THE FISRT DAY OF THE WEEK, SUNDAY

TNDL: "WHAT IF CHRIST WAS NOT RISEN FROM THE DEAD, WOULD THERE BE ANY CHRISTIAN CHURCH OR FOLLOWERS IN THE NATIONS OF THE EARTH TODAY?
WHY WAS THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK, SUNDAY, SO SIGNIFICANT TO THE EARLY CHURCH OF THE RISEN LORD, YESHUA OF NAZARETH?"
Old Testament Laws: The Origins of Sunday Worship in the Early Church
Introduction
This article examines the evidence that some Christian communities began meeting on the first day of the week after Jesus’ resurrection as worship shifted from the seventh day to the first day of the week. We begin with a discussion of the main groups that made up first century Christianity: Jewish Christians from Judea and Galilee, the Hellenistic Jewish Christians represented by Stephen, and the Pauline churches. We will then look at references Paul made to the sabbath and Sunday worship. Then we will look at how the Gospel writers (including Luke-Acts) referred to the sabbath and the first day of the week. The recurring charge we will see against Jesus is breaking the sabbath. Next, we will move on to post-apostolic writings into the second century to look at the shift from worship on the sabbath to worship
on Sunday.
The early Christian communities
The apostolic faith took on many forms of expression in the first decades of its life as it responded to cultural, social, political and religious pressures.1 We see in Luke’s writing of Acts that the first Christians were Jews, and the earliest church is classifiable as a messianic sect within Judaism. The disciples are frequently found in the temple (Acts 2:46; 3:1-3; 5:21, 25, 42), and since they were held in high regard by the people (Acts 2:47; 5:13), it can be assumed that they continued to observe the law, circumcision, sabbath worship and the food laws.2
Those who met in Jerusalem for Pentecost were Jews and proselytes (Acts 2:10). Those Jews and proselytes who became believers were firmly attached to the temple, attending the daily hours of prayer (Acts 2:46; 3:1). Luke’s account of the earliest period of the life of the new community ends with them not having stirred from Jerusalem and still largely focused on the temple (Acts 5:42).
In Acts 21:20 the Jewish Christian members, led by James, tell Paul: “You see, brother, how many thousands of believers there are among the Jews, and they are all zealous for the law.” Paul’s act of fulfilling the vow in the temple shows the continuing role of the temple in the lives of the conservative Jerusalem Christians.
However, Jewish Christianity was anything but a single, unified phenomenon. It was present in many locations throughout the Mediterranean world, and expressed itself in orthodox and heretical forms.
Following are other examples of Jewish Christianity.
The Judean Christian community in James
Paul calls James one of the pillars of the Jerusalem church (Gal. 2:9), and he notes that “certain people came from James,” by their continued observance of circumcision and ritual purity, undermined the gospel of his Gentile mission in Antioch (Gal. 2:11-15).3 Acts does not record that any of the Jerusalem church came to help Paul when he was arrested.
James and the elders gave this description of Jewish Christians: “how many thousands of believers there are among the Jews, and they are all zealous for the law” (Acts 21:20).
Hellenistic-Jewish community (Stephen’s circle and Antioch)
When Stephen, a Hellenist, came on the scene in Acts 6:1-5, the church began to broaden while still within the confines of Judaism. Stephen was accused by what are referred to as “false witnesses” of speaking against the temple and the law (Acts 6:13). The speech Luke records in Acts 7 shows that this accusation was not entirely untrue. Stephen castigated the ancestors for not obeying Moses (7:39), a charge that they had leveled against him (6:11). Stephen said that the temple had limited importance and that “the Most High does not dwell in houses made with human hands” (Acts 7:48).
Stephen’s speech led to his martyrdom and ignited the first persecution of the church, of Jews by Jews. That the twelve apostles were able to remain in Jerusalem while the Hellenist members were forced to flee indicates that the persecution was not directed at the apostles, probably because they dissociated themselves from the views of the Hellenistic Jewish Christians.4 As the persecuted Christians fled Jerusalem, they preached the gospel (8:4, 11:19-20), eventually reaching Antioch, the church that launched the Pauline mission to the gentiles (Acts 13:1-3).
When the church remained in the confines of Judaism, we see no evidence in Acts of sabbath controversies. It is assumed that Jewish Christians kept the sabbath. However, as the church moved out of the confines of Jerusalem and into Gentile areas, the sabbath became a matter of concern, as noted by references made by Paul in his writings.
Part I: Pauline churches—conflicts concerning the sabbath and
Judaizers
We will now look at several places in which Paul discussed the sabbath and Jewish holy days.