Sunday in the New Testament - Battle Ready Christianity

Every Sunday Text in the New Testament

Is Sunday the Sabbath for Christians? It is commonly taught and believed by many that because Jesus rose from the dead on Sunday, the First day of the week, that it has now become the Christian Sabbath. But is there any Scriptural justification for such a belief?

In this study we will take a close look at every text in the New Testament that mentions the First day of the week. Every text that can possibly be used to argue a case for the transfer of the Sabbath from the Seventh to the First day of the week.

The most logical place to start our examination of these texts would be to begin with anything Jesus said about the day. And so, below in quotation marks, you will find every word spoken by Jesus concerning the First day of the week. (Jesus and the Sabbath)

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And there you have it. That is everything the Bible records Jesus saying about the First day of the week. So far as the Scripture record shows, Jesus never so much as spoke its name. And that presents a problem to those who claim that somehow Jesus changed the Sabbath from the Seventh to the First day of the week. But all is not lost. There are eight definite references to the First day of the week in the New Testament, and so, perhaps in them we will find the authority for making the First day instead of the Seventh day the Christian Sabbath.

The first set of Sunday texts we will look at are those that tell of Jesus’ resurrection. The story of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection can be found in all four of the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. All are unanimous that Jesus rose from the dead early in the morning of the First day of the week. And so, we will take a close look at these accounts, because Jesus’ resurrection on the First day is the reason given for Christians to keep Sunday as their Sabbath instead of the Seventh day.

The Testimony of Luke- the Resurrection of Jesus

Here is the account of the Resurrection as presented in the gospel of Luke, and here is what Luke under the inspiration of God had to say about the First day of the week.

Luke 23:54 – 24:3 And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on. And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulcher, and how his body was laid. And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment. Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulcher, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulcher. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.

Luke was not a Jew, but a Greek, an early gentile convert to Christianity, and as the author of both the gospel which bears his name and the book of Acts, he wrote more of the New Testament than any other person other than the apostle Paul. He apparently joined up with the apostle Paul and his companions at Troas as they were on their way to Philippi. (Acts 16:11).

What makes Luke’s comments concerning the First day of the week most interesting, is that he was writing to a gentile, not a Jewish audience. In the introduction of this book, Luke says that he had “perfect understanding of all things from the very first” (Luke 1:3). Moreover, he said that in his gospel he gives us a “treatise” of “all that Jesus began both to do and teach” (Acts 1:1).

Luke 23:56 tells us how Christ’s followers “rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment.” Following this, Luke states “Upon the first day of the week, very in the morning they came to the sepulcher.” They came to finish the work of preparing Jesus body for burial, work that had been left unfinished Friday evening, because the Sabbath was drawing near. But Jesus was no longer there. He had risen.

Here was a golden opportunity for Luke to say something about the First day of the week taking the place of the Seventh day Sabbath. Here was the perfect opportunity for Luke, a Gentile convert writing to other gentiles, to tell how because of the Resurrection of Jesus, the First day of the week now replaced “the Sabbath day according to the commandment.” Here was a golden opportunity for Luke to remove any lingering doubt or confusion on the Sabbath question. But Luke failed to do that. His silence on the issue of Sunday sacredness is deadening.

What Luke did do under the inspiration of God was to make it a point to say that the day before the Resurrection, which by the way was the Seventh day, was “the Sabbath according to the commandment.”

It is also important to remember that not only was Luke a Gentile writing to Gentiles, but that he also wrote his book at about AD 63, some 30 years after the events recorded here. Thirty years after the Cross, thirty years after the Resurrection, Luke, a gospel writer under the inspiration of God, makes no mention whatsoever of Sunday sacredness. The Seventh day Sabbath is called by Luke “the Sabbath according to the commandment,” but Sunday is merely “the first day of the week,” and nothing more.

Here we find no command to keep Sunday in place of the Sabbath. No statement that Jesus transferred the Sabbath rest from the Seventh day to the First. No suggestion that we are to observe the First day of the week in honor of Christ’s resurrection. All we find is the simple matter of fact statement that Jesus rose on the First day of the week.

The Testimony of Mark – the Resurrection of Jesus

Here is the account of the Resurrection as presented in the gospel of Mark, and here is what Mark under the inspiration of God had to say about the First day of the week.

Mark mentions the First day of the week (Sunday) twice in chapter 16, both in reference to Jesus’ Resurrection.

Mark 16:1-2 And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulcher at the rising of the sun.

Mark 16:9 Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.

Mark, though not one of the twelve disciples, is believed to have been a follower of Jesus during the time of His ministry and may have been an eyewitness to some of what Jesus said and did. It is generally thought that the house with the upper room where Jesus had the Last Supper with His disciples was in the home of Mark. It is also thought that Mark was the young man mentioned in Mark 14:51 who was there with Jesus and His disciples in the garden of Gethsemane the night Jesus was arrested by the mob.

In the book of Mark, other than a matter of fact statement that Jesus rose from the dead on the First day of the week, we find that Mark makes it plain that the Sabbath is the day before the First day.

Once again, a golden opportunity is lost. Once again, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit there is no mention of a change in the Sabbath from the Seventh day to the First day of the week. And yet the book of Mark, thought to be the first of the four Gospels to be written, was written about AD 60, decades after the resurrection of Jesus.

Some 27 years after the cross, Mark was still calling the Seventh day the Sabbath. Some 27 years after the resurrection Mark still gave no sacred title to the First day of the week. But he says that the Sabbath was already past when the First day dawned.

The Testimony of Matthew – the Resurrection of Jesus

Here is the account of the Resurrection as presented in the gospel of Matthew. And here is what Matthew under the inspiration of God had to say about the First day of the week.

Matthew 28:1-6 Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men. But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. “He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.

Matthew as a Jew, a former tax collector, and as a disciple of Jesus, an eyewitness to much of what Jesus said and did. It is thought that the gospel of Matthew was the next book after Mark’s gospel to be written.

Matthew’s account follows the same pattern we have already seen in Luke and in Mark. Although writing decades after the event, Matthew makes a clear distinction between the Sabbath and the First day of the week. Those who are looking for a clear-cut text declaring Sunday to be the new Christian Sabbath will be disappointed in Matthew’s account of the Resurrection. This is the one and only mention by Matthew of the First day of the week. And it contains nothing, not the slightest hint, of any sacredness being imparted to Sunday.

The Testimony of John – the Resurrection of Jesus

Here is the account of the Resurrection as presented in the gospel of John, and here is what John under the inspiration of God had to say about the First day of the week.

The gospel of John was the last book of the New Testament to be written. It dates from about A.D. 100, some 60 years after the crucifixion. The apostle John was one of the inner circle of disciples, closest to Jesus.

The First day of the week is mentioned twice in the gospel of John. John’s first mention of the 1st day of the week is found in chapter 20 verse 1.

John 20:1 The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulcher, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulcher.

The previous verse, the last verse in John chapter 19, in agreement with the testimony of the other gospels which we have already seen, indicate that Jesus’s burial was rush job because of the rapidly approaching Sabbath.

If you go back and look at each burial/resurrection story found in each of the four gospels, a pattern emerges.

1. Jesus body was hurriedly buried because the Sabbath was rapidly approaching.

2. Because of the hurried burial, the disciples did not have time to properly prepare Jesus’ body.

3. In spite of the failure to fully prepare the body of Jesus, the disciples stop their work that they might observe the Sabbath day according to the commandment.

4. Once the Sabbath was over, the women resumed the work of properly preparing the body of Jesus for burial, thus treating the First day as a common working day.

5. But by the time the women reach the tomb, it is empty, Jesus is risen.

John wrote his account of the burial and resurrection of Jesus in about A.D. 100, and at that time he simply called Sunday the first day of the week giving it no sacred title at all. Here, again, we find no mention of Sunday sacredness. However, John is not finished with the First day yet. He mentions it a second time.

John 20:19 Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.

Ah, at last we are getting somewhere. Here is a Sunday meeting by the disciples. Here is a text that many preachers have used as a proof text to show that Sunday is the new Christian Sabbath.

However, on closer examination, there are problems. This verse, often used to promote Sunday worship, mentions nothing about a worship service in honor of Christ’s resurrection. They were not meeting to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection, but rather, it says only that the disciples had assembled behind locked doors and barred windows “for fear of the Jews.” So very far from being a celebration of Christ’s resurrection, they were afraid that they would be next on the Sanhedrin’s hit list. They did not yet believe that Jesus was risen from the dead. They did not yet believe the testimony of the women who had met the risen Jesus.

Mark, telling about the same meeting, says that the disciples “believed not” the women who told them that Jesus was alive, and that one of the things Jesus did when He appeared to them that Sunday was to upbraid “them with their unbelief … because they believed not” that “he was risen.”

Mark 16:10-13 And she went and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept. And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not. After that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country. And they went and told it unto the residue: neither believed they them. Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.

When Jesus himself finally appeared to them that evening, even He had a tough time convincing them that it was really Him, and that He was alive and not dead. It took Him over a week to convince one doubting disciple.

No, this was not a religious service in celebration of Christ’s resurrection no matter how much some wish it to be so. As mentioned earlier, the Bible itself plainly tells why they were assembled.

Jesus said many things to the disciples at this meeting, but the one thing that the Scriptures are absolutely silent on is any mention of Sunday sacredness. If Jesus transferred the sacredness of the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday, why didn’t he say anything about it. Surely this would have been the perfect time to say something, anything, about such a change. But Jesus doesn’t say a word. Not a single word, not the slightest hint of such a change in the Sabbath in mentioned.

John’s silence on the sanctity of Sunday (the First day) remains significant because his gospel was written toward the end of the First Century. But John, like Matthew, Mark, and Luke knew nothing about the First day (Sunday) being a replacement for the Seventh day Sabbath. But John, like them, does have much to say about the Seventh day being the Sabbath of the Lord, the Sabbath according to the commandment.

If the Seventh day Sabbath had been changed to Sunday surely, Matthew, Mark and John – all Jews whose forefathers had kept the Sabbath – should have written something definitive about it in their gospels. However, they wrote nothing about such a change. This silence is strange because, if Jesus instituted such a major change, nothing less than a change in one of the Ten Commandments, and the one commandment God specifically said to remember at that, wouldn’t these founders of His church have said something?

This is very significant, because the Resurrection of Jesus is the very reason given for the observance of Sunday as the Christian Sabbath. And yet, not a single account of the Resurrection of Jesus contains even the slightest hint of such a change taking place.

However, there are yet a few more mentions of the First day in the New Testament. Perhaps in them we will find the authority for Sunday observance we are looking for.

The Apostle Paul Preaches a Sunday Sermon at Troas

Acts 20:7-11 And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight. And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together. And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead. And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him. When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed.

Surely you will say, not only is this a Sunday assembly of Christians, but it is most definitely a religious service as well, since the apostle Paul preached to them. It most certainly was, and this is one of the all-time favorite proof texts used to show that Sunday and not Saturday is the Christian Sabbath.

However, such an interpretation of this text presents some major problems. In the Bible, Old Testament and New Testament alike, days began at sunset. This was established at Creation where in Genesis 1 it is recoded for each day of Creation, “And the evening and the morning were the first day,” “second day,” “third day,” etc.

Leviticus 23:32 From evening to evening, you shall celebrate your sabbath.

That Paul was preaching at night is obvious. Biblically speaking, the only way Paul could preach at night on the First day of the week was if he was preaching on what we today would call Saturday night. And apparently Paul was a long winded preacher.

Luke, the writer of Acts, makes it very clear that this was not a regular religious service, but a special meeting. Paul and his companions had stopped at Troas on their way to Jerusalem. They stayed there a few days and on the evening of the last day of their stay, Paul held a special farewell service. He preached not because the First day [Saturday Night in this story] was being observed as some kind of Christian Sabbath, but because as the Bible says, he and his companions were “ready to depart on the morrow.” And “the morrow” on which Paul and his companions would resume their journey to Jerusalem was Sunday. In other words, Sunday was looked upon by the early Christian church as just another working day.

Something else to remember is this: Nothing man can do will make a day holy that God has not made holy. Remember, we are talking “Ten Commandments” here. It is going to take a whole lot more than a farewell meeting that by chance happened to be on a Saturday night [which would be the biblical beginning of the First day of the week] to change it.

Does your church have a midweek service? Most do on Wednesdays. Does that make Wednesday a holy day? Does that make Wednesday a Sabbath day? Of course not.

Then why should Paul’s preaching a special service on Saturday night at Troas make Sunday holy? Remember, this is the Ten Commandments we are talking about here. Without a direct command from God to keep a particular day holy, no man, not even an apostle of Christ, can do anything to make it holy.

Now tell me, do you find in this text any command from God to keep the First day of the week holy? Has God in any of these texts that we have looked at blessed and sanctified the First day of the week as he did the Seventh day when he created the world? Does God anywhere in any of these texts command his people to disregard the Seventh day Sabbath and observe/remember in its place the First day instead? No, not at all.

God said, “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: … But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God” (Exodus 20:8,10). Nowhere can we find a record of God changing that command from the Seventh day to the First day of the week. Man cannot keep holy a day which God has never made holy.

Collections for the Saints

The last text in the Bible that actually mentions the First day of the week is 1 Corinthians 16:1-2

1 Corinthians 16:1-2 Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.

The apostle Paul was taking up a collection from among the various churches to help famine-stricken Christians at Jerusalem. So, he writes the Corinthian believers that on the First day of each week they should set aside what they had to give. This would make it easier for him to collect their gifts when he came, and the offering could go to Jerusalem without delay.

Some have thought, and Sunday preachers have preached, that Paul was referring to the weekly offering in church and that the Corinthians were worshiping on Sunday.

As with every other New Testament reference to the First day, this text says nothing about the First day being sacred or holy. It isn’t even talking about a public worship service in which offerings are brought. It isn’t even talking about worship at all, rather. Paul admonishes each believer to lay something aside, storing it up.

1 Corinthians 16:2 Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him.

And if you go to the Bible and read the whole story for yourself, you will find that Paul was not speaking of a congregational church collection at all. He was speaking of a famine relief fund which was to be sent to the poor saints in Jerusalem.

And that is it. There is not another passage in all the New Testament that even so much as mentions the First day of the week. However, there is one more text that need to be looked at.

In the Spirit on the Lord’s Day

Revelation 1:10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet.

From this text all we can learn is that Jesus has a special day which is called the “Lord’s day.” This passage does not tell us which day that is. It just doesn’t say. We have examined every New Testament passage that makes reference to Sunday and not one of them call that day the Lord’s day. In fact, none of them call Sunday anything at all other than the First day of the week, giving it no sacred title whatsoever.

What day is the real Lord’s day? As we have noted, the Bible nowhere calls the First day (Sunday) the Lord’s day. But in Matthew 12:8 we find Jesus saying, “For the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath day.” And in Isaiah 58:13 the Lord calls the Sabbath “My holy day” “the Holy of the Lord.”

Isaiah 58:13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:

And in the Ten Commandments themselves it is called “the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.”

Exodus 20:10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God.

So, if any day is to rightly be called the Lord’s day, it is the Seventh day Sabbath. And so, we find that the Scriptures are very clear that the only day that can biblically be called “the Lord’s day” is the Seventh day Sabbath. Nowhere in all the Bible did Jesus say he was Lord of the First day of the week in any special sense.

What Sunday (the First day) is Missing

From the very first day of creation, Sunday, the First day of the week was a work day, not a day of rest.
In the Fourth Commandment God also commands men to work on the First day of the week, a command that has never been rescinded.
God did not rest on the First day, nor did God ever bless the First day.
Jesus did not rest on the First day, nor did he ever bless the First day.
The first day, Sunday, has never been blessed by any divine authority.
It has never been sanctified or make holy by God.
No law was ever given to enforce its observance; therefore it is no transgression to work on it. “Where no law is, there is no transgression.” (Romans 4:15, also 1 John 3:4).
The New Testament nowhere forbids work to be done on Sunday.
No penalty is provided for its violation.
No blessing is promised for its observance.
No regulation is to be found in the Bible as to how Sunday ought to be kept. However, man has been more than willing to make up for God’s oversight.
The Bible never calls Sunday the Christian Sabbath.
It is never called a Sabbath day at all.
It is never called the Lord’s day, or even a day of rest.
No sacred title whatsoever is applied to it.
It is simply called the First day of the week, nothing more.
So far as the Scripture record shows, Jesus never mentioned the day, never took its name on his lips.