The Sabbath

[FidelisTuaimau]

Hi,

Could someone please help me understand why the Sabbath day was changed from Saturday to Sunday?

thanks

 

[Marie5890]

Saturday is the Sabbath.
Sunday is the Lord’s Day, because of His resurrection.

 

[odhiambo]

Hi,

Could someone please help me understand why the Sabbath day was changed from Saturday to Sunday?

thanks

As has already been stated by Marie5890, the Sabbath was never changed; it remains the Sabbath to this day. The Apostles used to keep both the Sabbath and the Lord’s Day.
Those still following the Old Law which has already been fulfilled by Jesus, continue to worship on the Sabbath. Those of us who accept that Jesus Christ came to fulfill the O.T.
Law and create a New Covenant between God and us His people,
now worship on the Lord’s Day; the day of His Ressurrection.

 

[meltzerboy]

As has already been stated by Marie5890, the Sabbath was never changed; it remains the Sabbath to this day. The Apostles used to keep both the Sabbath and the Lord’s Day.
Those still following the Old Law which has already been fulfilled by Jesus, continue to worship on the Sabbath. Those of us who accept that Jesus Christ came to fulfill the O.T.
Law and create a New Covenant between God and us His people,
now worship on the Lord’s Day; the day of His Ressurrection.

I thought the Torah Law in its legalistic details was fulfilled by Jesus. However, the Sabbath day is part of the moral principles of the Ten Commandments. Were these laws (words, statements) fulfilled by Jesus as well? Surely it was not Jesus Himself who changed the day of worship.

 

[Neofight]

Hi,

Could someone please help me understand why the Sabbath day was changed from Saturday to Sunday?

thanks

I just put this together for my RCIA class tonight

Creation: Old and New; Sabbath and Lord’s Day

After the 6 days of creation, God rested:

Genesis 2:1–3

1 Thus the heavens and the earth and all their array were completed. 2 On the seventh day God completed the work he had been doing; he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken. 3 God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation.

God would command his people to observe the Sabbath:

Exodus 20:8–10

8 Remember the sabbath day—keep it holy. 9 Six days you may labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God. You shall not do any work, either you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your work animal, or the resident alien within your gates.

To this day, Jews observe the Sabbath on Saturday. Since the first Sabbath (the day God rested following 6 days of creation), we can deduce that the 7th day, is indeed Saturday.

With that rationale, we can also conclude that the first day of creation would have been a Sunday (count backwards 6 days from the Sabbath).

Catholics do not observe the Sabbath (the 7th day), but we do observe the Lord’s Day.

The Lord’s Day is Sunday, based on the fact that Christ died and was buried on Friday (there was an urgency for his burial prior to the Sabbath, which would begin at sundown on Friday), and on the 3rd day (Sunday) he was resurrected, according to prophecy.

How fitting, that God’s plan was for the resurrection to occur on Sunday, the very same day that was the first day of creation!

The resurrection of the Lord was, in essence, the very first day of the New Creation.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church confirms and elaborates:

The day of the Resurrection: the new creation

2174 Jesus rose from the dead “on the first day of the week.” Because it is the “first day,” the day of Christ’s Resurrection recalls the first creation. Because it is the “eighth day” following the sabbath, it symbolizes the new creation ushered in by Christ’s Resurrection. For Christians it has become the first of all days, the first of all feasts, the Lord’s Day.

349 The eighth day. But for us a new day has dawned: the day of Christ’s Resurrection. The seventh day completes the first creation. The eighth day begins the new creation. Thus, the work of creation culminates in the greater work of redemption. The first creation finds its meaning and its summit in the new creation in Christ, the splendor of which surpasses that of the first creation.

---

While the 10 Commandments dictated the Israelites observe the Sabbath, since we (Christians) are not bound by Jewish law, which has been fulfilled (and not abolished) by the New Covenant of Jesus Christ, instead, we keep the Lord’s Day holy and are called to observe it with the same piety and sanctity that the Jews observe the Sabbath.

The following verse from the Psalms expresses our feelings for the Lord’s Day:

Psalm 118:24

24 This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice in it and be glad.

How do you honor the Lord’s Day, besides attending Mass. Do you rest, and enjoy the blessings of home and family that God has given you?

 

[po18guy]

I thought the Torah Law in its legalistic details was fulfilled by Jesus. However, the Sabbath day is part of the moral principles of the Ten Commandments. Were these laws (words, statements) fulfilled by Jesus as well? Surely it was not Jesus Himself who changed the day of worship.

He routinely violated it. And, He did say that He was Lord, even of the Sabbath. Just saying.

 

[meltzerboy]

He routinely violated it. And, He did say that He was Lord, even of the Sabbath. Just saying.

I heard that Jesus violated the Sabbath. However, according to the Nazarene Jews, who accept Jesus as the Messiah although not His divinity, Jesus came to make the Sabbath and the entire Law more profound by elucidating the meaning of the details. It wasn’t so much that He fulfilled the Law but rather He both elaborated upon it and distilled it into its essence. Working on the Sabbath or Yom Kippur, for example, is permitted if it involves helping a human being survive. So is eating non-kosher food. All ancient and modern rabbis that I know of agree with this; but, for some, the Law may become too trivial and mechanistic in its practice and lose its meaning as a result.

 

[bmonk]

Saturday is the Sabbath.
Sunday is the Lord’s Day, because of His resurrection.

Yes. In Church Latin (and many Romance Languages follow suit), Saturday = Sabbatum, and Sunday = (dies) Dominica, the “Lord’s Day.” In fact, often the other days of the week are just given numbers from second to sixth.

As Christians, we celebrate the “eighth day” of the week, on which Jesus rose from the dead–hence “the Lord’s Day.” Traditionally, we also rest, more or less, on Saturday, since that was the day Jesus rested in the tomb, but not with the rigor or severity that the Jews rest that day.

 

[madtom]

well, what is the Sabbath really? it is the day of rest, the seventh day, correct? nowehere in the bible does it say the Sabbath must be called Saturday. the calendar is man made so that we have defined the week to be Sunday to Saturday and Saturday being the seventh day became the Sabbath. but again, this is a man made aspect of our calendar so really any day can be the seventh day. heck, we even consider Sunday to be part of the weekend, so practically speaking we already view Sunday as the seventh day.

 

[SuS33]

I just put this together for my RCIA class tonight

Creation: Old and New; Sabbath and Lord’s Day

After the 6 days of creation, God rested:

Genesis 2:1–3

1 Thus the heavens and the earth and all their array were completed. 2 On the seventh day God completed the work he had been doing; he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken. 3 God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation.

God would command his people to observe the Sabbath:

Exodus 20:8–10

8 Remember the sabbath day—keep it holy. 9 Six days you may labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God. You shall not do any work, either you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your work animal, or the resident alien within your gates.

To this day, Jews observe the Sabbath on Saturday. Since the first Sabbath (the day God rested following 6 days of creation), we can deduce that the 7th day, is indeed Saturday.

With that rationale, we can also conclude that the first day of creation would have been a Sunday (count backwards 6 days from the Sabbath).

Catholics do not observe the Sabbath (the 7th day), but we do observe the Lord’s Day.

The Lord’s Day is Sunday, based on the fact that Christ died and was buried on Friday (there was an urgency for his burial prior to the Sabbath, which would begin at sundown on Friday), and on the 3rd day (Sunday) he was resurrected, according to prophecy.

How fitting, that God’s plan was for the resurrection to occur on Sunday, the very same day that was the first day of creation!

The resurrection of the Lord was, in essence, the very first day of the New Creation.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church confirms and elaborates:

The day of the Resurrection: the new creation

2174 Jesus rose from the dead “on the first day of the week.” Because it is the “first day,” the day of Christ’s Resurrection recalls the first creation. Because it is the “eighth day” following the sabbath, it symbolizes the new creation ushered in by Christ’s Resurrection. For Christians it has become the first of all days, the first of all feasts, the Lord’s Day.

349 The eighth day. But for us a new day has dawned: the day of Christ’s Resurrection. The seventh day completes the first creation. The eighth day begins the new creation. Thus, the work of creation culminates in the greater work of redemption. The first creation finds its meaning and its summit in the new creation in Christ, the splendor of which surpasses that of the first creation.

---

While the 10 Commandments dictated the Israelites observe the Sabbath, since we (Christians) are not bound by Jewish law, which has been fulfilled (and not abolished) by the New Covenant of Jesus Christ, instead, we keep the Lord’s Day holy and are called to observe it with the same piety and sanctity that the Jews observe the Sabbath.

The following verse from the Psalms expresses our feelings for the Lord’s Day:

Psalm 118:24

24 This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice in it and be glad.

How do you honor the Lord’s Day, besides attending Mass. Do you rest, and enjoy the blessings of home and family that God has given you?

That was great. Thank you for explaining.

 

[meltzerboy]

Yes. In Church Latin (and many Romance Languages follow suit), Saturday = Sabbatum, and Sunday = (dies) Dominica, the “Lord’s Day.” In fact, often the other days of the week are just given numbers from second to sixth.

As Christians, we celebrate the “eighth day” of the week, on which Jesus rose from the dead–hence “the Lord’s Day.” Traditionally, we also rest, more or less, on Saturday, since that was the day Jesus rested in the tomb, but not with the rigor or severity that the Jews rest that day.

More than simply rigor and severity, the Sabbath is a day of joy, family, holiness, and just being rather than constantly becoming by means of what Wordsworth calls “getting and spending.”

 

[Sarcelle]

More than simply rigor and severity, the Sabbath is a day of joy, family, holiness, and just being rather than constantly becoming by means of what Wordsworth calls “getting and spending.”

Thank you for this very informative post.

 

[Todd977]

Hi,

Could someone please help me understand why the Sabbath day was changed from Saturday to Sunday?

thanks

According to Deuteronomy 5:12-15, the primary reason why the Jews observe the seventh day of the week (Sabbath or Saturday) is to commemorate their liberation from their slavery to Egypt which occurred on that day of the week. Important as that event was for that particular people, it was merely a foreshadowing of a much more significant and much more universal liberation to come, namely, mankind’s liberation from its slavery to sin and death which was accomplished when Jesus Christ rose from the dead on the first day of the week (Sunday). It was only natural and right that the celebration of the lesser seventh-day-of-the-week liberation event should give way to the celebration of the greater first-day-of-the-week liberation event.

 

[po18guy]

I heard that Jesus violated the Sabbath. However, according to the Nazarene Jews, who accept Jesus as the Messiah although not His divinity, Jesus came to make the Sabbath and the entire Law more profound by elucidating the meaning of the details. It wasn’t so much that He fulfilled the Law but rather He both elaborated upon it and distilled it into its essence. Working on the Sabbath or Yom Kippur, for example, is permitted if it involves helping a human being survive. So is eating non-kosher food. All ancient and modern rabbis that I know of agree with this; but, for some, the Law may become too trivial and mechanistic in its practice and lose its meaning as a result.

As to the Nazarenes, I wonder why they accept Him? The link to Nazareth and the fulfillment of the oral tradition of the prophecy “He shall be called a Nazarene” (Matthew 2:23)? Oddly enough, the source of that prophecy has been lost, and we know of it today only through the Gospel of Matthew.

 

[meltzerboy]

According to Deuteronomy 5:12-15, the primary reason why the Jews observe the seventh day of the week (Sabbath or Saturday) is to commemorate their liberation from their slavery to Egypt which occurred on that day of the week. Important as that event was for that particular people, it was merely a foreshadowing of a much more significant and much more universal liberation to come, namely, mankind’s liberation from its slavery to sin and death which was accomplished when Jesus Christ rose from the dead on the first day of the week (Sunday). It was only natural and right that the celebration of the lesser seventh-day-of-the-week liberation event should give way to the celebration of the greater first-day-of-the-week liberation event.

This is a misinterpretation of why Jews commemorate the Sabbath. First and foremost, Jews remember the Sabbath day because, by doing so, they commemorate the six days of G-d’s Creation. It was on the seventh day that G-d Himself rested from His Creation of the world. If G-d can rest from His work, we are bound to emulate G-d, in Whose image we are created, by resting from our work, which is not exactly as demanding. Second, and also very important, Jews remember the Sabbath as a day of liberation from bondage, not because the Exodus actually took place on that day, but that we were not free to rest from our hard labor when we were slaves, and now we are even though we may not belong to the wealthy elite class. It is not a matter of our being lazy but rather of our being regarded as worthy as our rulers and oppressors. In a more profound sense, however, the freedom to rest one day a week is a spiritual freedom from the hectic pace of the work week during which we focus mainly on mundane tasks.

 

[Todd977]

This is a misinterpretation of why Jews commemorate the Sabbath. First and foremost, Jews remember the Sabbath day because, by doing so, they commemorate the six days of G-d’s Creation. It was on the seventh day that G-d Himself rested from His Creation of the world. If G-d can rest from His work, we are bound to emulate G-d, in Whose image we are created, by resting from our work, which is not exactly as demanding. Second, and also very important, Jews remember the Sabbath as a day of liberation from bondage, not because the Exodus actually took place on that day, but that we were not free to rest from our hard labor when we were slaves, and now we are even though we may not belong to the wealthy elite class. It is not a matter of our being lazy but rather of our being regarded as worthy as our rulers and oppressors. In a more profound sense, however, the freedom to rest one day a week is a spiritual freedom from the hectic pace of the work week during which we focus mainly on mundane tasks.

Quite right, Exodus 20:2-6 gives another reason for observing the seventh day of the week, namely, a commemoration of God’s day of rest after six days of creation. Everyone, therefore, ought to rest one day after six days of work for their own good. But which day of our modern days of the week should they rest?

The Jews no doubt have kept an accurate count of the weeks since the Exodus. However, I think it naïve to think that mankind kept an accurate count of the weeks over the course of the thousands of years from the time of Creation until Exodus and that what we regard as the seventh day of the week (Saturday) corresponds exactly to the actual day of the week that God rested. I would say the chances of the actual day of God’s rest being a Saturday are rather low, one in seven. Our seventh day of the week (Saturday) was made the Jews’ day of rest because that was the actual day of the week they were liberated from their slavery to Egypt.

The first day of the week (Sunday) was made the Christian’s day of rest because that was the actual day of the week mankind was liberated from their slavery to sin and death, as mentioned earlier.

 

[Michael_Mayo]

Why not celebrate both Saturday and Sunday?

These days most people have to work as they are scheduled and if they are off there is certainly work to be done at home.

So how about on Friday evening, light the candles, say the prayers and begin a mindful weekend with thanks and try to make at least one of those days as restful as possible even as we rejoice and celebrate Mass on Sunday.

 

[po18guy]

The catechism sums it up very succinctly:

**345 The sabbath - the end of the work of the six days. The sacred text says that “on the seventh day God finished his work which he had done”, that the “heavens and the earth were finished”, and that God “rested” on this day and sanctified and blessed it. These inspired words are rich in profitable instruction:

348 The sabbath is at the heart of Israel’s law. To keep the commandments is to correspond to the wisdom and the will of God as expressed in his work of creation.

349 The eighth day. But for us a new day has dawned: the day of Christ’s Resurrection. The seventh day completes the first creation. The eighth day begins the new creation. Thus, the work of creation culminates in the greater work of redemption. The first creation finds its meaning and its summit in the new creation in Christ, the splendor of which surpasses that of the first creation.**

 

[JohnR77]

**
349** … The first creation finds its meaning and its summit in the new creation in Christ, the splendor of which surpasses that of the first creation.

Therefore, the Sabbath points us forward to even a more glorious day, the Lord’s Day, the eighth day, or the first day of the week which in turn points us to that time in which we will spend with God in Eternity after our earthly journey. Therefore, the Sabbath points us to the eighth day which points us to the day at the end of time when we will find our eternal rest with God in Heaven.

Read more

.

 

[po18guy]

Therefore, the Sabbath points us forward to even a more glorious day, the Lord’s Day, the eighth day, or the first day of the week which in turn points us to that time in which we will spend with God in Eternity after our earthly journey. Therefore, the Sabbath points us to the eighth day which points us to the day at the end of time when we will find our eternal rest with God in Heaven.

Read more

.

Death occurred on the sixth day - six being the ancient symbol for incompletion (think wedding feast at Cana (John 2), where Jesus had the servants fill the 6 water pots and then produced wine - the 7th draw of water - and symbol of the new and everlasting Covenant. Seven being the symbol of completion). Death was defeated on the 8th day - which is the first day of the Christian week, rather than the last day of the Hebrew week. Another 8th day connection: Hebrew boys were circumcised, thus entering the Abrahamic covenant, on the 8th day - their first week of life having been completed.