Alive: 21 Reasons to Believe in the Resurrection of Jesus ChristSample

Reason 13: Jesus’ followers changed the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday

The early church stopped worshiping on Saturday, as Jews had for thousands of years, and suddenly began worshiping on Sunday in memory of Jesus’ Sunday resurrection (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:1-2). The Jewish seven-day week with a Saturday Sabbath was established by God at creation. The Sabbath was so sacred to the Jews that they would not have ceased to obey one of the Ten Commandments unless Jesus had resurrected in fulfillment of their Old Testament Scriptures. Yet, by the end of the first century, Sunday was called “the Lord’s Day” (Revelation 1:10). To change the Sabbath was an attempt to literally reset the entire week, change their days of work and rest, and alter the business and worship dealings of the entire nation around Jesus’ resurrection.

Do you honor the Sabbath? Why is it an important practice?