his merciful provision for them (Daniélou 1956, 233). The coming of Christ marked the end of this provisional economy and ushered in a new era of grace (Daniélou 1956, 234). The true rest becomes a rest from sin. This is accomplished as we trust in Christ (Daniélou 1956, 235).
By this line of argumentation, the observance of the Sabbath as a day of rest can be seen both as a necessary practice for those who look forward to Christ and as something fulfilled in Christ and no longer binding upon the Christian as a necessary practice (Daniélou 1956, 238). It looks forward to our rest from sin, both in this temporal life and in eternity.