Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days, where he was tempted by the devil. During that time he ate nothing, and at the end of it he was famished.
For six days work can be done, but the seventh is a Sabbath of rest, a holy assembly. You will do no work on it; it is a Sabbath of the Lord in all of your dwellings.
Moses remained with the Lord for forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments, on the tablets.
There is only one thing I ask of the Lord, just one thing I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, so that I may enjoy the beauty of the Lord and gaze on his temple.
For: “If anyone wishes to love life and to experience good days, he must restrain his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. He must turn away from evil and do good, seek peace and pursue it.”
My son, do not forget my teaching, but cherish my commandments in your heart, for they will bring you length of days, more years of life, and an abundance of prosperity.
Therefore, take care to live as intelligent people, and do not be like those who are senseless. Make the most of the present time, for this is a wicked age.
Go, and assemble all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will do the same thing. After that, I will go to the king—against the law. And if I perish, I perish!
Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath in honor of the Lord your God. You shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male slave, nor your female slave, nor your animals, nor the foreigner who dwells with you. The Lord made the heavens and the earth and the seas and that which is in them in six days, but he rested the seventh day. Thus, the Lord blessed the Sabbath and declared it to be sacred.
One person may consider one day to be more sacred than another, while another may judge all days to be alike. Let everyone be convinced in his own beliefs.
This is the conclusion I have reached: it is fitting for a man to eat and drink and find satisfaction in the results of his labors under the sun during the brief span of life that God has allotted him.
You shall observe the Sabbath by keeping it holy, as the Lord, your God, has commanded you. You are to labor on six days, doing all of your work then. The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord, your God. You shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your ox, nor your ass, nor your cattle, nor even the foreigner living in your town. Thus your manservant and maidservant can rest as well.
On one Sabbath as Jesus was teaching in the synagogue, a woman was present, possessed by a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and completely unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said, “Woman, you are freed from your infirmity.” Then he laid his hands on her, and immediately she stood up straight and began praising God.
But the leader of the synagogue was indignant because Jesus had effected a cure on the Sabbath, and he said to the assembled people, “There are six days when work is permitted. Come on those days and be cured, and not on the Sabbath.” The Lord said to him in reply, “You hypocrites! Is there a single one of you who does not untie his ox or his donkey and lead it from its stall to give it water on the Sabbath? Should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has held bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the Sabbath?” At these words, all his adversaries were put to shame, and the people rejoiced at all the wonderful things he was doing.
Continue in all of the ways that the Lord, your God, has commanded you. Continue in them so that you may live and prosper and that you may long dwell on the land of your inheritance.
After Jesus had been born in Bethlehem of Judea during the reign of King Herod, wise men traveled from the east and arrived in Jerusalem, inquiring, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw the rising of his star, and we have come to pay him homage.”
You shall obey his statutes and the commandments that I give you today, so that all may go well with you and your children after you, and that you may live long in the land that the Lord, your God, has given you for all time.
For everything that was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that by perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we may continue to have hope.
But from you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, among the tiniest of the clans of Judah, from you will come forth for me one who is to be a ruler in Israel, one whose origins are from the distant past, from ancient times.
Therefore, do not allow anyone to pass judgment on you in regard to what you eat or drink, or about the observance of Festivals, New Moons, or Sabbaths. These are only a shadow of what is to come. The reality is Christ.