Weekly Update | February 1, 2024
Why Sunday and not Saturday?
You might have had this question: Why does the church gather on Sundays and not on Saturdays? The Old Testament talks about the Sabbath but the New Testament does not give such a clear command regarding Sunday. If so, then why do we gather on Sundays?
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” (Ex. 20:8-11)
This is the 4th out of 10 commandments and the first time that God commands His people that they must have a day of rest. Before this we can only assume that they did so. In Genesis 2 we encounter the 7th day as the day when God stopped creating and rested (Gen. 2:2-3). This was a special day marking the end of creating! But a specific decree about keeping this day is not given. Only all the way in Exodus 20 do we find a specific command given to the Israelites to keep the Sabbath. Why?
“It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.” (Ex. 31:17)
It turns out that the Sabbath was a sign for Israel of a covenant. The rainbow was a covenantal sign for Noah and all mankind that there would never be a global flood, and circumcision was a sign of the covenant with Abraham and his offspring. The Sabbath is a sign of the covenant that God made with Israel through Moses at Mount Sinai. Theologians call this the Mosaic Covenant.
What does keeping this sign entail? On the basis of Exodus 20, we see two elements: the celebration of the six days of creation, which points to God’s might in creation, and the keeping of the specific principles and moral laws given in the rest of the 10 commandments. This is basically God’s hint that man must live according to God’s principles, but because of sin he is not able to completely keep all these commandments, thus he is dependent on God’s forgiving grace!
As New Testament believers, we need to be interested in understanding the Sabbath after Jesus’s coming. His coming is that which changed our relationship to the Sabbath.
“And he said to them, ‘The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath’” (Luke 6:5). Christ has authority over the Sabbath and He explained what we must pay attention to in regard to the Sabbath, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27). This is a time for rest, joy, and fellowship with God—not a time for difficult-to-keep expectations of the law.
Besides this, Jesus pointed out two Old Testament things that obviously did not fit into mere formal observance of the Sabbath, and most importantly, he equated the Sabbath to the moral observance of the rest of the nine commandments from Exodus 20.
““Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless?…” (Matt. 12:3-5).
Right after these words was when He said that He is lord of the Sabbath. In other words, he is putting the Sabbath into a different category from the rest of the nine commandments. If the rest of the commandments are moral laws for all times and all nations, then the fourth commandment is not a moral law but is of symbolic character. And that’s why Christ easily changes or cancels it, since he is the lord of the Sabbath. Specifically on the Sabbath, he did many works and healings to show that this part of the Law was ending now that He had come.
“For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, ‘As I swore in my wrath, They shall not enter my rest,’ although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: ‘And God rested on the seventh day from all his works’” (Heb. 4:2-4).
The good news mentioned in verse 4 refers to the gospel! This means that the rest of the Sabbath today refers not to the believer’s keeping of the Sabbath, but to salvation! This is true rest! All of Hebrews 4 talks about this. The focus has shifted from the keeping of a specific day to something more important, salvation.
This is why Apostle Paul speaks about the Sabbath like this: “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. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ” (Col. 2:16-17).
The keeping of the Sabbath has come to an end in Christ. The shadow passes eventually to make way for the real thing!
Now, what about the New Testament church’s relationship to the Sabbath? The first Jerusalem council was gathered specifically to discuss this issue. In Acts 15 we read that the church and apostles do not demand for Gentiles and believers in Christ to keep the commandments or the signs of the covenant of Abraham and Moses—no more circumcision and keeping of the Sabbath. We ought to look at the Sabbath as a reminder of the 6 days of creation and the might of God, the Creator, who reveals His power and wisdom in creation, and then His rest that points to the completeness of creation, nothing more is required!
Furthermore, there’s another thing to consider about the Sabbath. New Testament believers do not count Sunday as a replacement for the Sabbath or a “new Sabbath.” Our relationship to the day of worship is totally different! How so?
The first time Jesus was worshiped was on the first day of the week, on His resurrection (Matt. 28:1; Luke 24:1; John 20:1). This was when the women who were going to tell the apostles about Christ’s resurrection first worshiped Him!
“…and ran to tell his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, ‘Greetings!’ And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him” (Matt. 28:9).
Jesus strategically shows Himself to His disciples in 8 days, which means, on the following Sunday, and once again we find Thomas worship the Lord:
“Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came… Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’” (John 20:26, 28).
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is so important in the plan of salvation for mankind that believers have a unique desire to celebrate this event, so they began gathering on Sundays.
The birth of the Church and the coming of the Holy Spirit happened on a Sunday! “When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place” (Acts 2:1). Based on Leviticus 23:15-16, the celebration of the Pentecost happened 50 days after the day of the wave offering. Math tells us that this event happened on a Sunday.
We do not find a direct command in the New Testament to keep Sunday as it happened in the Mosaic covenant, since the sign of the new covenant is Jesus Christ Himself. Now, we celebrate Sunday because Jesus Christ Himself filled this day with important things! Jesus Christ Himself brought our attention to this day!
This was the conclusion of the first apostolic church, which began gathering on the first day of the week, on Sunday instead of Saturday!
“On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread…” (Acts 20:7).
“On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up…” (1 Cor. 16:2).
The resurrection of Jesus Christ, His appearing to His disciples, and the first weeks of the church were so connected to Sunday, that with time this day began to be known simply as the “Lord’s day” (Rev. 1:10).
The conclusion is simple: believers in New Testament times do not keep Sunday as the Israelites kept the Sabbath. Sunday is the day when we celebrate rest and understand that through faith in Christ, we have entered the rest that tells us about our salvation!
Dmitriy Zherebnenkov
ANNOUNCEMENTS
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The Scripture memory text
1 The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
2 Day to day pours out speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge.
3 There is no speech, nor are there words,
whose voice is not heard.
4 Their voice goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.
In them he has set a tent for the sun,
5 which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,
and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
6 Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
and its circuit to the end of them,
and there is nothing hidden from its heat.7 The law of the Lord is perfect,
Psalm 19:1-11
reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure,
making wise the simple;
8 the precepts of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is pure,
enlightening the eyes;
9 the fear of the Lord is clean,
enduring forever;
the rules of the Lord are true,
and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
and drippings of the honeycomb.
11 Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
Below are the services and meetings for this weekend:
- Thursday (6:30 PM) – Kid’s Bible School (open to all but required for parents), followed by Bible Study (Proverbs) for the whole church at 7:30 PM.
- Saturday (9:00 AM) – Women’s prayer breakfast
- Sunday services:
- Worship Service in Russian at 9:00 AM
- Worship Service in English at 11:15 AM