Sabbath or The Lord's Day?



If Jesus kept the Sabbath then why do Christians not keep the Sabbath?

SABBATH: The seventh day of the week among the Hebrews, the day being counted from sunset to sunset, that is, from Friday evening to Saturday evening.

Believe it or not, there is an impressive amount of evidence from Scripture that Christ and the apostles changed their day of corporate worship from Saturday to Sunday. During Jesus’ early earthly ministry, he began to prepare the way to changing the Sabbath by showing special honor shown to Sunday throughout the New Testament. Jesus raised from the dead on a Sunday and appeared to the disciples on that Easter Sunday evening. The Sabbath was instituted and set aside for Jews (not Christians) to rest and worship. Sabbatarians argue that the Lord observed the Sabbath and we should imitate Christ in this. This reasoning, however, fails to consider that our Lord was still under the old covenant when he observed the Sabbath. He enunciated a new covenant at the Last Supper, his emphasis seems to be on Sundays. It was on Sunday that the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles on Pentecost.


Since Jesus was the son of God and therefore God himself, he had the authority to change the Sabbath if he wished. When the disciples were chastised in Mark 2:23-28, Jesus pointed out that “The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the sabbath” (v. 27-28). This means that the Sabbath is to benefit man by giving himself rest and time for worship.

Let's take a look at Paul’s epistles regarding the Sabbath. In Galatians 4:10, he urges the Galatians not to subject themselves to the Law of Moses. Paul states,


“You have come to know God . . . how can you turn back again to the weak and beggarly elements, whose slaves you want to be once more? You observe days, and months, and seasons, and years! I am afraid I have labored over you in vain.”


Paul thus worries about the Galatians keeping the Jewish festivities calendar (including the sabbath), which would render his labor to save them vain (see Galatians 5:2-5).


In Colossians 2:14-16, Paul mentions the sabbath by name, stating that Christ has “canceled the bond which stood against us with its legal demands . . . Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a sabbath.” Paul therefore states that the Jewish festal calendar, sabbath days included, is not binding on Christians.


Luke records that Sunday was observed by the Early Christians from the start: In Acts 20:7 he writes “On the first day of the week when we gathered to break bread”. To “break bread” refers to the celebration of the Eucharist which is mentioned in Matthew 26:26 and Mark 14:22. Paul ordered the Corinthians to gather their offertory collections on Sunday 1 Corinthians 16:2. John records in Revelation 1:10 that he was granted a vision of heaven’s own worship while he was at worship (“caught up in spirit”) on “the Lord’s day.” Not the Sabbath.


St. Paul was in Troas in Acts 20:7, we read: “On the first day of the week, when we gathered together to break bread.” Luke 24:30-31 records that, on the road to Emmaus, Cleopas’s and an unnamed disciple’s “eyes were opened,” and they recognized Jesus “in the breaking of the bread.” And according to Luke 24:1, 13, this encounter just happened to be on the first day of the week! St. Paul never says, “On the Sabbath, when we gathered to break bread.” “The breaking of bread” in Luke 24 and in Acts 20 occurs on the first day of the week.


In I Corinthians 16:1-2, we read:

“Now concerning the collections that are made for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, so do ye also. On the first day of the week let every one of you put apart with himself, laying up what it shall well please him.”

John’s disciple Ignatius of Antioch tells us in his Letter to the Magnesians that “the Lord’s day” is not the ancient Sabbath; therefore, “the Lord’s day” must refer to Sunday. (See This Rock, September 1994, “The Fathers Know Best.”)

The Old Testament Sabbath has one main element that is rooted in natural law and binds it to Christians as it does to Jews and that is to set aside adequate time for the purpose of divine worship. However, we as Christians were never bound to the Old Testament Sabbath. This was given as a law to the Jews and Jesus fulfilled the law and became the Lord of The Sabbath. We should set aside sufficient time for worship and rest. We no longer have to do this on Saturday, since the law of Moses is gone, but we still have to do it.


Sabbathians argue that Paul often went to the synagogue on Saturday (Acts 13:14, 44, 18:4). Paul obviously wanted to preach the Gospel first to the Jews and then to the gentiles. The Sabbath was the only way to assure the opportunity to preach to a large number of the Jews (Acts 13:15 and 18:4). However, in every mention of Paul reuniting for worship and the breaking of the bread, happened on the first day of the week; Sunday. (1 Corinthians 16:2) Paul tells them when to contribute to the gift: every first day of the week–every Sunday. Why? Because that is the day the early Church met for worship. (Mark 16:9, see also Mark 16:2 and Luke 24:1).


John tells us that he wrote the book of Revelation because of a vision he saw “on the Lord’s day” (Revelation 1:10).


According to the New Testament, the holy day Christians are bound to keep cannot be the Sabbath of the Old Covenant, because Colossians 2:16-17 says:

“Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in regard to food or drink or in respect to festival, or a new moon or a Sabbath day—things which are a mere shadow [Greek, skia] of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.”

Therefore, do not let anyone judge you for keeping Sunday as your day of rest and worship.

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