Many theologians claim that the time of rest was changed from the Saturday Sabbath to Sunday, the Lord's Day., because Jesus was resurrected on a Sunday. Where is their Biblical authority to actually make this claim? Just because Jesus rose on Sunday would not automatically authorize a change in God's great spiritual law for the time of rest on the Saturday Sabbath and move it to Sunday and call it the Lord's Day.
Most Christians believe Jesus died on Good Friday the day before the Saturday Sabbath . Jesus' death freed Christians from the penalty of death in Hell and gave them eternal life. Why not keep Friday as the Lord's Day of rest and worship to celebrate your salvation? Taking communion, or the Lord's Supper, is a central part of Christian worship. Most Christians celebrate the Lord's last supper on Holy Thursday, or Maundy Thursday. Why not keep Thursday as the Lord's Day of rest and worship to celebrate the Lord's Last Supper? As important as all of these events are, none of them actually authorize a change in what the fourth commandment says to rest on the Saturday Sabbath and move it to Sunday. Just because something important happened on a certain day does not really justify a change in God's law. Is this what the Bible actually says? No!
One argument that is often used is that the Saturday Sabbath Day was really only for the Jews, so Christians don't have to rest on it. It is often called the Jewish Sabbath in many Christian circles implying that it is not for Christians. What does God's Word plainly say about this argument? First of all, this special time of Saturday Sabbath Rest was in place long before the Jews even existed as is shown in Genesis 2:2-3. It has been here since God created it at creation. The Bible says this about the Saturday Sabbath Rest.
"And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made." (Genesis 2:2-3)
In the New Testament Jesus did not say that the Saturday Sabbath was made just for the Jews and Sunday was the Lord's Day of rest for Christians. He didn't mention that the Gentiles had to toil and work all week without the blessing of a time of Saturday Sabbath Rest. Jesus said the Sabbath, and no other time is a blessing made for man. These are the Lord's actuall words.
Mark 2:27; "And he said unto them, The Sabbath was made for man......"
A strong argument is regularly made that the first day of the week is the real time of Sabbath rest for Christians because it is the Lord's Day, when He was resurrected from the grave. There is no verse anywhere in the Bible that actually connects Sunday with this expression, "The Lord's Day" for any reason.
Some interpret Revelation 1:10 to support Sunday worship as the Lord's Day. This is simply an assumption without any Scriptural support. Without interpretation the Bible simply says what it says.
(Rev 1:10) "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet."
This verse does not even refer to Sunday or any specific time of the week. This is really a prophecy of future, end-time events. It is synonymous with the Day of the Lord in prophecy. It in no way indicates a specific part of the week, or mentions worship or rest on Sunday as many churches say. Sunday is never actually called the Lord's Day anywhere in Scripture. Revelation 1:10 is really just a prophetic time reference and nothing more based on what the Bible plainly says. Jesus said the Saturday Sabbath is the day He is Lord of.
(Mark 2:28) "Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath."
The Lord's words looks pretty clear based on what Scriptures actually says. The Saturday Sabbath is when we should rest from our labors.
"the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst and said to them, 'Peace be with you.'" (John 20:19)
Some people will point to this verse and interpret this as a Sunday worship service when in fact Scripture says nothing about church or worship here at all. That is an interpretation based upon an assumption, not fact. It could NOT be a Christian Sunday Worship Service. The disciples could NOT have actually been celebrating the Lord's resurrection. The Bible plainly says they did not even really believe Christ was risen until they saw Him!
"Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen." (Mark 16:14)
Here we find Jesus reproving His disciples for their failure to really believe that He had risen. There is, therefore, actually no possible chance that they had gathered together to commemorate the resurrection with a Sunday Worship Service. It's impossible! How could they have been celebrating the resurrection when they didn't even believe it had occurred? What the Bible plainly say in context, without any biased interpretation, is very clear. They were NOT having a Worship Service. They were REALLY scared! They were hiding behind locked doors out of FEAR. You should never assume what isn't actually written in the Bible.
Here is another verse that has long been really misunderstood because of interpretation and assumptions about when it occurred and why. What does the Bible actually say in this verse?
Acts 20:7-12; "Now on the first of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next morning, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight."
Does the Bible say anything here about this being a weekly Sunday Worship Service? No! They were really just enjoying a meal with one another. Without adding any interpretation to this verse, it simply says Paul delivered a message to them during a meal at the beginning of the week and then continued speaking until midnight.
Breaking bread is really just a common expression that actually just refers to eating a meal together. Just because Jesus broke a piece of bread as a symbol of His Body at Passover does not mean that every time a piece of bread is broken by a group of Christians during a meal that they are celebrating the Lord's Supper and taking communion. The majority of the times that Christians break bread they are simply eating a meal together, not partaking of the Lord's Supper or communion. This is exactly what really happened here. That's what the verse says! You must again make assumptions and use interpretation to make this verse say something that the Bible doesn't actually say.
Even more importantly, this was not a Sunday worship service. It wasn't even a Sunday morning meeting at all. It really occurred on a Saturday evening and went until midnight. The biblical reckoning of daily time is from sunset to sunset, beginning in Genesis at creation. The days of the week mentioned here really began on Saturday evening at sunset as God actually counts time. The modern calendar is based upon a twenty-four-hour clock that begins at midnight. Men have decided this. What does the Bible plainly say? God established when they begin at creation. See for yourself. What does God repeatedly say in Genesis chapter 1 verses 5 through 31.
Gen 1:5, "And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day." Through..... Gen 1:31, "Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
The Bible actually says God begins days in "the evening". God begins and ends them at the setting of the sun which ends one and a new one begins. The beginning of each 24 hour of time at sunset had been the standard for thousands of years, and is still practiced spiritually by Jews for Saturday Sabbath keeping today. They have never lost track of God's time for all these thousands of years!
Lev. 23:32...."from evening to evening, you shall celebrate your sabbath."
The Bible says Saturday evening at sunset is actually the beginning of our modern Sunday as God counts time. The beginning of the week is actually on our Saturday evening at sunset. If this meal was on Sunday evening the Bible would say "Now on the second day of the week". It does not say that! Paul actually departed on his long journey the following morning after the Saturday evening gathering.
Now you can clearly see that the disciples had gathered together for dinner on a Saturday evening, and Paul spoke with them for a few hours during and after a meal. In the first century the resurrection morning worship service usually began just after sunrise on Sunday morning, right before most men went off to work. (It was a regular workday for them. Not a time of rest.) Sunday was NEVER a time of rest. It was for work at their regular jobs. It's ludicrous to say this was a regular Christian morning worship service that began about 6:00 AM and then dragged on for 18 hours, until midnight. So the Bible shows they were actually meeting on the Saturday Sabbath when this meeting started, not a Sunday morning.
How about what the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 16? This verse is assumed to say a collection was taken up during a morning Worship Service. Does it actually say this or is this another biased assumption and church misinterpretation?
"On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come." (1 Corinthians 16:2)
Without any interpretation what does the Bible say? They were to lay something aside at the beginning of the week, storing up their contributions to give to Paul when he arrived. That's it! It doesn't say anything more. There is no mention of resting from their labors here. It doesn't say anything about gathering for a weekly worship service to do this collection. This was for collecting food to assist the poor in Jerusalem.
But wait a minute. When does the Bible say this was this to occur? The expression here is translated from two Greek words, "Mia" which is defined as "one", and "sabbaton" which is defined as "Sabbath", (appearing here and 58 other places in the Bible). On "one Sabbath", not Sunday the disciples were to lay some food aside to give to Paul for the saints who were starving in Jerusalem. This isn't even a Sunday in the first place. This is a false assumption based upon a biased mistranslation from the God inspired Greek in the Bible. It was the Saturday Sabbath . Each individual was asked to lay some food aside so it would be ready when Paul arrived to receive it and carry it to Jerusalem when the Saturday Sabbath was over. This is what the Bible actually says. It doesn't say anything more at all to indicate that this is the morning of the first day of the week.
Now you know the truth plainly from the Bible about the Saturday Sabbath Rest, not Sunday. What you do with this knowledge is between you and God! You can ignore it and continue believing and doing what God does not want and rest on Sunday, OR you can repent and change and do what God says and REST on the Saturday Sabbath . The choice is yours for all eternity!
To learn more about the true Lord's Day of Rest, the weekly Sabbath, visit
Sabbath Or Sunday - Which Is The True Lord's Day Of Rest?
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