What day did Jesus rise from the dead? The first day of the week, which is on Sunday.

Mark 16:9 Now when [Jesus] was risen early the first [day] of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.

What reason do Christians give for keeping Sunday holy? They say they keep Sunday holy because it is the day of the resurrection of Jesus.

“Jews dedicate the seventh, or Sabbath, day to recalling the divine basis of life. Christians follow a similar seven-day cycle but give special prestige to Sunday honouring the day of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, which, according to the Christian scriptures, occurred on the first day of the week.” Microsoft Encarta Encyclopaedia 2000

The Catholic church says;

“We celebrate Sunday because of the venerable resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and we do so not only at Easter but also at each turning of the week”.

On what day was Christ laid in the tomb? The preparation day (Friday) before the Sabbath drew on.

Luke 23:52 This [man] went unto Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. 53 And he took it down, and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid. 54 And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on.

What did the women do after seeing where Jesus was laid? They began the work of anointing Jesus preparing spices and ointments. What delayed their work? They delayed their work to rest the Sabbath day (Saturday) according to the commandment. When did they recommence their work? They recommenced their work on the first day of the week (Sunday) bringing the spices to the tomb.

Luke 23:55 And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid. 56 And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment.

When the Sabbath ends, what commences? The gospel of Mark it plainly states that “when the Sabbath was past” then the first day of the week began. All the gospel writers concur on this point.

Mark 16:1 And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the [mother] of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. 2 And very early in the morning the first [day] of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.

John 20:1 The first [day] of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.

Matthew 28:1 In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first [day] of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.

Rather than leave bodies on the cross on Sabbath the Jews appealed to Pilate to have their legs broken to hasten their death.

John 19:31 The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and [that] they might be taken away.

On the preparation day or Friday Christ died and was laid in the grave. The Sabbath day or Saturday Christ lay dead in the grave and the disciples rested according to the commandment. The first day of the week Sunday Christ arose from the grave. Not only all Christianity but all the world agrees that Christ arose on Easter Sunday, thus Sunday must be the first day of the week since it is the day of Christs resurrection. Therefore Saturday must be the seventh day of the week. The day the disciples kept as the Sabbath according to the commandment, the day before the resurrection day. In the assumption that Sunday day is the Lord’s day correct? In the controversy, with the Jewish leaders about the keeping of the seventh day Sabbath (Saturday) Christ claims He is Lord of this day. Nowhere in the bible does Christ make the claim to be Lord of Sunday.

Revelation 1:10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,

Mark 2:28 Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.

Paul describes the Lord as Lord of the Saboath.

Romans 9:29 And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha.

Did Christ change the day? Christ, it is claimed, changed the day from the seventh to the first day of the week. An embarrassing fact meets the advocates of this proposition at the outset. Christ never uttered one syllable in reference to the first day of the week. How then could he have changed the Sabbath to that day or have legislated in regard to it? “The first day of the week” is mentioned only eight times in the New Testament. Five times it is used to describe the historical train of events occurring at Christ’s resurrection. The three others we will examine presently.

Matthew 28:1 In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first [day] of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.

Mark 16:2 And very early in the morning the first [day] of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.

Mark 16:9 Now when [Jesus] was risen early the first [day] of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.

Luke 24:1 Now upon the first [day] of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain [others] with them.

John 20:1 The first [day] of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.

Did the disciples gather on the first day of the week to celebrate Christ’s resurrection? Answer: No. They were assembled for fear of the Jews. They were afraid and fearing for their own safety.

John 20:19 Then the same day at evening, being the first [day] of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace [be] unto you.

The disciples did not believe Jesus had risen from the dead. Therefore how could they have gathered to honour the day of their Lords resurrection if they did not even believe Jesus has risen. Jesus himself had to convince them that he had risen showing them his hands and feet.

Mark 16:9 Now when [Jesus] was risen early the first [day] of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils. 10 [And] she went and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept. 11 And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not. 12 After that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country. 13 And they went and told [it] unto the residue: neither believed they them. 14 Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.

John 20:20 And when he had so said, he showed unto them [his] hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.

What is the figure given that commemorates the resurrection of Christ? Baptism. The bible never indicates that Sunday was given to commemorate Crhsit’s resurrection.

1 Peter 3:21 The like figure whereunto [even] baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:

Colossians 2:2 That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ;

Romans 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also [in the likeness] of [his] resurrection:

The Apostle Paul and the Sabbath

On what day did Paul preach at Antioch in Pisidia? The sabbath day.

Acts 13:14 But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down.

Was it Pauls custom to preach on the Sabbath?

Acts 17:2 And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures,

In doing so did he follow the example of Jesus?

Luke 4:16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.

While Paul’s weekly labour was tent making what did he do “every Sabbath” he preached in the synagogue “every Sabbath” persuading Jews and Greeks.

Acts 18:1 After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth; 2 And found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome:) and came unto them. 3 And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation they were tentmakers. 4 And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.

How long did Paul continue his teaching in Corinth? Seventy eight Sabbaths.

Acts 18:11 And he continued [there] a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

Is there any record of a religious meeting on the first day of the week? Only one.

Acts 20:7 And upon the first [day] of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.

Does the breaking of bread always necessarily mean a communion service held? Not necessarily because in verse 11 it says they broke bread to eat.

Acts 20:11 When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed.

Was this a night meeting?

Acts 20:7 And upon the first [day] of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight. 8 And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together. 11 When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed.

According to the Bible reckoning, which comes first, the dark or the light part of the day? Dark then light.

Genesis 1:5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. 8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. 13 And the evening and the morning were the third day. 19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. 23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. 31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, [it was] very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

How did the Jews observe their Sabbaths? From sunset to sunset.

Leviticus 23:32 It [shall be] unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth [day] of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.

This meeting was held on what we call Saturday evening which to Biblical reckoning is the first day of the week.

Did Paul’s companions leave Troas before he did?

Acts 20:11 When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed. 13 And we went before to ship, and sailed unto Assos, there intending to take in Paul: for so had he appointed, minding himself to go afoot.

How far is a Sabbath day’s journey? No more than two miles or 3 kilometres.

Acts 1:12 Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day’s journey.

The first day of the week is mentioned as a day for laying money in store for charity.

1 Corinthians 16:2 Upon the first [day] of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as [God] hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.

Were the Corinthians directed to meet on that day? It never says so. Was it a proper Sabbath employment? Not it was the secular business of looking over worldly matters and setting apart. A portion for charity. Where was this work to be done? The work was not to be done in public congregation but privately at home.

1 Corinthians 16:2 Upon the first [day] of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as [God] hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.

At home.

It’s not a sin to work on Sunday because the Scriptures say “where no law is, there is no transgression.” Romans 4:15. There is no Sunday law in the Bible but there is a law that says;

Exodus 20:9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:

Sunday is a working day. Six days are for work.

Ezekiel 46:1 Thus saith the Lord GOD; The gate of the inner court that looketh toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the sabbath it shall be opened, and in the day of the new moon it shall be opened.

God himself worked on Sunday by beginning the work of creation on that day.

Hebrews 4:4 For he spake in a certain place of the seventh [day] on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.

Genesis 2:3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. 4 These [are] the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, 5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and [there was] not a man to till the ground.

In the Bible margin the alternate for rest is given as:

Hebrews 4:9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.

There remaineth a keeping of the sabbath to the people of God. The first Sunday law was brought in by the nominal Christian emperor Constantine in the 4^th century but many Sunday Christians argue that Christs were keeping Sunday well before Constantine. We agree because in Paul’s day the mystery of iniquity was at work.

2 Thessalonians 2:7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work:

It was the papacy that deliberately thought to change the Sabbath commandment in the law of God.

Daniel 7:25 And he shall speak [great] words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.

Sunday, the first day of the week, its English name and its German name Sonntag are derived from the Latin dies solis, “sun’s day,” the name of a pagan Roman holiday. In the New Testament, it is called the Lord’s Day. In the early days of Christianity, Sunday began to replace the Sabbath and to be observed to honour the resurrection of Christ. Sunday was instituted as a day of rest, consecrated especially to the service of God, by the Roman emperor Constantine the Great. Since the 4th century, ecclesiastical and civil legislation has frequently regulated work on Sunday and service attendance. In the United States, laws limiting business activity and amusements on Sundays have become known as blue laws.

Jews dedicate the seventh, or Sabbath, day to recalling the divine basis of life. Christians follow a similar seven-day cycle but give special prestige to Sunday, honoring the day of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, which, according to the Christian scriptures, occurred on the first day of the week.

Saturday, seventh day of the week, named in honor of the Roman god Saturn. In Latin, Saturday was called dies Saturni; it was called Sater-daeg by the Anglo-Saxons. It is the holy day of the Israelites of the Old Testament and in Hebrew is called Sabbath, the only day of the week with a name, the rest being numbered. The word sabbath derives from the Hebrew word meaning “to rest or cease”; the Jews were enjoined from working on the seventh day. It begins at sunset Friday and lasts until sunset Saturday. In the early days of Christianity, the holy day gradually shifted to Sunday, which, as the first day, was deemed more appropriate since it was the day of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the day on which creation began. In Sweden, however, Saturday is Lördag, or Lord’s Day; and in Denmark and Norway it is Lørdag. In Spanish it is el sábado and in Italian sabato, both derived from sabbath. Several Christian sects, notably the Seventh-Day Adventist church, have reverted to Old Testament practice and observe Saturday as their day of worship. Microsoft Encarta Encyclopaedia 2000.