In an email I was asked why Christians call Sunday the
Sabbath when clearly it is Saturday in the bible.
In the very early days of the church the followers of Jesus
were all Hebrews. As such they followed the tenants of Jewish worship. For the
Hebrew people of Jesus day Sabbath began at sundown on Friday and lasted until
sundown on Saturday. Most worship was done in the home or synagogue on
Saturday.
For Hebrew Disciples of Jesus they would fulfill their
worship as Jews on the Saturday Sabbath. Then at dawn on the first day of the
week they would gather to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus and this became known as "The Lord's Day.". At this worship
the Gospel was preached, prayers said, new believers baptized and communion
celebrated. As Sunday was a work day they then would go off to work.
Later when Gentiles, non-Jews, joined the growing ranks of
the Disciples of Christ they would forgo the Hebrew worship and only attend
the Sunday gathering at dawn to celebrate the resurrection. As the percentage
of gentile Christians increased First Day or “Lord’s Day” worship became the
most common form of Christian practice. Later Christians would begin calling
Sunday the Sabbath even though that was not strictly true.
Today most Christians but not all practice Christian worship
on the first day of the week to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus the Christ.
I do every Sunday.
So they had a Sunrise Service every Sunday, and not just on Easter. Interesting.
ReplyDeleteIt sure was
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