Why do the majority of Christians worship on a Sunday? Many people believe that Sunday is the day of worship. Some even say it is the new Sabbath. We need to know that when the Lord created the earth each new day began and ended at sunset and not at midnight. Sunset was easy to distinguish whereas our midnight needs some sort of watch or clock or exact knowledge of the stars to determine when it is. So, which are the Bible verses that are used to try and confirm that the Sabbath was changed from the seventh day which we know as Saturday, to the first day which we now know as Sunday?

  1. Matthew 28:1 ‘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.’
  2. Mark 16:2 ‘And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.’
  3. 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.’
  4. Luke 24:1 ‘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.’
  5. John 20:1 ‘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.’
  6. 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.’
  7. Acts 20:7 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.’
  8. 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, there there be no gatherings when I come.’

As can be seen from numbers 1-5 above, these verses all state that it was early in the morning, at dawn, as the sun was beginning to rise. There is no mention here that Jesus changed the seventh day Sabbath day to the first day. In fact, it shows that Jesus kept the seventh day Sabbath as He had always done. Mary and the other women were unable to prepare His body with the spices on the day of Preparation – the day Jesus died – as the Sabbath was drawing nigh and they did not want to break the commandment for keeping the Sabbath. This was why they were coming to the sepulchre as soon as they could on the first day of the week, to anoint His body, not to have a Sunday service.

Number 6 states that this was in the evening of the first day when Jesus appeared to them. He didn’t use this opportunity, had He wished to say that the seventh day Sabbath was to now change to the first day to commemorate His resurrection. This would have been the ideal time to do so. Something as momentous as a change of the Sabbath day which had been in existence since Creation would not be something that Jesus forgot to mention whilst being in the company of His disciples who had been cowering for fear of being discovered and accused of being His disciples but were now overjoyed to see Him alive, having risen from the dead.

Number 7 speaks about Paul meeting with the disciples on the evening of the first day, and the meeting continuing until midnight. Actually, after Eutychus fell out of the window and died, Paul raised him back to life and whilst continuing with giving his message he joined the disciples with eating a meal as he knew he had a long journey to go on when it was light. He spoke until it was time to go. This does not show there was a ‘communion service’ just because it says ‘he broke bread’. How many Sunday services began on the evening of the first day and go through to dawn the next? None – maybe the occasional all night prayer meeting. But Sunday services are normally during the day, especially in the morning when it is light. Many Sunday churches also have evening services that, if they commence after sunset, technically are then being conducted on a Monday and not a Sunday if we use God’s timing of days commencing at sunset. Paul’s meeting was a one-off and not proof of Sunday services being the norm. He waited until after the Sabbath before he would conduct his business meeting before then walking about 20 miles on the first day of the week to Assos when it was light. Would he have walked this far on a Sabbath?

Number 8 is asking the Jewish Corinthians to lay aside at home each week whatever they could afford as there was a famine in Jerusalem and the Jews there needed help. Wages would have been paid daily or weekly but money matters were not dealt with on the Friday evening as Sabbath approached, which is why they were encouraged to sort out their finances on the first day of the week, after the Sabbath had finished. And as it would be some time before Paul or his representatives came to Corinth to collect the money it was suggested that the money was put aside each week, waiting to be collected. It was like many people today would have a separate tin or account to allocate a certain amount each week for charity, or whatever they were saving for, and at the appropriate time would then use that money for the chosen purpose. This verse does not support a Sunday service in any way. The people were all in their own homes and not at a meeting.

There is another verse, Revelation 1:10 ‘I was in the spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,’ that many people try to use to claim that John had his vision on the first day, the new Sabbath, but nowhere does this say that. John knew which was the Lord’s day for he knew that Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath. Matthew 12:8 ‘For the Son of man is Lord of the sabbath day’. Mark 2:28 ‘Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.’ and Luke 6:5 ‘And he said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.’

In Isaiah 58:13-14 ‘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: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.’ We can see that the Lord calls the Sabbath His Holy Day. All throughout the Bible, especially the Old Testament, the Lord God was calling His people back to worshipping on the Sabbath. This is why the fourth commandment starts with the word ‘Remember’. Whenever the word Sabbath appears in the Bible it means the seventh day Sabbath that was instituted at Creation. It has never changed. Jesus himself said in Matthew 5:18 ‘For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.’ The fourth commandment is part of that law and so it has never changed.