THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK IN THE NEW TESTAMENT.
By Clarence Santee
The Sabbath question, and the asserted change, is an important question. Has the Sabbath been changed? Is there a record of the change? By what authority was it changed? If life itself depends on our allegiance to the word of God (and Christ says his words are “spirit, and they are life.” John 6:63), then we wish to know what God has spoken. There is a strange diversity among writers upon this momentous subject. For instance, I have before me a tract printed by the American Baptist Publishing Society, and written by G. S. Bailey, D. D., entitled, “The First Day of the Week, and Not the Seventh, Is the Christian Sabbath, the Lord’s Day.” The writer promises to make this statement good, by Scriptural authority. I have also before me the Watchman, a Baptist paper, which, in reply to a correspondent, says: “The Scripture nowhere calls the first day of the week the Sabbath. There is no Scriptural authority for so doing, nor of course any Scriptural obligation.” I turn to the Baptist Church “Manual,” and read (Article 12): “We believe that the Law of God is the eternal and unchangeable rule of his moral government.” To this we say, Amen. But can the same fountain send forth sweet water and bitter? The first proposition in this tract is as follows, “The disciples of Christ began the religious observance of the first day of the week immediately after the resurrection of Christ, and Christ himself was present with them, and gave them his sanction and blessing.” Proof, John 20:19. Please turn and read. Were the disciples gathered to honor the resurrection, or were they not? If they were, would this constitute a sufficient command to change the “unchangeable rule of his moral government?”—Certainly not. If they were not, then the proof fails utterly. Why, then, were the disciples together? and what were they doing at the time when Christ appeared to them? First, they lived together. Acts 1:13: “And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alpheus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James.” Second, they were at that very time eating their supper. Mark 16:14. This was after he had appeared to the two who went into the country. Verse 12; Luke 24:13–30. The disciples did not at that time believe that Christ had risen from the dead. Mark 16:12–24. When he appeared, he “upbraided them with their unbelief, . . . because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.” The two returned late in the evening. Luke 24:29, 33–36. While they told of their meeting with Jesus, “Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.” Verse 36. “But they were terrified and affrighted. . . . He said unto them, Why are ye troubled? . . . Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. . . . When he had thus spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet.” Verses 37–40; John 20:19, 20. Thus we see that honesty in dealing with God’s word compels us to relinquish the idea that they were celebrating, or honoring in any sense, the resurrection of Christ. And if they were not, then of course they could not have been keeping the day as a Sabbath, nor in any other way, in honor of that event. The proof is positive that they did not believe that he had risen. While the two were traveling on foot (Mark 16:12), seven and one-half miles to Emmaus, the others were keeping close at home, with doors shut “for fear of the Jews,” and thus was spent the first day after his resurrection. I quote again: “We have no account of their meeting again until a week later, ‘after eight days’ according to Jewish reckoning. . . . Now why was this meeting on the first day of the week, on the second Lord’s day? and why was it specifically mentioned as on the first day of the week?” Allowing that all men are honest, we can excuse such wholesale manufacture of Scripture, only by believing it to be extreme ignorance of the Bible on the part of the writer. The last quotation has no foundation whatever. The meeting “after eight days” was neither on the next First-day, nor was it “specifically mentioned” as on that day. Not even an inference can be drawn from a single text to uphold the assertion of any mention of that day in connection with this meeting, much less a “specific” mention of it. Now to the text, John 20:26: “And after eight days again his disciples were within,” etc. The first time he appeared to the eleven was at the close of the first day after his resurrection—Sunday night. Seven days from that time would bring us again to Sunday night, eight days to Monday night, and “after eight days” would carry us near the middle of the following week, no certain day being mentioned. It was not the day, but the fact that Thomas, who doubted, was present, that caused the Saviour to appear, in order to remove those doubts. John 20:27, 28. After citing the proofs already quoted, the Doctor inquires, “What higher sanction could Jesus give to these meetings for worship on the first day of the week, than this change from the seventh day to the Lord’s day?” What, indeed! Though the New Testament writers were Christians, and writing for Christians, yet not one has given a more sacred title to this day than simply “the first day of the week.” The day is mentioned eight times in the New Testament, as follows: Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:2, 9; Luke 24:1; John 20:1, 19; Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2. The first six times refer to the day of Christ’s resurrection: and it is stated positively that upon that day they did275not believe in his resurrection; hence, did not keep the day in honor of that event. So far as we have the record, Christ never took upon his lips any mention of that day. We now turn to the only recorded religious meeting held on that day. Acts 20:7–13. Paul had been at Troas seven days. Verse 6. They then came together for an evening meeting. Verse 8. Paul preached to them while his companions went down and started their ship around the promontory between Troas and Assos. Verse 13. While Paul was holding a farewell meeting with them, his companions were laboring. The day, according to the Bible, begins at evening. Gen. 1:5, 8, 13, etc. When does the evening begin?—At sunset. Mark 1:32. Then the meeting at Troas, being held in the dark part of the first day (Acts 20:7, 9), must have been held on what we term Saturday night. They had all rested the Sabbath day “according to the commandment.” Luke 23:56. Then Paul’s companions, after the “sun was set,” take the ship, while he holds this meeting. On Sunday morning he also takes his journey of nineteen miles across from Troas to Assos. Acts 20:11, 13, 14. Did they not break bread on the first day of the week?—Yes. Did that make it a Sabbath?—No. Christ instituted the breaking of bread on Thursday night. 1 Cor. 11:23, 24. The apostles broke bread daily. Acts 2:46. Paul broke the bread at Troas between midnight and morning of the first day. Acts 20:7–11. But these things in no way changed the “unchangeable rule” of God’s moral government, which still reads, “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.”