Let Them Enemies Rest Too

Sabbath is for everyone. Yes. Everyone.

“Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, ‘I am thirsty.’ A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’ With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” (Jn. 19:28-30)

There’s an ancient tradition in the Jewish Mishnah—that set of written accounts of oral Jewish religious law—that on the day of Sabbath rest, no one should carry a sword. It was believed, in part, that to rest under God’s rule and reign meant that one should not only rest from work, cooking, cleaning, and all the duties of everyday life. But, all the more, Sabbath rest was additionally a day to put aside your tools of violence, whatever they may be. Rest meant vulnerability. It meant disarming oneself so that you would not attack another. Why? Because violence is work, too.

There are similar things throughout Jewish and Christian history. It turns out that many ancient Jews were so radically committed to the practice of a day of weekly rest that if they were engaged in some sort of war or skirmish, they would do the unthinkable on the Sabbath day. The same oral tradition reports that if ancient Israel were at war with another nation or tribe, they would insist on restraining themselves from attacking their enemy on the Sabbath day. Sure, they could defend. But one day a week, they would cease seeking the death of their enemies on the grounds that to do so would be to violate God’s rest.

This tradition would be carried on in other ways later on. For instance, during the Middle Ages, church authorities sought to influence worldly leaders not to fight on the day of Christian rest—Sundays. Popularly called the “truce of God,” soldiers and armies were encouraged to put down their weapons and enter into church.¹ Even Abraham Lincoln, during the Civil War, gave an order entitled “The General Order Respecting the Observance of the Sabbath.” Within, he sought to limit fighting on the Lord’s Day in an effort to give rest to soldiers on both sides of the field. These are incredible examples. And they speak to one of the forgotten sides of the Sabbath. Rest is for you.

But it is also for your enemy.

Photo by Jon Tyson

When we examine the scope of who the Sabbath was intended to impact, we are left to consider its sheer universality. When we read the fourth commandment in Exodus 20, we see that it is a day of rest for you, for your children, for your employees, for your family, for the outsider, for your animals, for all of creation, even for the economy. But could it be possible that the Sabbath is also a day of rest for your enemies?

I think it is. One of the biggest problems with most of our enemies—whomever they may be—is that we never give them an opportunity to be free of us. We exhaust our enemies. They are tired of us. But don’t they matter too? Given our proclivity to constantly strive for victory and come out on top, our enemies are left in a perpetual state of never letting their guard down, never taking a break, and being beaten up at every turn. We often see this in the political arena. There is never a time to stop our efforts to win the ideological argument. It is all battle. All the time. And the reason is that we know if we give them a moment’s rest, they could come along and win the argument. So we keep our guards up constantly.

But the Sabbath declares that even your enemies need a day of rest from you.

The theme of “loving your enemies” (Mt. 5:45-44 and Lk. 6:27-28; 35) has come up time and time again in this recent season for me. Jesus commanded the love of enemies. Some consider this an ethic as weak-minded and a guarantee of failure. Perhaps it is. But Jesus is right. Always. This is what a Christian believes. And to be a Christian is equally one’s willingness to accept failure in worldly terms if it comes through obedience. Why? Because obedience to Christ is true success. I suspect that many of us struggle to love our enemies because we have defined them as people with whom we don’t feel love. Jesus turns this on its head, obviously. An enemy, Jesus seems to be saying, is not defined as someone you hate. Instead, an enemy is someone worthy of love, care, respect, and dignity. But, ironically, it is a commandment that is impossible to do unless you have an enemy. And we all do.

Which brings me to the Scripture reading at hand. It was Friday. Jesus has died. He has breathed his last breath. And his spirit has now departed. I can’t help but wonder, in that moment, on that Friday, if the enemy of our souls (Satan) thought he had won the war. “The Messiah has died,” he must have thought, “the victory is mine.” Did Satan, at that very moment of the death of the crucified Messiah, wonder to himself if the victory was his? Did he gloat? Did he believe he was the victor?

We don’t know. And we don’t get to overspeak for Scripture. But we do know that the Sabbath rest was a day of rest for all of creation, not just the parts we like. It would not be out of line for us to consider the possibility that Satan had one whole day celebrating with himself that he had won in his battle against heaven. That was his Sabbath day.

Of course, Sunday would come. And soon, Satan would realize his folly. Not only did Satan lose. But resurrection had defeated his every work. Death had died. And Christ was risen.

It’s funny. My friend Matthew Sleeth pointed out to me once that nobody ever says that someone they know “works like the Messiah.” People always work “like the devil.” Why? Because the devil never rests. Knowing him, he probably didn’t take that Saturday with Jesus in the tomb to rest. Why? Because he’s incapable of rest. Unlike God, who rested on the seventh day from the very beginning of creation. Oh, the irony: that the One with all the power of the universe knows how to rest while his enemy never stops his efforts.

God is so gracious I think he even gives rest to his enemies. Make it your life’s joy to enter into the rest of God. It is there that we find the grace and mercy of a God who refuses to treat us like slaves. And as you do it, keep it in the back of your mind that you are bearing God’s rest for those that you love.

And also the ones that you don’t.

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Thanks, as always, for being a supporter and reader of the Low-Level Theologian. You can always find me wasting as little time as possible on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Or, check out my podcast with Dr. Nijay Gupta at Slow Theology. Remember my most recent book, entitled Slow Theology: Eight Practices for Resilient Faith in a Turbulent World. See below! And, as always, don’t hesitate to reach out with questions or comments in the comment section below.

1. On both the Jewish and Christian perspectives on Dawn, Marva. Keeping the Sabbath Wholly: Ceasing, Resting, Feasting, Embracing. Zondervan, 1989, 90-91.