Sunday
When it comes to Sunday, or the first day of the week as it is called in Scripture, the Bible has little to say about it, unlike the Sabbath. However two significant events took place on Sunday -the creation of light as a foreshadowing of the resurrection of Christ, the light of the world, and the resurrection itself. There is not a single commandment about Sunday as a day of the week, however there is a commandment to keep yearly Feast of Harvest or Firstfruits on the day after the Sabbath, which is Sunday. Hidden within this feast is another foreshadowing of Christ's resurrection, likewise the offerings carried out during the feast of unblemished lamb, wine, and flour mixed with oil, all point to the Messiah.
Contents
Creation of Light on Sunday
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness He called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
12 Once again, Jesus spoke to the people and said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Sunday Feast of Firstfruits
9 And Yahweh said to Moses, 10 “Speak to the Israelites and say, ‘When you enter the land that I am giving you and you reap its harvest, you are to bring to the priest a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest. 11 And he shall wave the sheaf before Yahweh so that it may be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath. 12 On the day you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a year-old lamb without blemish as a burnt offering to Yahweh,13 along with its grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil—an offering made by fire to Yahweh, a pleasing aroma—and its drink offering of a quarter hin of wine.
20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in his own turn: Christ the firstfruits; then at His coming, those who belong to Him.
Sunday and Resurrection
There is actually a debate in the body of Christ over which day Jesus was crucified and resurrected on. According to scripture, crucifixion happened on a day before the High Sabbath, which could fall on any day of the week, as it is tied to a date on the Biblical calendar and not to the day of the week. When it comes to resurrection, we only know when the women found the empty tomb, not when Jesus was actually resurrected. Resurrection happened in the sealed tomb with no eyewitnesses.
Resurrection Timeline
So let's start with crucifixion and resurrection timeline based on what we know from the Bible. According to Matthew Jesus spent 3 days and 3 nights in the heart of the earth:
40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
62 The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and Pharisees assembled before Pilate. 63 “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while He was alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ 64 So give the order that the tomb be secured until the third day. Otherwise, His disciples may come and steal Him away and tell the people He has risen from the dead. And this last deception would be worse than the first.”
If the three days and three nights are not literal 72 hours this is the possible timeline:
DAY 1 NIGHT 1 DAY 2 NIGHT 2 DAY 3 NIGHT 3
If the three days and three nights are literal 72 hours this has to be the timeline:
WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY
NIGHT 1 DAY 1 NIGHT 2 DAY 2 NIGHT 3 DAY 3
THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY
Even though traditionally the crucifixion is celebrated on Friday, historically it had to happen on Thursday or Wednesday to fit in the three days and three nights. Jesus resurrected either on Saturday before sunset, the same time he was crucified, or Sunday before sunrise when the tomb was found empty.
First Day of the Week or Sabbath?
There's a debate about how to interpret the phrase "the first day of the week" in accounts describing the resurrection events. In Ancient Greek, the phrase is "μίαν σαββάτων" or "μιᾷ τῶν σαββάτων". Here are the possible translations:
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μιᾷ/μίαν (Mia/mian) - a cardinal numeral, one, one of, the one, united, single one, alone, one and the same, first
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τῶν (Ton) - the, the definite article
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σαββάτων (Sabbaton) - the Sabbath, the seventh day (of the week), a week
So, "μιᾷ τῶν σαββάτων" could mean "first of the week" or "one of the Sabbaths". The only other instance where we find the same word for Sunday is in the Greek Septuagint, in Genesis, where God creates the first day:
5 Καὶ ἐκάλεσεν ὁ θεὸς τὸ φῶς ἡμέραν, καὶ τὸ σκότος ἐκάλεσεν νύκτα. καὶ ἐγένετο ἑσπέρα καὶ ἐγένετο πρωί, ἡμέρα μία.
5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, day one.
In Ancient Greek, the first day of the week was translated from Hebrew as "ἡμέρα μία" (imera mia) only in Genesis 1:5. In other scriptures, it is called "πρώτης" (protis) - "first".
So, the Greek doesn't definitively establish which day of the week is being referred to. However, considering the context of finding the empty tomb, Mark indicates that the Sabbath was over and the women went to buy spices, suggesting they likely came to the tomb on Sunday after the second Sabbath, although Mark doesn't specify that. Jesus died on the High Sabbath and was resurrected on or after the weekly Sabbath, so the women could have bought spices either after the High Sabbath, if Jesus stayed in the grave for 72 hours, or after the weekly Sabbath.
Below are the four accounts of the resurrection story:
1 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2 Suddenly there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, rolled away the stone, and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards trembled in fear of him and became like dead men. 5 But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; He has risen, just as He said! Come, see the place where He lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell His disciples, ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see Him.’ See, I have told you.”
1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so they could go and anoint the body of Jesus. 2 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they went to the tomb. 3 They were asking one another, “Who will roll away the stone from the entrance of the tomb?” 4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, even though it was extremely large. 5 When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. 6 But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here! See the place where they put Him. 7 But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see Him, just as He told you.’ ” 8 So the women left the tomb and ran away, trembling and bewildered. And in their fear they did not say a word to anyone.
1 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women came to the tomb, bringing the spices they had prepared. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were puzzling over this, suddenly two men in radiant apparel stood beside them.
5 As the women bowed their faces to the ground in terror, the two men asked them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; He has risen! Remember how He told you while He was still in Galilee: 7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.’” 8 Then they remembered His words. 9 And when they returned from the tomb, they reported all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. 10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. 11 But their words seemed like nonsense to them, and they did not believe the women. 12 Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. And after bending down and seeing only the linen cloths, he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.
1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb,” she said, “and we do not know where they have put Him!” 3 Then Peter and the other disciple set out for the tomb. 4 The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent down and looked in at the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Simon Peter arrived just after him. He entered the tomb and saw the linen cloths lying there. 7 The cloth that had been around Jesus’ head was rolled up, lying separate from the linen cloths. 8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in. And he saw and believed. 9 For they still did not understand from the Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.
Jesus Appears to the Disciples on Sunday
19 It was the first day of the week, and that very evening, while the disciples were together with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them. “Peace be with you!” He said to them. 20 After He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Again Jesus said to them, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, so also I am sending you.” 22 When He had said this, He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld.”
Other mentions of Sunday
Acts 20:7 describes how the believers came together with Paul, who was leaving the next day.
7 On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Since Paul was ready to leave the next day, he talked to them and kept on speaking until midnight.
Similarly, the following Bible passage describes how Paul instructs the believers to set aside their donations before they spend them during the week so that he can collect them when he comes and takes their gifts to the believers in Jerusalem.
1 Now about the collection for the saints, you are to do as I directed the churches of Galatia: 2 On the first day of every week, each of you should set aside a portion of his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will be needed. 3 Then, on my arrival, I will send letters with those you recommend to carry your gift to Jerusalem. 4 And if it is advisable for me to go also, they can travel with me.
“The Lord’s day”
In the New Testament, the term 'Lord’s Day' appears only in Revelation 1:9-10. However, the concept of 'The Day of the Lord,' which essentially carries the same meaning, is found numerous times in the Old Testament. Biblically, God’s holy day is His Sabbath. Considering the context of the passage, the apostle John had no other frame of reference. The only reason to interpret 'the Lord’s Day' as referring to Sunday is that the Sabbath is not explicitly mentioned in Revelation, unlike in other scriptures.
9 I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance that are in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and my testimony about Jesus. 10 On the Lord’s day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, 11 saying, “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”
3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
13 If you turn your foot from breaking the Sabbath, from doing as you please on My holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight, and the LORD’s holy day honorable, if you honor it by not going your own way or seeking your own pleasure or speaking idle words, 14 then you will delight yourself in the LORD…
8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
How Sunday Replaced the Sabbath
Since nothing else is mentioned about Sunday in the Bible, let's look at the next earliest writings.
In Didache, also known as "The Teaching of the Lord by the Twelve Apostles to the Nations," you can trace almost every line back to the biblical scriptures. When the Day of the Lord is mentioned, there is no indication of which day it is.
On the Lord’s own day, assemble in common to break bread and offer thanks, but first confess your sins so that your sacrifice may be pure.”
In the second and third centuries, Christianity clearly separated itself from its early roots. In the following examples you can see how this is reflected in their writings, how Sunday replaces the Sabbath and finally how the Sabbath is denigrated from God's holy day to the unholy day of the Antichrist.
Ignatius, To the Magnesians, 9:1 (A.D. 110)
“If, therefore, those who were brought up in the ancient order of things have come to the possession of a new hope, no longer observing the Sabbath, but living in the observance of the Lord’s Day, on which also our life has sprung up again by Him and by His death–whom some deny, by which mystery we have obtained faith, and therefore endure, that we may be found the disciples of Jesus Christ, our only Master.”
Clement of Alexandria, Stromata, 6:16 (A.D. 202)
“The seventh day, therefore, is proclaimed a rest–abstraction from ills–preparing for the Primal Day, [The Lord’s Day] our true rest; which, in truth, is the first creation of light, in which all things are viewed and possessed. From this day the first wisdom and knowledge illuminate us. For the light of truth–a light true, casting no shadow, is the Spirit of God indivisibly divided to all, who are sanctified by faith, holding the place of a luminary, in order to the knowledge of real existences. By following Him, therefore, through our whole life, we become impossible; and this is to rest.”
Origen, Commentary on John, 2:27 (A.D. 229)
Thus was he (John the Baptist) born to make ready for the Lord a people fit for Him, at the end of the Covenant now grown old, which is the end of the Sabbatic period. Hence it is not possible that the rest after the Sabbath should have come into existence from the seventh of our God; on the contrary, it is our Saviour who, after the pattern of His own rest, caused us to be made in the likeness of His death, and hence also of His resurrection.
Victorinus, On the Creation of the World (A.D. 300)
“On the seventh day He rested from all His works, and blessed it, and sanctified it. On the former day we are accustomed to fast rigorously, that on the Lord’s day we may go forth to our bread with giving of thanks. And let the parasceve become a rigorous fast, lest we should appear to observe any Sabbath with the Jews, which Christ Himself, the Lord of the Sabbath, says by His prophets that ‘His soul hateth;’ which Sabbath He in His body abolished.”
Eusebius, Church History, 1:4,8 (A.D. 312)
“They (righteous men before the law was given to Moses) did not care about circumcision of the body, neither do we. They did not care about observing Sabbaths, nor do we.”
Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures, 4:37 (A.D. 350)
“Fall not away either into the sect of the Samaritans, or into Judaism: for Jesus Christ henceforth hath ransomed thee. Stand aloof from all observance of Sabbaths, and from calling any indifferent meats common or unclean.”
Council of Laodicea, Canon 29 (A.D. 360)
“Christians must not judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day, rather honouring the Lord’s Day; and, if they can, resting then as Christians. But if any shall be found to be judaizers, let them be anathema from Christ.”
Augustine, Spirit and the Letter, 23:14 (A.D. 412)
“Well, now, I should like to be told what there is in these ten commandments, except the observance of the Sabbath, which ought not to be kept by a Christian,–whether it prohibit the making and worshipping of idols and of any other gods than the one true God, or the taking of God’s name in vain; or prescribe honour to parents; or give warning against fornication, murder, theft, false witness, adultery, or coveting other men’s property? Which of these commandments would any one say that the Christian ought not to keep?
Pope Gregory the Great, To the Roman Citizens, Epistle 13:1 (A.D. 597)
“It has come to my ears that certain men of perverse spirit have sown among you some things that are wrong and opposed to the holy faith, so as to forbid any work being done on the Sabbath day. What else can I call these but preachers of Antichrist, who, when he comes, will cause the Sabbath day as well as the Lord’s day to be kept free from all work. For, because he pretends to die and rise again, he wishes the Lord’s day to be had in reverence; and, because he compels the people to judaize that he may bring back the outward rite of the law, and subject the per-tidy of the Jews to himself, he wishes the Sabbath to be observed. For this which is said by the prophet, ‘Ye shall bring in no burden through your gates on the Sabbath day’, could be held to as long as it was lawful for the law to be observed according to the letter. But after that the grace of Almighty God, our Lord Jesus Christ has appeared, the commandments of the law which were spoken figuratively cannot be kept according to the letter. For, if any one says that this about the Sabbath is to be kept, he must needs say that carnal sacrifices are to be offered: he must say too that the commandment about the circumcision of the body is still to be retained. But let him hear the Apostle Paul saying in opposition to him, ‘If ye be circumcised, Christ profiteth you nothing.’”
Sunday in Catholic Doctrine
As you will see in the following examples, the Catholic Church has taken responsibility for replacing the Sabbath with Sunday:
The Catholic Mirror (September 23, 1893):
The Catholic Church, for over one thousand years before the existence of a Protestant, by virtue of her divine mission, changed the day from Saturday to Sunday…The Adventists are the only body of Christians with the Bible as their teacher, who can find no warrant in its pages for the change of day from the seventh to the first.”
Stephen Keenan, Catholic—Doctrinal Catechism 3rd Edition: 174 (1899):
Question: Have you any other way of proving the Church has power to institute festivals or precept?
Answer: Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her, she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday the 1st day of the week, for the observance of Saturday the 7th day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority.
So how should we approach the dilemma between Sunday and Saturday today? Do we follow the Word of God, the traditions of men or both? The Apostle Paul has a clue for us:
13 When you were dead in your trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our trespasses, 14 having canceled the debt ascribed to us in the decrees that stood against us. He took it away, nailing it to the cross! 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. 16 Therefore let no one judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a feast, a New Moon, or a Sabbath.
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