The First Day of the Week
Of all the days which exist in a week, the early church recognized one of them as being distinctively "the Lord's day." Revelation 1:10 What day stands out from the rest of the week as uniquely belonging to the Lord? On the first day of the week Christ rose victoriously from the grave.
Although God's people might gather at various times for different purposes, beginning in the first century the church has gathered together on the first day of the week for worship. Acts 20:7 Because this was their practice, Paul could instruct the Corinthian church that they could conveniently use their assemblies on the first day of the week to contribute toward the needs of the brethren in Jerusalem. 1 Corinthians 16:1-4
What is there about Christ's resurrection on the first day of the week which has so indelibly marked Sunday as the Christian day of worship?
With his resurrection on the first day of the week, Jesus was declared with power to be the Son of God. Romans 1:4
1. It was on a Sunday that Jesus' resurrection made him Lord of both the dead and the living. Romans 14:9
2. Sunday was the day when the resurrected Christ met with his disciples.
It was Sunday when our Lord appeared to Mary, the disciples and those on the road to Emmaus. John 20:1, 11-23; Luke 24:1; 13-15It was on a Sunday (one week later) that Jesus appeared to Thomas and the disciples. John 20:26
4. Since Jesus' death and resurrection delivered us from the power of sin and death (1 Corinthians 15:20-23 ; Romans 5:10, 17; 8:11), Sunday is the Christian's day of deliverance and salvation.
5. Following the Sadduccean calendar, the Pentecost events of Acts 2 would have occurred on a Sunday. If Luke was following this calendar then the church's birthday, the coming of the Holy Spirit, the first gospel sermon, the conversion of 3000 and the start of Christian worship all took place on a Sunday.
TECHNICAL NOTES:
Day of rest
"Christians kept no day as a rest day, neither Saturday nor Sunday, until the civil legislation of Constantine in the fourth century made Sunday a legal holiday for many occupations." E. Ferguson, Early Christians Speak, p. 70.
Breaking bread in Acts 2:46
To break bread was a common Jewish idiom during the first century for eating a meal. Hebraic bread was made in a round form about an inch thick. According to the authorities, this bread was always broken with the hands and was never cut with a knife. Hence, the origin of the phrase to "break bread."
Before the time of Christ when a Jewish group gathered to eat, the host or master of the community would take bread and bless it by saying, "Blessed be the Lord our God, the King of the universe, who has caused this bread to spring forth from the ground." Then the group would respond by saying, "Amen." At this point, the host would break the bread as a signal to them to begin to eat. From this practice, to break bread has become a Hebrew idiom even until today.
In both the Old Testament as well as the New Testament the Hebraic idea of breaking (bread) is used to signify eating or sharing a common meal. Jeremiah 16:7; Lamentations 4:4; Isaiah 58:7; Mark 6:41; 8:19; Acts 27:35
Later following Jesus' infusion of the Passover meal with new meaning, "breaking bread" also came to be a technical Christian phrase for the Lord's supper. For example, the Didache is a Christian document that was written about 110 A.D. In the first part of 14:1 we read, "And when you join together each day of the Lord, break bread and give thanks." Similarly, a letter written by a Christian bishop about 107 A.D. refers to the Lord supper as "breaking the bread, which is the remedy for immortality, the antidote that leads not to death but to eternal life in Jesus Christ." Ignatius To the Ephesians 20:2
In describing the high probability that breaking bread in Acts 2:46 is a reference to a common meal, Dr. Ferguson wrote, "Apart from Acts 2:46, which is ambiguous, there is no evidence in the early Christian literature for a daily Lord's supper, or indeed for its observance on any day other than Sunday." Everett Ferguson, "Sunday" Encyclopedia of Early Christianity (Garland: New York, 1990), p. 874.
Barry Newton, Copyright © 2001
Much of the content for this article was inspired by Everett Ferguson, The Church of Christ: A Biblical Ecclesiology for Today Eerdmans, 1997.
Other Articles Which Might Be of Interest
Hindrances to Worship and Service: Part 1 - The Ungrateful
But Why Can't I? It Won't Kill Me! (Negative Justifications & Identifying the Real Reason. Also, a case study on instrumental music in Christian worship)