Enjoy Every Day as a First Day

The first day of the week…Mark 16:2

The Bible makes it clear that the first day of the week is not the Sabbath, Mark 16:1 & 2: Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they would come and anoint Him. Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the bomb when the sun had risen.

The first day of the week is Sunday on our calendar. On the Hebrew calendar it is the Feast of First Fruits. On our calendar it is Resurrection Day. A very good reason to meet and celebrate our new life in Jesus. Sunday is not the Sabbath. The Sabbath is not Sunday. They are two different days of the week. Of course, the Sabbath brings with it a very long tradition of reverence. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore, the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it, Exodus 20:11.

Then Jesus comes and declares to the world, The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath, Matthew 12:8 and Mark 2:28. Jesus says this even though He often went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day. Jesus honored what His Father had established as the Sabbath and at the same time challenged the Pharisees of their abuse of the Sabbath. Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath. Jesus said, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore, the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath, Mark 2:27 & 28. 

The Pharisees had it backwards. They considered man was made for the Sabbath and must conform to its demands. Jesus set them straight: the Sabbath was made for man… The Sabbath was made for you. For he who entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His, Hebrews 4:10. 

Because Sunday is resurrection day, we honor it with our worship of the Lord. The Sabbath was past. Jesus is alive and He is busy. He met with Mary near the tomb. He met with two disciples on their way to Emmaus and broke bread with them. He met with the apostles as they sat at a table. He commissioned them to preach the gospel: He is risen! 

The Sabbath is still the seventh day of the week. Sunday is the first day of the week. Because Jesus arose on the first day of the week, you now enjoy each day as the first day of your everlasting life in Him! You are welcome!