Why do we worship on Sunday if the Sabbath is on Saturday? Throughout the world, the vast majority of Christian denominations hold worship services on Sunday. However, if you ask professing Christians what caused Sabbath worship to move from the last day of the week to the first, most would either say the Sabbath is unrelated to Sunday worship or point to tradition. But there are important biblical reasons why the Sabbath changed from Saturday to Sunday. It’s important first of all because Christ said that if you teach someone to disobey one of the least commandments, you will be least in the kingdom of heaven and the Sabbath is one of the ten commandments.
But it’s important because the Sabbath is about the rest we have in Christ. It is the day our risen Lord provides for his people so that they can be set apart from the world and all its cares, and go forth to do the work that Christ’s atonement made possible. Some of the confusion surrounding the Sabbath is related to a misunderstanding of Israel’s place in scripture. Israel’s whole calendar was built around Passover and Pentecost and their observance and the Sabbaths around them were set every year based on the day of the week , but because Israel and their observances were a type pointing forward to Christ and his fulfillment, all of their Passovers and Pentecosts and their calendar that changed yearly were nothing more than shadows. There has only been one Passover that caused sins to be forgiven. There has been only one Pentecost where the Spirit of God inhabited his people. And their fulfillment caused the Sabbath to be set from that day forth. Please join us as we consider this important topic.
Thumbnail image by Dafne Cholet on Flickr under CC BY 2.0
Timecodes
00:00 The Resurrection
10:11 The Passover
21:13 How the Sabbath Moved
31:25 Assembly to Feast
38:02 Early Church’s Example
48:49 Judging over Sabbaths?
Production of Reformation Baptist Church of Youngsville, NC
Permanent Hosts – Dan Horn, Charles Churchill and Joshua Horn
Technical Director – Timothy Kaiser
Theme Music – Gabriel Hudelson