First Day of the Week
Bethel Baptist Church David Rising
Assorted Scripture April 5, 2026 Sun AM (Easter)
First Day of the Week
Today, Easter Sunday, is a very special day for Christians as we formally remember the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
We as a church do not have special observances or services on our calendar to commemorate related days to Easter – Lent, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, etc – but we certainly seek to be sensitive to the events in the bible that are important to remember and keep them in mind.
The term “Easter” is not in the Bible, and celebrating it as we do is not part of some scriptural mandate. Some claim the name ‘Easter’ is associated with the ancient pagan goddess Eastre, though that is disputed and has sketchy evidence to support it.
Others claim the word comes from an old word for “east” or one of the months in spring.
You may be interested to chase that discussion down with further reading, but I will spare you of that from the pulpit here.
We tend to prefer the name “Resurrection Sunday” as it makes a bit more plain the focus of this special day. Our focus today is especially upon our Savior, Jesus, and the fact of His miraculous resurrection.
But I think we would agree it is a great blessing to focus today on this critical event in history as it is the center piece of our faith.
The resurrection of Jesus is absolutely critical to everything we hold and teach regarding our faith.
In these few moments we have this morning, I would like to walk us through a brief study of a few key days in scripture and then conclude with some practical points that I think will be helpful to our faith and daily walk with Christ. Pray.
As you study your bible, you will discover that there are a few key days that are of significance. The first I would to discuss is…
1. Sabbath Day
In Genesis, which we are currently studying in our PM service, we recently came through Genesis 1 & 2 where we saw the creation of this world by our LORD.
In six days, the LORD God created all things:
Genesis 1:31–2:1 (NKJV) 31 Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished.
In only six days the LORD spoke into existence day and night, the sky above, the dry land, the seas, plants, frees, fruit, vegetation, sun, moon, and stars, sea animals, birds of the sky, cattle, creeping things, and of course humanity – male and female.
After the LORD had made these things, He rested:
Genesis 2:2 (NKJV) 2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.
It was not as though God were tired and needed a break, but nonetheless He rested from the work He did. This day of rest for the LORD was designated by God as a special day:
Genesis 2:3 (NKJV) 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.
God set apart this special day from the rest of the days. He blessed it and sanctified it because of what He had done on this day: He rested from His work.
In time, after God had grown up and then rescued His people, the nation of Israel, from the land of Egypt, God again emphasized to Israel the importance of this seventh day of the week.
When the nation of Israel began to complain about lack of food, God provided for them manna from heaven. They were to gather enough food on the first five days of the week for their daily needs, and then on the sixth day they were to gather twice as much:
Exodus 16:22–26 (NKJV) 22 And so it was, on the sixth day, that they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one. And all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. 23 Then he said to them, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Tomorrow is a Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you will bake today, and boil what you will boil; and lay up for yourselves all that remains, to be kept until morning.’ ” 24 So they laid it up till morning, as Moses commanded; and it did not stink, nor were there any worms in it. 25 Then Moses said, “Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field. 26 Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none.”
What God prescribed in Genesis 2 about the seventh day we now see fleshed out in real life. Six days of work – gathering food – and 1 day of rest – no gathering of food (because there would be no manna to gather). Day 7 was to be different.
In Exodus 16:23 we find the first use of the word “Sabbath” (שַׁבָּת) in the OT. This is the name that became attached to the seventh day. It is a word that can mean “week” (Leviticus 23:15) but often refers to the idea of rest – a period of time for resting: a day of rest.
You’ll hear people speak about sabbath rest or even taking a sabbatical. You’ll hear your Jewish friends refer to she-bat. Our oven has a sabbath feature we can enable which disables the oven for practicing Jews who want to follow their understanding of Sabbath.
Most practicing Jews will try to cease their normal routine Friday night at sundown through Saturday until evening.
When God gave Moses the 10 Commandments, the fourth commandment spells this out:
Exodus 20:8–11 (NKJV) 8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 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.
God encoded in the law this special day as a day to keep holy. It was a day of rest dedicated to the LORD. The rationale given for this commandment is what we saw in Genesis 2:2-3: the pattern of God’s creation in six days and a seventh day of rest.
Sabbath is rooted in creation and calls to mind the LORD as Creator and LORD.
Since it was a commandment, it was a serious matter to keep. In Exodus 31:12-17 we read this:
Exodus 31:12–17 (NKJV)
12 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 13 “Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: ‘Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you. 14 You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. 15 Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. 16 Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. 17 It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.’ ”
When we jump ahead in time hundreds of years, we see that during the period of Israel’s existence under their kings, when the nation was split between the north and the south, we see that keeping the Sabbath was on the list of violations the nation of Israel had committed. Israel had sinned by ignoring this commandment. Judah had sinned. Ezekiel writes in
Ezekiel 22:8 (NKJV) 8 You have despised My holy things and profaned My Sabbaths.
Disobedience to God manifested in many ways, and violating the Sabbath was one of them.
After Judah had been exiled and had returned, we see the same old problems. In Nehemiah 13 we read that Nehemiah saw the people still were not keeping the Sabbath as they should. And so he set about to enforce it.
Nehemiah 13:18–22 (NKJV)
18 Did not your fathers do thus, and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Yet you bring added wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.”
19 So it was, at the gates of Jerusalem, as it began to be dark before the Sabbath, that I commanded the gates to be shut, and charged that they must not be opened till after the Sabbath. Then I posted some of my servants at the gates, so that no burdens would be brought in on the Sabbath day. 20 Now the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice.
21 Then I warned them, and said to them, “Why do you spend the night around the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you!” From that time on they came no more on the Sabbath. 22 And I commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves, and that they should go and guard the gates, to sanctify the Sabbath day.
Remember me, O my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of Your mercy!
When we come into the New Testament, we see the birth and early ministry of Jesus. In Jesus’ ministry, we see controversy around the Sabbath.
Jesus was doing things the Jewish leaders thought violated Moses’ law, and we see this erupt in Matthew 12:
Matthew 12:1–8 (NKJV) 12 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!”
3 But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? 5 Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? 6 Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple. 7 But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
Jesus was addressing the heart of these leaders, and they did not like it. Jesus did not shy away from the controversy, and notice the next few verses in Matthew:
Matthew 12:9–14 (NKJV)
9 Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue. 10 And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And they asked Him, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—that they might accuse Him.
11 Then He said to them, “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? 12 Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” 13 Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other. 14 Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him.
And of course, as we trace this further, we know how this ultimately ended with Jesus.
Jesus was ultimately condemned and nailed to a cross. These Jewish leaders eventually built their case against Jesus and ultimately arrested Him, put Him on trial, and condemned Him to death.
Did Jesus violate the Sabbath command? Or did the understanding and application of the law become something other than what God had designed it to be? I think the latter is the truth.
Sabbath was a very special day that was intended to point to God, and we see this in the ministry of Jesus.
It is very interesting to note that when the fourth commandment is repeated in Deuteronomy, it has a different basis:
Deuteronomy 5:12–15 (NKJV) 12 ‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. 15 And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
The basis for Sabbath in Exodus was creation. Here in Deuteronomy it is the Exodus from Egypt.
Sabbath commemorates Creation as well as God’s redemption of His people from Egypt.
I did not mention Passover, but Passover was a special time for Israel that formally commemorated God’s rescue of the nation from Egypt. It was more than one day. Sabbath was a part of that celebration, but Passover as a whole brought that redemptive event to mind.
And here is where the link between the OT and the NT come together within that context of Passover.
Before Jesus was condemned to die on that Roman cross, He celebrated Passover with His disciples.
As He celebrated with them, He also taught them the new meaning of that celebration as it would now center upon Himself – Jesus, the Messiah, the Savior.
Listen to what we read in
Mark 14:22–25 (NKJV)
22 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”
23 Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. 24 And He said to them, “This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many. 25 Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
Jesus was taking Passover and now applying it to Himself. The bread now would point to Himself – His broken body for them.
The cup they would drink would now illustrate His blood that would be shed – the blood of the new covenant.
While we are thinking about these words by Jesus, there is a second day I want to highlight briefly this morning:
2. Day of Atonement
In Leviticus 16 we find the details of this special day.
This was a special day, once a year, kept on the 10th day of the month named Tisri, which was 5 days before the Feast of Tabernacles.
It was a day of fasting. It was a day to clean the sanctuary from all the uncleanness from the unclean worshipers. It made God’s presence among them possible. This cleansing was accomplished by the ritual of the blood of goat that was killed. The one goat was killed, and the other one – the scapegoat – carried away symbolically all the sins of the people. All of them. For the past year.
This ritual, carried out by the high priest, “averted the wrath of God for all the sins of the people for the past year” (BKC).
You can read more about that in Leviticus 16, 23, and Numbers 29.
However, with the coming of the Great High Priest – Jesus – that practice would soon be unnecessary.
Hebrews 9:6–15 (NKJV)
6 Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the services. 7 But into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people’s sins committed in ignorance; 8 the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing. 9 It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience—10 concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation.
11 But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. 12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, 14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 15 And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.
After Jesus was condemned to die, He was nailed to that Roman cross. Paul tells us in
2 Corinthians 5:21 (NKJV) 21 For He (Father) made Him (Son) who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Jesus came to this earth so that He might do the Father’s will:
Mark 10:45 (NKJV) 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
A ransom is a payment. Jesus paid for our sins on the cross.
1 Timothy 2:5–7 (NKJV)
5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time, 7 for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle—I am speaking the truth in Christ and not lying—a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
Jesus died on that cross, and was buried in the tomb.
And then something miraculous happened:
Mark 16:1–9 (NKJV) 16 Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him. 2 Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. 3 And they said among themselves, “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?” 4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away—for it was very large. 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed.
6 But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. 7 But go, tell His disciples—and Peter—that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you.”
8 So they went out quickly and fled from the tomb, for they trembled and were amazed. And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
9 Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons.
This brings us to the final day I wish to highlight this morning:
3. The First Day of the Week
In all four of the gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John – we see that Jesus arose on the first day of the week.
Just as Jesus had said, so it happened. Christ arose.
It was on that first day of the week that those ladies came to the empty tomb where the angel announced that Jesus had arisen!
What is interesting to note is the pattern that follows.
After Jesus arose from the dead and made His appearances to many people, He would soon return to the Father in heaven. Acts 1 describes this.
Then God sent the Holy Spirit and the church began. Acts tracks this out.
When we come to Acts 20 we see the continued ministry of the Apostle Paul as he went from city to city preaching the gospel.
Acts 20:7 (NKJV) 7 Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight.
Paul was in the city of Troas and this is the story of Eutychus who fell asleep and fell out of that third-story window and was taken up dead.
We observe that it was on the first day of the week that this group of disciples had been meeting where Paul joined them and preached.
We take away from this that it seems to be the custom or the practice of the early church to meet together on this day of the week, the first day of the week. We know it as Sunday.
The history of how the first day of the week became known as Sunday is a topic for another time, but does not bear on our point here today.
We find one other reference in the NT to this first day of the week being significant for the church:
1 Corinthians 16:1–2 (NKJV) Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also: 2 On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come.
Here we also observe that the assumption behind this instruction is that the church met together on this first day of the week. Here the context is taking up an offering, but the observation is the timing.
Based on only what we have seen in the scripture so far, we can see why it would make sense for the church to meet together on this particular day.
For it was the day of the week that Jesus rose from the dead. How fitting it is for God’s people to gather together on this day.
There is one more reference in the NT that I want to notice:
Revelation 1:10–11 (NKJV) 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, 11 saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and, “What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.”
Here John refers to the Lord’s Day in which he received this vision which was the voice of the Lord instructing Him to write down the content which we know as the book of Revelation.
Now this ‘Lord’s Day’ could refer to the Day of the Lord, which Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Zephaniah, Zechariah, and Malachi spoke about. Paul and Peter also spoke about this day.
But the meaning that I think has the best support and biblical logic is to see the Lord’s Day as a reference to Sunday or the first day of the week.
Thomas notes that this view
agrees with the terminology of a number of Christian writings from the same general area of Asia Minor a short time after the writing of the Apocalypse there. “The Lord’s day” came to be the customary way of referring to Sunday by the end of the second century because it was the day of the week on which the Lord was raised from the dead (Swete; Lee; Charles). This understanding of the expression finds further confirmation in the similar expression κυριακὸν δεῖπνον (kyriakon deipnon, “the Lord’s supper”) (1 Cor. 11:20), which was customarily observed by the early church on the first day of the week (cf. Acts 20:7).[1]
He further notes:
Quite possibly, this is the first use of this name for Sunday in Christian history. If so, it began a habit picked up by other Christian writers shortly after John’s time.[2]
You will notice that in our bulletin each week, I refer next to each changing date that this is the Lord’s Day.
Now what we conclude based on what we have seen is that the references in the NT to the church meeting together on Sunday are descriptive rather than prescriptive. That is, we observe the church apparently meeting together on the first day of the week, not because of some command, but simply because they did.
Based on that observation, church history has basically told us that the most fitting time to meet together is Sunday. Why? Because our Savior was raised from the dead on that day.
Remember, Jesus is the head of the church, and it makes good sense to set this day aside as our day to worship the Lord.
It is interesting if you observe historical confessions of faith that you will see this day noted.
The Second Helvetic Confession (1566) refers notes that “in the ancient churches there were not only certain set hours in the week appointed for meetings, but that also the Lord’s Day itself, ever since the apostles’ time, was consecrated to religious exercises and to a holy rest; which also is now very well observed by our churches, for the worship of God and the increase of charity” (Leith 179-180).
The Westminster Confession of Faith (1646) [reformed/presbyterians] and the Baptist version, the Baptist Confession of Faith (1689) both refer to the day for religious worship to be the ‘Christian Sabbath’ as they acknowledge the shift from the last day of the week to the first day of the week, because of the resurrection of Jesus.
The New Hampshire Confession of Faith (1833), which is the template from which our church statement of faith was formed, refers also to the ‘Christian Sabbath’ as the Lord’s Day. It reads, “We believe that the first day of the week is the Lord’s Day, or Christian Sabbath; and is to be kept sacred to religious purposes, by abstaining from all secular labor and [sinful] recreations; by the devout observance of all the means of grace, both private and public; and by preparation for that rest which remaineth for the people of God.”
Our doctrinal statement, which we inherited from the Empire State Fellowship, renamed several years ago to the Northeast Fellowship of Independent Baptist Churches, does not contain this section about the Lord’s Day.
However, we do make a reference to this importance of the church in our church covenant, which reads:
We engage, therefore, by the aid of the Holy Spirit, to walk together in Christian love;
To strive for the advancement of this church in knowledge, holiness and comfort;
To promote its prosperity and spirituality;
To sustain its worship, ordinances, discipline, and doctrines;
To give it a sacred pre-eminence over all institutions of human origin
We recognize that among all the priorities and plans that we could have on our calendar, that the church should have a priority.
We do name Sunday later in our constitution:
Article VII. Meetings
Section 1. The Lord’s Day
The church shall meet regularly on each Lord’s Day for public worship. The Lord’s Supper shall be observed monthly.
This all may seem like a strange message to give on Easter, but my prayer as I prepared this was to encourage us to think more deeply about the resurrection of Jesus and let that impact our schedule and habits.
It is my prayer that the Lord’s Day be that special day which we anticipate and enjoy together as we worship our God.
The world around us is changing rapidly. If you have not noticed, false religions are taking root and growing. Even in our neighborhoods. And, sadly, attitudes are changing – even among so-called bible-believing Christians who now seem to be more eager to prioritize the world’s agenda rather than being an ambassador for Christ.
My heart sinks also when I see how my own heart at times be more causal with my faith in Christ and the practice than I should be.
Let me close with 2 points of application.
Application
1. If we are truly Christians, may Jesus Christ be the priority in every aspect of our lives.
Our faith in Jesus is not simply one of the details that we add to the life that we design and build.
Colossians 3:3–4 (NKJV) 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
Matthew 6:31–34 (NKJV) 31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
What Jesus ran into during His time was the religious leaders of the day who turned Sabbath observance into a hammer to pound people who did not comply. To ensure that Sabbath was enforced, the rules expanded to define it to the extreme and in the process the big picture was lost.
How could anyone think that Jesus helping someone in need on the Sabbath was somehow a violation of God’s law? Of course, if Jesus was no one special, then he was to be shut down, which is the context of the life of Christ.
Perhaps it is more so here in America than other places in the world, but our schedules are so full we are at times losing our minds and all of our physical strength. May God give us the wisdom and the desire to put Him first in our lives in all things.
A day of rest is truly a blessing that I pray you will come to see and embrace.
2. If Easter or Resurrection Day or the weekly Lord’s Day is not a day you normally celebrate, let me challenge you today to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Philippian jailer was about ready to upend himself, when Paul and Silas cried out and told him to refrain.
Acts 16:29–31 (NKJV) 29 Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
Believe. That’s it. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. Easter points to the resurrection of Jesus who died for our sins and was raised for our justification.
We are not saved by attending church services.
We are not saved by giving to the church.
We are not saved by working for the Lord in some way or being charitable.
We are only saved by faith.
John 3:16 (NKJV) 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
That is my prayer today.