On the First Day of the Week

by Terry Wane Benton

Acts 20:7 lets us know when the disciples of Jesus came together to break bread. It was the first day of the week. Paul had been there almost a week waiting to get with the brethren. On the first day of the week, the disciples came together to take the bread of the Lord’s Supper.

Paul wrote the Corinthians that “the bread which we (Christians) break” is different from the bread that others break (I Corinthians 10,11). Our bread is unleavened and eaten together as a memorial to Jesus. Leaven was like sin, and Jesus’ body was sinless.

The fruit of the vine is used as a memorial to His precious blood. We “do this” because Jesus said to do this in His memory. So, Christians did this every first day of the week then, which is still what His disciples do today. The first day of the week was also the time that Christians gave money to help in the needs of brethren (I Corinthians 16:1-2).

Why was this the day since the Sabbath day was designated in the old system of Israel? The seventh day was a day of Jewish physical rest, a “shadow” of the spiritual rest we would have in Christ. Jesus is the substance it was pointing to, and once the “rest” was satisfied in Christ, no one is to keep observing the Sabbath. Let no one judge you regarding sabbaths (Colossians 2:13-16). Our Sabbath rest is satisfied in the spiritual rest Jesus provides us.

So, why do Christians meet on the first day of the week? This was a new beginning. Jesus was raised on the first day of the week to give us a new hope and a new beginning. Pentecost fell on the first day of the week, and the Holy Spirit waited to come on that first day of the week to help give us a new beginning. The kingdom of Jesus, now both Lord and Christ, opened the doors of its salvation that first day of the week, and the church of Christ was the spiritual body that entered on that day. Thus, God arranged for this new beginning to be remembered every first day of the week, and ever since that first Pentecost after Jesus’ resurrection, also on the first day of the week, the disciples have been coming together to break bread in memory of Jesus. The Catholics did not start this, but God did, and disciples are still eager to share in this memorial each Sunday. This is the Lord’s Day, the day of life from the dead and spiritual renewal each week with brethren in Christ. Don’t miss it. It is very special!