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[apologies, but we have not yet included the footnotes]  

Question 28: Do not the records show that Christians gathered on Sunday, the first day of the week, which was called "the Lord's day" (Revelation 1:10), for worship (John 20:1, 19; Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2)?

Answer: We have divided our response to this question into the following sections:

1. Revelation 1:10 and "the Lord’s day".

2. The "first day of the week" in John 20:1, 19 and other passages about the day of Christ’s resurrection.

3. First Corinthians 16:2.

4. Acts 20:7.

Let’s consider this verse in context:

9 I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,

11 Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. (Revelation 1:9-11).

Revelation 1:10 is obviously not a command replacing Sabbath observance with Sunday-keeping. Nor does it say that John was in the spirit on the first day of the week. Nor does it say that the first day of the week is "the Lord’s day". It simply says, "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day". How then can we know what the Lord’s day is? If we use the Protestant principle of letting the Bible speak for itself then the passages that are most closely related to this one are Isaiah 58:13, Matthew 12:8, Mark 2:28, Luke 6:5 and those that refer to the eschatological "day of the Lord" such as Isaiah 13:6, 9; Joel 1:15 and 2 Peter 3:10.

Isaiah 58:13 says, "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..."

Matthew 12:8 says, "For the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath day." Mark 2:28 and Luke 6:5 say basically the same thing.

These texts suggest that John was in the Spirit on the seventh-day Sabbath. This is quite appropriate since the Sabbath celebrates the hope of Christ’s second coming and Eden restored [5, 15] which is, of course, central to the visions of Revelation. Mark 2:27, 28 supports this idea. These verses read as follows:

And He said unto them, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath: Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath.

Here Jesus identifies Himself as the mediator of the Sabbath blessings. Since the Sabbath was made as a blessing to man, the Son of Man, through whom all man's blessings come, is its Lord. In declaring that He is Lord of the Sabbath Christ is saying that He is Lord of the redemption of man [11]. Why? Because the Sabbath is the day which celebrates man's redemption (please see the answers to Questions 6 [part 4, point "e"] and 24). "The Lord’s day" of Revelation 1:10 was the day when John saw in vision man's redemption. It would thus be most appropriate for it to be the seventh-day Sabbath.

The texts about the eschatological "day of the Lord" could possibly mean that when John said that he was "in the spirit on the Lord’s day" he meant that he was taken forward in vision to this great day of judgment. That he did see in vision the eschatological day of the Lord is clearly apparent by reading the book of Revelation. However, notice that John’s description of where he was in time is closely related to his explanation of where he was "in space" (Patmos Island, vs. 9), and that this description of his location is given in physical rather than spiritual (visionary) terms. This would favor John’s reference to the Lord’s day as meaning the day of the week rather than visionary time. Also this part of Revelation is still in the prologue section of the book where we would expect a clear reference to literal time and place.

Another point of interest relates to the Gospel of John. If John considered the first day of the week to be "the Lord’s day" why did he not use this expression in his Gospel? The Gospel of John uses the phrase "first day of the week" twice (John 20:1, 19) but nowhere mentions "the Lord’s day". We do not know for sure when the books of John and Revelation were written (though most place them late in the first century), but we do know that the phrase "the Lord’s day" was not considered appropriate for designating the day of Christ’s resurrection when John wrote his Gospel.

In summary, if we want to base our faith upon scripture, then we must admit that it favors "the Lord’s day" as being a reference to the seventh-day Sabbath.

As an after note we must say something about the "church fathers". Perhaps some are thinking, "Do not the writings of the ‘church fathers’ prove that ‘the Lord's day’ is a reference to Sunday?" Well, no they don’t because the church fathers are not the Bible! Their writings have mistakes in them. The "church fathers" cannot have any weight in comparison to the Holy Scriptures.

John 20:1 and John 20:19 represent two of a total of eight times that the phrase "first day of the week" occurs in the New Testament. Six of these times are simply describing the day that Jesus arose from the dead and first appeared to His disciples. Here are those six times:

In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre (Matthew 28:1).

And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun (Mark 16:2).

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 16:9).

Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them (Luke 24:1).

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

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 (John 20:19).

It was certainly logical that Jesus should meet His disciples on the day of His resurrection. He loved them and wanted to comfort their grieving hearts and prepare them for their future work at the earliest opportunity. But at this first meeting there is no reference about a new day of worship or about the abolition of the seventh-day Sabbath. Nor would we expect one, as Jesus had three days earlier (inclusive reckoning) ratified the new covenant by His death, and once a covenant is consummated no new conditions can be added without breaking the agreement (Galatians 3:15, please see also the answer to Question 27).

Why were the disciples gathered together on the day when Jesus was resurrected? There is no indication that they were meeting together to celebrate something. They were trying to cope with the great disappointment that they had just suffered. They were depressed and afraid, probably thinking "Will we be the next victims of the Jews’ hatred towards Christ?" (John 20:19). They did not gather to celebrate the Lord’s supper. Nor did Jesus celebrate this meal with His disciples when He appeared to them. His pledge at the Last Supper was not to partake again of the fruit of the vine until His second coming. John, who probably wrote his Gospel at the end of the first century AD, makes no reference to any meal on the day of Christ’s resurrection. Luke mentions that Christ ate some broiled fish and honeycomb so that He could demonstrate the reality of His resurrected body.

The early church did not celebrate the Lord's supper on a specific weekly day, nor was it understood as being commemorative of the resurrection. It was to be celebrated "when you come together" (1 Corinthians 11:18, 20, 33, 34), that is, no definite time was set. It was to commemorate Christ’s sacrifice and second coming. Thus, 1 Corinthians 11:26 says that when we partake of the Lord’s Supper we "do shew the Lord's death till He come".

Christ did appear to His disciples on several other occasions before His ascension, but these appearances cannot be fitted into any set weekly pattern. His purpose was not to inaugurate a new weekly day but to demonstrate the reality of His resurrected state, open His disciples’ minds to the Old Testament prophecies [26] and instruct them concerning the Holy Spirit's coming [36] and the mission of the church.

John 20:26 describes a visit to the disciples "eight days later" than His first one. This would have been on the following Sunday. Again there is no reference to a new day of worship or to the abolition of the seventh-day Sabbath. The reason Christ appeared is made plain. It was because Thomas was there. The whole narrative of this appearance in John 20:26-29 is centered on Thomas. Nothing else of note is recorded except for Jesus’ initial greeting. The other disciples had almost certainly been together everyday since the previous Sunday (c.f. Acts 1:14, 2:1). But this may well have been the first time that Thomas decided to join them.

We have now mentioned six of the eight times where the phrase "first day of the week" occurs in the Bible. The other two are 1 Corinthians 16:2 and Acts 20:7. We will consider these two texts one at a time.

This verse says, "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." In this passage there is no command substituting the first day of the week for the seventh. Nothing here suggests resting or a public assembly. It describes a plan to ensure that a good donation for the needy brethren at Jerusalem (vs. 3) is ready for Paul’s arrival so that there is no embarrassment for either Paul or the Corinthians (c.f. 2 Corinthians 9:1-5). The beginning of the week was an appropriate time to set aside their donations. In fact, the setting aside of material things at the beginning of the week was a Jewish concept, not a Christian one.

In the writings of Moses, Israel was instructed in the principle of giving sacred offerings of material things at the beginning of a week (or another period of time) so as to release the remainder for common use and acknowledge that really the entire amount belonged to God because it was the fruit of His power. In contrast to this, the offering of time was to be given at the end of a week and acted to consecrate the entire week. In support of this please consider the following:

a). The wave sheaf of barley at the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread was a consecration of material things. It occurred on the day after the first ceremonial Sabbath, at the beginning of the feast (Leviticus 23:11).

b). The first fruits of the wheat harvest were given at Pentecost, on the first day following seven weeks (Leviticus 23:15, 16).

c). The first fruit of the year’s harvest at the Feast of Tabernacles was given on the first month of the civil year, which was the seventh month of the sacred year (Leviticus 23:34, 39).

d). The "offering" of land and servants in the year of Jubilee was on the first day following seven "weeks" of years (Leviticus 25:8-11, 40).

e). Firstborn offspring of the herd or flock were given to the Lord on the eighth day of their lives, i.e. on the first day after becoming one week old (Exodus 22:30).

f). Offspring of oxen, sheep or goats were acceptable for sacrifice from the eighth day onwards (Leviticus 22:27).

a). The weekly Sabbath on the last day of the week was to be kept even during plowing and harvest (Exodus 34:21). Thus in busy times the Sabbath had to be planned for ahead of time, and took priority. The time leading up to it was in this sense acknowledged as belonging to God too.

b). The weekly day of preparation was on the sixth day (Exodus 16:22-31; Luke 23:54). Again, the time before the Sabbath is being managed in reference to it.

c). The seventh month of the religious year was in a sense a sabbatical month. It included three annual festivals (Leviticus 23:24-36). It would have been necessary for the Israelites to plan ahead for this month because it included ten days of religious festivals plus travelling time.

d). The sabbatical year was on the last year of a "week" of years (Leviticus 25:1-7) and the year of preparation was the sixth year (Leviticus 25:20-22). Again, an offering of time is being prepared for in advance.

In summary, 1 Corinthians 16:2 is not about Christians gathering on Sunday, the first day of the week, but about a plan to lay aside material offerings for the support of God’s work. This plan was in harmony with Old Testament principles regarding offerings of material things, but was not in line with Old Testament directions concerning offerings of time.

Let us now consider Acts 20:7. This text says, "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."

The context of this verse is Paul’s journey from Greece to Syria and Jerusalem (Acts 20:1-3, 16). In the course of this journey Paul and his travelling companions came to Troas where they stayed a week and held a meeting on the eve of their departure (Acts 20:6, 7). The fact that Acts 20:7 does not support Sunday observance in place of the Sabbath can be seen from the following:

a). Paul had been at Troas seven days and was now ready to depart (Acts 20:6, 7). Therefore it would be most logical for him to hold a farewell meeting and to "break bread".

b). The mention of the first day of the week is simply part of an ongoing series of references about Paul's journey (Acts 20:3, 6, 7, 15, 16; 21:1, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 15) and is worth noting since they are about to leave Troas.

c). The occasion was also worthy of mention solely on account of Eutycus’ fatal accident and subsequent miraculous resurrection (Acts 20:8-12).

d). There is obviously no commandment in this passage replacing Sabbath with Sunday.

e). The incident should be seen in the context of the "Jewishness" (see the answer to Question 26) of the early church. A change of day of worship would have caused an uproar as bad as, or worse than, the circumcision issue. But silence prevails and the early Christians are still considered a sect of the Jewish religion (Acts 24:5, c.f. 15:5; 5:17).

f). Concerning the phrase "breaking of bread", we need to remember that this may mean simply "to eat" (Luke 24:30; Matthew 14:19). This would be sensible, as they were planning to travel when the sun came up and Paul, at least, would be walking a long way (Acts 20:13). Thus, it could be considered as simply a reference to breakfast. We know that communion was not exclusively a first day practice and could be celebrated on any day when the believers were gathered together (1 Corinthians 11:18, 20, 33, 34). No mention is made in this passage about grape juice or wine. If Luke had been using Roman time then the breaking of bread occurred on Monday morning, since it was done after midnight (Acts 20:7, 11).

In view of the above we conclude that it is not appropriate to use Acts 20:7 to support the claim that Sunday was observed by the early church.

In summary, the records do not support the claim that Christians gathered on Sunday, the first day of the week, for worship. Neither do they support the claim that Sunday was called "the Lord's day".