Author : David Tant
(1) Christ was raised on the first day of the week. “Now after He had risen early on the first day of the week, He first appeared to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had cast out seven demons” (Mark 16:9). This was one of the most historic events in the history of the world, and God chose the first day of the week for this marvel.
(2) Christ was declared to be the Son of God on that same day. Paul states that he “…was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead; even Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 1:4). Since he was raised on the first day of the week, and by his resurrection was proven and declared to be the Son of God, then that was the day of God’s declaration.
(3) Christ met with the disciples on the first day of the week. “So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, ‘Peace be with you’” (John 20:19). “After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, ‘Peace be with you’” (John 20:26).
(4) Pentecost came on the first day of the week. Leviticus 13 gives the conditions for observing the Feast of Pentecost. “You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering; there shall be seven complete Sabbaths” (Lev. 13:15). “Pen’tecost, that is, the fiftieth day (from a Greek word meaning fiftieth), or Harvest Feast, or Feast of Weeks, may be regarded as a supplement to the Passover. It lasted for but one day. From the sixteenth of Nisan seven weeks were reckoned inclusively, and the next or fiftieth day was the day of Pentecost, which fell on the sixth of Sivan (about the end of May)” (Smith’s Bible Dictionary).
It was on that first day of the week, Pentecost, that:
- The church was established. “When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place” (Acts 2:1).
- The Holy Spirit began his mission of leading men to Christ. Christ had promised to send the Spirit when the gospel was to begin at Jerusalem. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
We see this fulfilled on Pentecost, the first day of the week, as the apostles “were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance” (Acts 2:4).
(5) The New Testament church assembled on the first day of the week. “We sailed from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and came to them at Troas within five days; and there we stayed seven days. On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to leave the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight” (Acts 20:6-7). It is well understood that this “breaking of bread” refers to the Lord’s Supper, or Communion. It is worth nothing that Paul arrived in Troas on a Monday, but waited until the first day of the next week to meet with the disciples.
“Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed the churches of Galatia, so do you also. On the first day of every week each one of you is to put aside and save, as he may prosper, so that no collections be made when I come” (I Cor 16:1-2). Some may claim that this contribution is to be put aside at home, but that would defeat what Paul wanted. He said he did not want to have to collect the money when he came, as he wanted it all together. Obviously, this was money contributed into the common treasury on the first day of the week, as Paul directed. This question comes to mind. If the church met on Saturday, then why would Paul instruct them to come the next day for the collection? These early Christians did not have the luxury of having Sunday off as most of us do. Many were slaves, and would rise before dawn to meet with fellow Christians before going to their delegated tasks. It would make no sense for them to be commanded to meet the second time just to make their contribution. Since this is a clear command, I have asked members of the Seventh Day Adventist Church if they came together on Sundays for this purpose. None that I have asked have admitted they did so. If this is a command, why do they ignore it?
Didn’t the Pope Change the Day?
The charge is made that the Catholic Pope is the one who changed the day of worship from Saturday to Sunday. We have already noted that this was done from the very beginning. Besides, there was no official pope until Boniface III in about 607 A. D.
We have many documents from the early years showing that the early church did indeed meet on the first day of the week. Consider just a few of many quotations. IGNATIUS (c. 110 A.D.): “If therefore those who lived according to the old practices came to the new hope, no longer observing the Sabbath but living according to the Lord’s Day, in which also our life arose through him and his death (which some deny), through which mystery we received faith…” (Magnesians 9). JUSTIN MARTYR (c. 150 A. D.): “We are always together with one another. And for all the things with which we are supplied we bless the Maker of all through his Son Jesus Christ and through his Holy Spirit. And on the day called Sunday there is a gathering together in the same place of all who live in a city or a rural district … We all make our assembly in common on the day of the Sun, since it is the first day, on which God changed the darkness and matter and made the world and Jesus Christ our Savior arose from the dead on the same day” (Apology I, 67:1-3, 7). TERTULLIAN (c. 200 A.D.): “Others…suppose that the sun is the god of Christians, because it is well-known that…we regard Sunday as a day of joy” (To the Nations I:13). “To us Sabbaths are foreign” (On Idolatry 13:6). This was long before any pope arrived on the scene. The charge that the pope changed the day is a false charge.
