Daily Bread - Dec 28 2006

Acts 20:7 - "And on the first of the week, the disciples having come together to break bread, Paul addressed them being about to depart the next morning and continued to speak until midnight."

This is the first time that church services are mentioned as being held on the first day of the week other than the fact that it is implied in 1 Corinthians 16:2. Also, the idea conveyed in the meaning of the Lord's Day in Revelation 1:10 implies the day that Jesus arose from the dead. The fact that the disciples were assembled on the first day of the week, one week after the resurrection, seems to imply that the tradition of assembling to worship on Sunday began immediately after the resurrection of Jesus from the dead (John 20:26).

Certainly, the first day of the week was chosen as the time to assemble together in that Jesus arose from the dead on the first day of the week and then appeared to the disciples two consecutive times on the first day of the week (John 20:1,19, 26). The Greek phrase that is used here to express "the first of the week" is "mia ton sabbaton." This particular phrase - along with two other closely related phrases - is used 8 times in the New Testament (Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:2, 9; Luke 24:1; John 20:1, 19; Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2). It is used almost exclusively to describe the day that Jesus arose from the dead which was Sunday. A fact that further substantiates that this was not merely an event when the disciples just happened to be gathered together is the use of the verb "sunago." The verb "sunago" refers to a formal gathering as opposed to "episuagoghn" which would be used of a regular gathering (A.T. Robertson; Acts 20:7).

Blessings,

Pastor Mark Spitsbergen
abidingplace.org