God did not order the sabbath, the new moons and the feasts to be honored because He wanted men to honor the days themselves; this would have been tantamount to decreeing by the Law that men should worship creation rather than the Creator, and should regard the days as holy in themselves and therefore to be venerated.
On the contrary, He indicated that he Himself was to be honored symbolically through these days. For He is the sabbath, as the soul's respose after its exertions in the flesh, and as the cessation of its sufferings in the cause of righteousness. He is the Passover, as the liberator of those held in the bitter slavery of sin. He is the Pentecost, as the origin and consummation of all created things, and as the principle through which all things by nature exist.
--St. Maximos the Great, Fifth Century of Various Texts, par. 46
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