Why Do Christian Religions Call Sunday The Sabbath

No matter if a person is a…

* Lutheran
* Baptist
* Catholic
* Or other

One belief remains largely consistent throughout, and that is:

Christian Religions call Sunday the Sabbath.

Here are some of the many reasons why.

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*** Sabbath Created For Man ***

Mark 2:27-28 (NIV)
Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."

From the above sentence they conclude that it is up to man as to which day they do or do not keep the Sabbath since it was made for them.

While this certainly does seem like a logical position a problem remains in the fact that this verse gives no corresponding support for such a conclusion. It is at this point that one must remember verses like…

Revelation 22:18-19 (NIV)
I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
And understand that adding to or taking away from Scripture is indeed an eternally dangerous activity to be pursuing.

*** Jesus Chastised The Pharisee's For Keeping The Sabbath ***

Another argument for Sunday Sabbath keeping can be found in how Jesus dealt with the religious rulers when He was a man here on earth.
One of many examples can be found in

Matthew 12:9-12 (NIV)
Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, they asked him, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"

He said to them, "If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."

In such verses the claim is that Jesus is admonishing these religious rulers for keeping the Sabbath. However, upon further investigation I believe the reader will find that Jesus never instructs them not to keep the seventh day Sabbath, but rather is clearly demonstrating that in doing so one should not make it a license for legalism.

*** Remembering The Resurrection Day ***
Another argument that is launched for Sunday Sabbath keeping is found in the resurrection of Jesus which was clearly on Sunday.

Matthew 28:1 (NIV)
After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

While they are indeed correct about the resurrection day the fact remains that there is no mention of a transitional of the day of worship from Saturday to Sunday as a result of the bodily resurrection of Christ.

It is interesting to note that the seventh day or Saturday was the only day Jesus rested in the tomb.

John 19:42 (NIV) - BEFORE
Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

John 20:1 (NIV) - AFTER
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.
Also, we have been given a way of remembering the Resurrection experience that Christ went through.

Romans 6:3-5 (NIV)
Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.

It's called BAPTISM!

*** Concluding The Sabbath Day Question ***

There are other arguments which people use to support a Sunday Sabbath just as there are more positions available for Saturday being the Sabbath. For those who are intensely interested in following God's Word the question really is not who is right or who is wrong but rather what does God's Word say.

Genesis 2:1-2
Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

Exodus 20:8-11
Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

John 14:15
"If you love me, you will obey what I command.

Matthew 5:17-18
"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.

I believe the above verses do an excellent job of exposing Sunday the Sabbath for the error that it is within Christian religions. It is up to you as to what you will conclude. As for me and my house we will serve the Lord.