Why Sunday?
My two oldest sons are out mowing a lawn for a lady in the neighborhood who was struggling to start her mower. They came home and said, “Dad, we are going to mow a lawn for someone.” I asked them how much they were going to get paid, and they told me that they were going to mow it for free.
Wow! I really have some great kids.
Yes, today is Sunday; the Lord’s Day? We are told in the Scriptures that the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. In that case, we would have to call it "The People’s Day.”
Besides, Sunday isn’t really the Sabbath, as Jesus would have recognized it.
I have always wondered why we have collective worship on Sunday, and when I ask those I think will know, I always get the same indoctrination: “It’s the day that Jesus rose from the grave.”
Based on study and research, I have reason to challenge that answer.
First of all the reason we worship on Sunday has nothing to do with Jesus being raised on Sunday. The fact is, according to Jewish time, Jesus rose on Saturday night. Secondly, the reason we worship on Sunday is due to an ancient spat between the surviving Pharisaic Jews and the surviving Nazarenes after the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D.
When the Temple was destroyed, the Pharisees escaped to Yavneh and the Jewish followers of Jesus ran to the mountains of Pella as they were told to do in Matthew 24:16. Since that time the Jews and the Church have created obstacles to keep one another from being unified. “The Church forbade believers from keeping the Jewish feasts and began to meet on Sundays, while, in reaction to the Christians kneeling for prayer, the Jews adopted the standing position while praying the Amidah." --Dr. Ron Moseley, Yeshua: A Guide to the Real Jesus and the Original Church
Why do I believe that Jesus rose on Saturday night? The answer comes from research done by David Bivin and the Jerusalem School of Synoptic Research.
To the Jews, the day always begins with night. That is because of Genesis 1:5, which reads, “And there was evening , and there was morning-the first day.” First century Jews, using Nehemiah 4:21 as their guide, defined Nightfall as the moment when the stars were visible, which was around 7:00 p.m. during the season of the Passover.
In Matthew 28:1 we read, “After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.” in Greek the Scripture reads, "Opse de sabbaton te epiphoskouse eis mian sabbaton..." (Late [of] sabbath, in the lightening to one of Sabbath). This doesn’t make a whole lot of sense in Greek, but in Hebrew it makes perfect sense.
“Late of Sabbath” is a Greek form of the Hebrew phrase, "be-motsa'e shabat" (at the exiting of Sabbath), which means the hours that follow immediately after the Sabbath. "In the lightening to one of sabbath" comes from the Hebrew idiom, "'or le-'ehad ba-shabat" (light to [day] one of the week). Used in this way, “light” is a synonym for “night,” referring to the night before the next day. In Hebrew, “light” can be used as an antonym for its literal meaning to speak of the dark hours that exist before a new day.
An example of this usage is found in ancient Jewish writings that give instructions for carrying out the search for leaven as directed in Exodus 12:15. The ancient writing says, "Light to the fourteenth [of Nisan] one must carry out a search for leaven by the light of a lamp.” The use of the lamp gives us a clue that the search was done in the dark hours.
“With this understanding, the Galilean women returned to the tomb to anoint Jesus' body shortly after dark on Saturday evening. It was then that they found the tomb already empty. Jesus, therefore, may have remained entombed only slightly more than twenty-four hours, being raised from the dead on Saturday evening rather than on Sunday morning. By the method of reckoning time in Jesus society, such a short period, scarcely more than a day-a part of Friday, all of Saturday, and a part of Sunday-would have fulfilled his prophecy that he would be raised from the dead on the third day after his death.”—David Bivin, Jerusalem School of Synoptic Research
Based on this historical information, it seems that the reason we worship on Sunday has more to do with a 2000 year-old grudge than a God-honoring recognition of the Messiah’s defeat over death and the grave.
Forever learning,
Johnny
6 comments:
And why aren't you a professor again?!?!
Very informative.
And yes, you do have awesome children.
Johnny,
Good post. Is not Saturday considered to be the “Sabbath?” However, didn’t the early Apostles/early church meet on the first day of the week to “break bread” and worship?
At this point, worshiping on Sunday is a cultural thing. However, as the church culture continues to deteriorate and new faith communities form outside the church culture, I think this will change.
Bret,
In Acts 2:46 we read that the people met daily.
The reference to meeting on the first day of the week was during one of Paul's journeys where he stayed in Troas. Paul met up with other followers of Jesus in Troas and on the first day of the week they came together and broke bread, then Paul taught until midnight (Acts 20:6-7). There is no mention of worship on this occasion.
It is also likely that they met here at night. There is no allusion to the time of day, and Luke makes a reference in his writings to the many lamps that were in the upstairs room.
I think this also teaches us the importance of daily teaching, sharing, and worship.
Ok . . . so what day should be our "day of worship?"
It's always been my feeling that it it really didn't matter.
I'm with you on that, Bret.
The point of the Jews making each of their homes a "miniature temple" after the exiles and the destruction of the Temple is a clue.
They turned their table into a family altar, where they would eat, teach, praise, pray, and worship daily.
I believe that this is the model of how we should live our lives as daily worshipers of God. Choosing a day of the week to come together, within a reasonable geographic area would be up to the community and its livelihood.
In other words, why have worship on Sunday or even Saturday, if half the community works in a restaurant
that is open on the weekends.
I always understood that when Paul met on the first day of the week and taught until midnight that was also what we would consider Saturday night (after sundown on Saturday). As far as any day of the week for worship, all is good, but if you hold to the teaching that the ten COMMANDMENTS are still Gods law, then He, God, was specific as to when. Is it legalistic to obey Him? No more than it is legalistic to stop at a stop sign.
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