18th April 2026 Question box

OK, so tonight’s question is:

Why do we celebrate the Sabbath on the first day of the week (Sunday), when it’s traditionally done on the seventh day (Saturday).

Good question. Remember the word Sabbath means “rest,” and in the Old Testament that Sabbath commandment follows on from the way that God rested from his work of creation on the seventh day. Jesus and his disciples, living under the Old Covenant practised Saturday Sabbath observance. But things began to change after Jesus’ brought in the New Covenant by his death on the cross:

• Jesus’ resurrection was of course on the first day of the week (Luke 24:1)
• And his next appearance to his disciples was a week later, also on the first day of the week (John 20:26 – that’s when he said to Thomas, put your hand in my side).
• The sending of the Holy Spirit happened on the day of Pentecost, which was a Sunday.
• At the very beginning, Christians were meeting every day, which included Saturday attendance at the synagogue. But Sunday soon became the most significant day of gathering. And so when Paul writes to the Corinthians he talks about taking up the collection on the first day of the week (1 Cor 16:1)
• And so when Paul visits a place called Troas, it says: “On the first day of the week we came together to break bread.” (Acts 20:7)

By the time we get to the second century, it’s an accepted part of Christian life. And so in 110AD you get the senior pastor in Antioch, a guy called Ignatius; he says that Christians are: “no longer observing the Sabbath but living in observance of the Lord’s day, on which also our life has sprung up again by him and his death …” One thing to note is that the first Christians didn’t describe Sunday using the word “Sabbath;” because that would just be confusing in a world where there are more Jews than Christians. Instead they called Sunday “the Lord’s day.” In Rome in 150AD, you get a guy called Justin Martyr, who says: “And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together in one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits…” and he describes a Christian worship service.

So there was clearly a change, how do we explain the change? I think it’s because the rest which God has invited us into, is most truly experienced through the risen Christ. It’s interesting, the Sabbath commandment in the book of Exodus refers back to Creation, but when the commandment is repeated in Deuteronomy, it is related to redemption and freedom from slavery. Resting on the first day is a recognition that the ultimate purpose of the creation, was that Christ would come into it and lead us into the true rest, and the true freedom of the new creation, starting with his resurrection from the dead.

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This question was originally answered in our evening service on 14 December 2025. I’ll aim to post another question and answer next week. You can read about how our question box works here.