Articles
Sunday is not the Sabbath
Oftentimes, when we use the word “weekend” we think of Saturday and Sunday. Those are the days that many of us don’t work. However, it is important to consider that Sunday is not the “end” of the week at all. Sunday is the first day of the week. Some modern calendars have Sunday at the end of the week, reflecting school or work schedules, but they are incorrect. Sunday is the first day. This might sound like merely a semantic argument, but there are several reasons that we should remember that Sunday is the beginning of the week, not the end.
Have you ever thought about what day God created the world? God created the world on the first day. That first day is what we call “Sunday.” (Genesis 1:1-5) We know that this day was first, because the seventh day was the “Sabbath (from the Hebrew word for seven),” the day on which God rested, and “blessed the seventh day and sanctified it.” (Genesis 2:1-3) The Sabbath was designated for rest from laborious work, “as a perpetual covenant” between God and His people. (Exodus 31:12-17) The people were to rest when God had rested, but God worked on Sundays.
Jews met to worship God on the Sabbath, during that time of rest and reflection, and trust in God’s providence. (Numbers 28:9-10; Mark 1:21; Acts 13:14) Pursuing earthly needs keeps our focus on physical things, and there is a time to reflect on spiritual pursuits. Exercising our capacity derived from God’s grace is appropriate, but we must occasionally take time cease from our labors and rest in Him.
In the New Testament, Jesus made a distinction between the normal, laborious work of humans, and the service that He provided in teaching and healing. (Matthew 12:5-6; Luke 14:1-6) He also explained that the Sabbath was a gift to the people, not a master to bow under in servitude. “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27) However, this is not to say that Jesus did not keep the Sabbath according to God’s will. Even His time in the grave was significant, because in it, Jesus rested on the Sabbath (Luke 23:50-24:3).
God’s plan resulted in Jesus being raised on the first day of the week. (Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1) His disciples met on the first day of the week. (Mark 16:9; John 20:19, 26) Saints meet on the day Jesus was raised. (Acts 20:7) Therefore, when we meet on Sunday, it's the beginning of the week. This reminds us there's work to do. In our culture, we talk about dreading the return of Monday, but the truth is, Monday is the second day of the week. We start work on Sunday.
