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Why
does the vast majority of Christianity go to church on Sunday to worship God?
Those who study the Bible know that the Old Testament sanctions SATURDAY,
based on the fourth commandment, as the day God commanded people to rest and
worship him. But again, why SUNDAY?
The
answer boils down to a belief that the early New Testament church somehow
CHANGED the day of rest God himself initially made (Genesis 2:1-3). If this
is the case, then we should find amble proof of it in the Bible.
Where is it in the New Testament?
Even
if we searched day and night we would not find ANYWHERE in God's word any
statement that clearly teaches God changed His day of rest and going to
church to Sunday. We also would not come across any statements by Jesus that
God has and would require a NEW day of rest for those who believe in Him. Our
search would also lack ANY teaching of the apostles that specifically names
the first day as the new Bible Sabbath. One of the primary ways used to
justify such worship is to show that what occurred in the early church on
this day MUST mean they had some sort of worship service on it, thereby
confirming the change in days.
So,
let us take a look at the places where Sunday shows up in the New Testament
to see if this day became the new worship day. Unfortunately, according to Strong's
Concordance, the word "Sunday" never appears. Those who wrote
in the first century A.D. did not refer to the days of the week like as we do
(e.g. Monday, Wednesday, etc.). They referred to it by the phrase "first
day of the week." Our study will be relatively brief since this phrase
occurs only EIGHT times in the entire New Testament.
When did Mary first visit Jesus'
tomb?
The
first reference to Sunday in the New Testament is in the book of Matthew:
"Now
after the SABBATH, as the FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK began to dawn (the original
language word for dawn means drawing toward and does not refer to the time
just before sunrise), Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the
tomb." (Matthew 28:1)
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Another
translation of this verse gives a clearly picture of what it means:
"Now
late on the Sabbath, as the first day of the weeks was DRAWING NEAR . . ."
(Holy Bible in Its Original Order, Second Edition)
Days
in the Bible did not begin at midnight as they do today but ran from SUNSET
to SUNSET. The seventh or Sabbath day ran from sunset Friday to sunset
Saturday.
What
does Matthew 28:1 tell us? It states that two "Marys," about the
time the Sabbath was ending (Saturday evening) went to check on Jesus' tomb.
The logical time sequence of this verse actually confirms that a Biblical
Sabbath observance occurred from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday after Jesus
died. There is no support here whatsoever for going to church on Sunday,
since THIS visit to the tomb happened Saturday night!
The
second reference we will look at is in the book of Mark:
"Very
early in the morning, on the FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK, they came to the tomb
when the sun had risen." (Mark 16:2)
Mark
is merely noting that certain women visited the tomb early Sunday. Our third
reference is also found in the book of Mark.
"Now
when He rose early on the FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK, He appeared first to Mary
Magdalene . . ." (Mark 16:9)
Notice
what is NOT stated in this verse. It does not call the first weekday a
Sabbath nor does it label it the 'Lord's Day.' There is not a word here that
says it should be hallowed or that it should now be a holy day dedicated to
God. Absent is also any command to even memorialize the day each year like is
done with Easter.
Did the disciples WORK on a first
day?
Another
example of a "first day" reference is found in the book of Luke.
"Now
on the FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK, very early in the morning, they, and certain
other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices . . . "
(Luke 24:1)
This
is a very interesting Bible verse. It simply states certain women came very
early on the first day (Sunday) to Jesus' tomb, bringing with them spices
they made for his body. Jewish tradition was to anoint the body of the dead
with myrtle, aloes, and possibly hyssop, rose-oil, and rose-water. But WHY
didn't the women anoint the body of Jesus right after they prepared the
spices on Friday? Luke gives us the answer. Anointing the body was considered
WORK which the Bible says should not be done on the Sabbath. The women
finished their preparations likely in the late afternoon and, since sunset
was approaching (which began the weekly Sabbath), they rested "according
to the commandment" (Luke 23:56). God's Sabbath ran from sunset Friday
to sunset Saturday. The first chance they would have, after the Sabbath, to
anoint the body in the light of day was Sunday. Note, however, the obvious.
The women WORKED on the first day, work that could not have been done between
sunsets on Friday and Saturday. The book of Mark was written in 42 A.D., some
twelve years after Jesus' death and ascension. Yet at this time we find not
only a confirmation that God's Sabbath was still in effect, but also that
SUNDAY was considered just another workday! There is no HINT in these verses
that such an important command like the day to worship God had CHANGED so
early in church history!
Was
the resurrection being celebrated on Sunday?
Another
unique reference to the first day is found in the book of John.
19.
Afterwards, as evening was drawing near that day, the first day of the weeks,
and the doors were shut where the disciples had assembled for fear of the
Jews . . . (John 20, HBFV)
Was
the early church celebrating the Sabbath on this day? Were they gathering to
commemorate the death of Jesus that had just occurred a few days before? No!
They gathered in a certain place and shut the door out of FEAR of the Jews
who had just arranged Jesus' murder!
Did
Paul hold Sunday services?
7.
Now on the first day of the weeks, when the disciples had assembled to break
bread, Paul preached to them and because he was going to leave in the morning
. . . 8 And there were many lamps in the upper room (Acts 20, HBFV)
This
certainly seems like a Sunday worship service with Paul preaching the
message. Note, however, that the apostle spoke when he did because he would
leave the assembled group IN THE MORNING - Sunday morning. Paul was giving
this message late on a Saturday (notice that lamps were needed in the room).
He wanted to teach and encourage this group of believers in Troas as much as
possible before he left to continue his missionary journey.
Were
collections taken during services?
Let
us look at the final location in the New Testament where the term "first
day" is used.
1.
Now concerning the collection that is being made for the saints . . . 2.
Every first day of the week, each one is to put aside food at home . . .
(1Corinthians 16:1-2)
Notice
that the above verse does NOT mention a collection being taken up for the
ministry or for evangelism. This is NOT a freewill offering made in order to
help the local church pay its bills. Things were collected for the SAINTS.
What was being collected? Not money but FOOD! What was happening was that
Jerusalem and Judea were suffering from a terrible drought. In such
conditions money, which you obviously cannot eat, matters little. What
matters the most is FOOD! Paul was encouraging the Corinthians to help their
poor suffering brethren in Judea. Paul also mentions this relief effort to
the church in Rome (Romans 15:25-26, 28).
In
conclusion
The
Bible does not contain a shred of evidence that shows that God, Jesus or
early New Testament leaders CHANGED the day of worship from what it was in
the Old Testament. People today generally worship on Sunday because 'that is
what their church does.' They are unaware that the Bible does NOT support
worship on the first day of the week. They are also unaware of church
history, and how the interplay of the Roman Empire, Jews and religious
politics led to worshipping God on Sunday. We highly suggest reading the book
From Sabbath to Sunday, which delineates
from the Vatican's own libraries how the Catholics changed the day of worship
because they THOUGHT God gave them the power to do so!
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