Someone asks: “When did the early church actually make a shift from the Sabbath (Saturday) to Sunday? We see disciples meeting on Sunday in Acts 20, and a reference by John to the Lord’s Day in Rev 1. Was this change commanded by God, or was it to celebrate the Resurrection and to honor Him because of that?”
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The historical data is found in various books on the topic. Scripture gives no hint that God commanded Sunday observance. It seems strictly to have been a commemorative decision by early Christians celebrating the resurrection of Jesus, and perhaps also the descent of the Spirit on Pentecost, which fell on the first day of the week.
One should note that our Seventh-day brothers and sisters do not concede either that Acts 20 involved a Sunday “breaking of bread” (claiming it occurred on what we would call Saturday night), or that the “Lord’s Day” in Rev. 1 refers to the first day of the week (citing Jesus’ statement in the Gospels that “the Son of man is Lord of the Sabbath” as evidence that the Sabbath is the “Lord’s Day”). They are surely correct that no person acting under God’s authority ever “changed the Sabbath” from Saturday to Sunday, even if we deem them mistaken in contending that Christian Gentiles must also observe the Sabbath along with Old Testament Jews.
Paul seems to have no problem with the particular day on which one worshiped or honored God (Rom. 14:5ff), although he did become anxious if the MOTIVE for doing so denigrated the gospel of grace (Gal. 4:8-11). For the apostle, such technicalities were subsumed under greater concerns for the effectiveness of his preaching mission and bringing people into the Kingdom of God (see Acts 21:18-26; 1 Cor. 9:19-23). We may rejoicing in God’s presence seven days a week, and worship him any time the Spirit moves us to do so!