Authority Versus Practice
In the course of looking at the Good Wednesday controversy, I surfed to this pro-Good Friday link from the Stewarton Bible School in Scotland. Here's a short excerpt:
This experience [with Cleopas] is recorded in Luke 24:13-21. All will agree that this took place on Sunday evening. Bear in mind that the third day (counting backwards) from a Sunday is a Friday!
By no stretch of the imagination can Wednesday be called the third day from Sunday.
In other words: this statement made by Cleopas on Sunday evening on the road to Emmaus points to a Friday crucifixion.
At the end, this page offers some cautions:
If some Christians rest on Sunday because the resurrection occurred on that day, that is their choice. But they are not keeping the Sabbath of the LORD.
For the fact is: Sunday is not the Christian Sabbath. It never was and never will be!
You may search the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation and you will not find a single verse authorizing Sunday observance.
Yet, while not commanded, the early church seemed to like meeting on Sunday:
On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight. [Acts 20:7]
On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. [I Corinthians 16:2]
But are Gentile Christians commanded to keep the Sabbath?
Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. [Colossians 2:16-17]
It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell. [Acts 15:28-29]
Also see gotquestions.org, evangelicaloutreach.org, and even today's wcg.org.
For the seventh-day view, see thetribulationforce.com (also at present-truth.org and glorytogod.org), rezconnection.org, and abcog.org.
Comments
I never thought that we worship on Sunday because it’s the day the Lord was resurrected, but because it was the first day of the week. But as my good friend Paul said, it’s not worth arguing over.
I've never been in a culture in which Saturday and Sunday were not the weekend. I'm surprised the Carter/Sadat/Begin Camp David talks went as smoothly as they did (although they almost fell apart at least once).