Can We Know What Day is the Sabbath?

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Can We Know What Day is the Sabbath?

1) “The seventh day is the Sabbath.” Ex. 20:10

2) Jesus Christ knew: Jesus “went into the synagogue on the sabbath day.” Luke 4:16.

3) Ask any Jew: Jews have been keeping the same Sabbath from sundown Friday night to sundown Saturday night for over 3000 years.

4) The Calendar: The calendar changed once, in 1582, from the Julian Calendar to the Gregorian Calendar. Thursday, October 4, was followed by Friday, October 15. This change did not affect the weekly sequence. Most calendars still show Saturday as the seventh day.

5) 105 Languages: In over 100 languages the name for the day that we call “Saturday” is “the Sabbath.” For example, “Saturday” in the Spanish language is “Sabado,” which means “the Sabbath.” In Italian, it is “Sabbato,”which also means “the Sabbath.” In Russian it is, “Subbota.” In Polish, “Sobota” , etc. Interestingly enough, in Ghana the day for Sunday, literally translated, means “White man changed this day!”

6) Webster’s Dictionary: “Saturday: the 7th day of the week.” “Sunday: the first day of the week.”

7) The World Book Encyclopedia: “Sabbath … It comes on Saturday, the seventh day of the week.”

8) The biblical sequence of the crucifixion weekend: Jesus died on a day we call “Good Friday,” which was the day before the Sabbath. See Luke 23:46, 54. When the sun went down, the woman rested on “the Sabbath day according to the commandment.” Luke 23:56. Jesus rose on Sunday, “the first day of the week.” Luke 24:1, 6.

Would God say, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy,”
if it was impossible to discover which day we should remember?

Martin Luther

Thus we have the Ten Commandments, a compend of divine doctrine, as to what we are to do in order that our whole life may be pleasing to God… Therefore it is not in vain that it is commanded in the Old Testament to write the Ten Commandments on all walls and corners, yes, even on the garments, not for the sake of merely having them written in these places and making a show of them, as did the Jews, but that we might have our eyes constantly fixed upon them, and have them always in our memory, and that we might practice them in all our actions and ways, and every one make them his daily exercise in all cases, in every business and transaction, as though they were written in every place wherever he would look, yea, wherever he walks or stands. Thus there would be occasion enough, both at home in our own house and abroad with our neighbors, to practice the Ten 

John Wesley

The law of the ten commandments is a law of God's making; a law of his own speaking. God has many ways of speaking to the children of men by his spirit, conscience, providences; his voice in all which we ought carefully to attend to: but he never spake at any time upon any occasion so as he spake the ten commandments, which therefore we ought to hear with the more earnest heed.

The topic concerns ‘the Sabbath vs. Sunday’ issue, one of the most emotionally charged subjects now facing the Christian church. Our position is: We cannot trust the traditions of men, for this is not safe, nor in mere human opinions, for they often contradict each other. Instead – and we hope you feel the same way – we want to know what God’s Book actually says, and above all, what Jesus Christ Himself taught, for we accept His pure teaching as our final authority.

We recognize that true Christians exist within many dominations; both Sabbath-keeping and Sunday-keeping. It is not our desire to judge motives, or to decide destinies, but to candidly examine “What says the Lord?” about this vital subject. For the record, we fully accept Paul’s doctrine that “by grace are you saved, through faith: and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph. 2:8, 9). Yet in the very same book Paul also declared, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right: Honor your father and your mother… ” (Eph. 6:1, 2). Here Paul quoted the 5th commandment (see Ex. 20:12) and told Christian children to obey it. Inside The Sabbath Zone our focus is the 4th commandment, which states, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy” (Ex. 20:8). The key question is: Should Christians obey this commandment, too?

In the following posts*, we hope to prove from the Bible alone, buttressed by supporting quotations from recognized historical sources, that:

1. The Bible Sabbath is on Saturday , while Sunday is “the first day of the week” (Mat. 28:1; Mark 16:1, 2, etc).
2. The Sabbath is not Jewish, but belongs to God (Ex. 20:10).
3. Jesus Christ regularly kept the Sabbath (Luke 4:16), taught much about the Sabbath (Mat. 12:12; 24:20), and clearly stated that He is “Lord even of the Sabbath day” (Mat. 12:8).
4. Jesus Christ never mentioned “the first day of the week” even one time. He taught nothing about it.
5. The New Testament is silent about Sunday being set aside in honor of Jesus Christ’s resurrection.
6. The Sabbath continues after the cross (Luke 23:54-56) and was kept in the book of Acts by both Jews and Gentiles (Acts 13:42-44; 16:13).
7. There is no biblical authorization for the change of the Bible Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday.
8. Bible prophecy and history both testify that the Roman Catholic Church changed the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. Daniel 7:25.
9. God made the Sabbath at the beginning of the world (Gen. 2:1-3) before any Jews existed, to be a blessing to all people. Most importantly, it is a special sign that Jesus Christ is the true Creator of heaven and earth (see John 1:1-3, 10; Col. 1:16; Ex. 20:11; Ezekiel 20:12).
10. Rediscovering the Sabbath of Jesus Christ is part of Bible prophecy in the end times (closely compare Revelation 14:6, 7 with Ex. 20:11).

Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath

“For the Son of Man is Lordeven of the Sabbath day. ” Matthew 12:8. By identifying Himself as “Lord even of the Sabbath day,” Jesus of Nazareth was, in reality, revealing to His astonished hearers that He Himself was the One who originally made planet Earth in six days, and rested on the seventh day. The New Testament is very clear that Jesus Christ is not just our Savior, but is also our Creator.

Thus Jesus Christ is our Creator. The One who created, rested. Thus the Sabbath commandment, when correctly understood in the light of both the Old and New Testaments, points to Jesus Christ as the Maker of all life. The Good News is that our Creator has become our Savior. Our Maker died for us (see 1 Cor. 15:3)!

Sunday in the New Testament

The following is an exhaustive examination of every New Testament verse that mentions “the first day of the week [Sunday]”

1) Matthew 28: 1: “In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week.” Here two different days are mentioned. One is “the Sabbath,” and the other is “the first day of the week,” or Sunday, which followed the Sabbath. Jesus Christ rose from the dead on Sunday, but Matthew reveals that this did not transform Sunday into the Sabbath.

2) Mark 16:1.2: “When the Sabbath was past … very early in the morning the first day of the week.” The resurrection of Jesus on Sunday morning was glorious. Super-glorious! Yet there is no evidence that this made Sunday sacred. Did the cross make Friday sacred? As in Matthew 28:1, Sunday came “when the Sabbath was past,” that is, the day after the Sabbath.

3) Mark 16:9: “Jesus was risen early the first day of the week.” Sunday is simply called “the first day of the week.” The “week” began in Genesis. God made the world in six days, then He “rested on the seventh day … blessed the seventh day and sanctified it.” Genesis 2:2, 3. God ordained “the seventh day” as His Holy Day, not “the first day of the week.

4) Luke 24: 1: The women went to the tomb on “the first day of the week” after “they rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment.” Luke 23:56. This verse is enlightening. These were Christian women who loved Jesus. They kept the Sabbath after the cross . Luke was a Gentile who wrote this about 28 years after the resurrection. Again, as Luke states, the Sabbath was still there, and these Christian women were keeping it “according to the commandment” found in Exodus 20:8-11. These verses prove that the Sabbath continues after the cross, and that the Sabbath is not Sunday.

5) John 20:1: Mary came to the tomb on “the first day of the week.” As in Matthew, Mark and Luke, John simply gives a narrative account of the resurrection of our Lord on Sunday.

6) John 20:19: On the first day of the week” (late Sunday afternoon), the disciples “were assembled” behind shut doors. Why? “For fear of the Jews.” This was not a worship service. They were scared. They had not believed the reports from the women that Jesus had risen. Mark 16:9-13. They were worried that the Jewish authorities might burst in, accuse them of stealing their Lord’s body, and then arrest them. Then Jesus revealed Himself as the risen Lord. Yet in His teaching, He did not mentioned Sunday.

7) 1 Corinthians 16:2: “Concerning the collection for the saints” (vs. 1). The context and other Scriptures reveal that Paul was raising a “collection” for needy believers in “Jerusalem” (vs. 3) during a time of famine. See Acts 11:27-30; Romans 15:25, 26. Notice carefully: On “the first day of the week” (Sunday), “let every one” (individually), “lay by him” (the original Greek literally means, “at home”), “in store” (in storage), a certain amount. The words, “by him in store,” reveal that this was to be done by the believers in their homes. The “first day of the week” was ideal for the Corinthians to look back on the previous week, examine their finances, and set aside a weekly contribution. This would then be gathered and made ready for Paul, “that there be no gatherings when I come.” Paul was going to pass through Corinth. He wanted the money ready for him to pick up. This was an emergency situation and not their regular practice, for Paul had to give them “orders” to do what they were not normally used to doing (vs. 1). Paul said nothing here about a church service or the resurrection.

8) Acts 20:6-13: This passage is often misused to support Sunday observance, but it doesn’t. This was Paul’s last meeting with a small group of believers in “Troas” (verse 6). The meeting took place at night (20:7, 8) on the “first day of the week.” Biblically, the day begins at sunset. Genesis 1.5, 8; Luke 23:54, etc. Therefore this meeting took place on a Saturday night. The New English Bible says, “On Saturday night.” That night Paul preached his farewell sermon, “ready to depart the next day [on Sunday morning].” At “daybreak” (verse 11), while Luke “sailed” (verse 15), Paul walked 25 miles “to Assos” (verse 14). Thus Paul traveled many miles that Sunday. He had been in Troas for “seven days” (vs. 6). Simple math reveals that Paul arrived on the previous Sunday, stayed for a week, and conducted his last meeting on Saturday night, which would have been right after the Sabbath. Significantly, the Book of Acts mentions “the first day of the week” only once (in Acts 20:7), yet “the Sabbath” is mentioned 11 times (see Acts 1:12; 13:14, 27, 42, 44; 15:21; 16:13; 17:2; 18:4). A careful study of Acts 20:6-13, the “Saturday Night in Troas, Sunday Travel to Assos Text” is proof that Paul did not keep Sunday holy.

Summarizing the New Testament Evidence

1. Sunday is simply called, “the first day of the week” in the New Testament.
2. Jesus Christ Himself never mentioned Sunday, not even one time!
3. Not once is Sunday set aside as a holy day in honor of the resurrection.
4. In Matthew, Mark and Luke, Sunday always comes “after the Sabbath.”
5. The Holy Spirit only teaches what Jesus Christ taught. John 14:26; 16:13, 14. Because Jesus never mentioned Sunday, the Holy Spirit will not teach it.
6. After His resurrection, Jesus told His disciples to teach only what He had “commanded” them. Matthew 28:20. Because Jesus never mentioned Sunday, the apostles could not have taught it.
7. Sunday cannot be part of the New Covenant because it began after Jesus Christ’s blood was shed.After death, it is impossible to “add” to a covenant. Gal. 3:15.

Ten Reasons Why the Sabbath is Not Jewish

1) Adam and Eve were not Jewish. “God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it” (Genesis 2:3) before sin entered. “Sanctified” means “to be set apart for holy use.” The only ones in the Garden of Eden for whom the Sabbath was “set apart” were Adam and Eve, who weren’t Jewish.

2) “The Sabbath was made for man.” Mark 2:27. Jesus said this. It was “made” in the Garden of Eden before it was “written” down on Mount Sinai. The Sabbath was “made” for “man,” not just Jews.

3) The other nine commandments are not “just for Jews.” God wrote “Ten Commandments” on stone, not just nine (See Deut. 4:12, 13; Ex. 20). Does “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” and “Do not bear false witness” apply only to Jews?

4) “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” Exodus 20:10. God calls the Sabbath, “my holy day.” Isaiah 58:13. The Bible never calls it “the Sabbath of the Jews.” It isn’t their Sabbath, but God’s.

5) The Sabbath commandment is for the “stranger” too. The fourth commandment itself says the “stranger” is to rest on the Sabbath. Exodus 20:10. “Strangers” are non-Jews, or Gentiles. Thus the Sabbath applies to them too. Read also Isaiah 56:6.

6) Isaiah said Gentiles should keep the Sabbath. “Also the sons of the stranger … every one that keeps the Sabbath … for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people .” Isaiah 56:6, 7. Thus the Sabbath is for Gentiles and “all people,” not just for Jews.

7) “All” mankind will keep the Sabbath in the New Earth. In “the new earth … from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, says the Lord.” Isaiah 66:22, 23. Here God says that “all flesh” we will be keeping the Sabbath in “the new earth.” If this is the case – and it is – shouldn’t we start now?

8) Gentiles kept the Sabbath in the Book of Acts. “The Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath … Paul and Barnabas … persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.”‘ Acts 13:42, 43. Here saved-by-grace Gentiles kept the Sabbath (see also verse 44).

9) “The law” [of Ten Commandments] is for “all the world,” not just for Jews. Paul wrote these words. Read Romans 2:17-23; 3:19, 23.

10) Luke was a Gentile who kept the Sabbath. Luke was the only Gentile who wrote any New Testament books (he wrote The Gospel According to St. Luke and The Acts of the Apostles). Luke traveled with Paul and wrote, “On the Sabbath we went out of the city by a river side.” Acts 16:13. It was the seventh-day Sabbath, the memorial of the creation (see Ex. 20:11). Both Luke and Paul knew it.

The Sabbath Controversy in the New Testament

Between Christ and the Pharisees: The Sabbath became a sore point of contention between Jesus Christ and the Pharisees; yet the issue was not what day is the Sabbath, but rather how it should be kept. The scribes and Pharisees invented many heavy and burdensome religious rules, including strict Sabbath requirements, and laid them “on men’s shoulders” (Matthew 23:4). Jesus rebuked them for “teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” Matthew 15:9.

Jesus kept the Sabbath (see Luke 4:16), but He did not follow the unreasonable rules of the Pharisees. One Pharisaic rule was: “No healing on the Sabbath.” Jesus ignored this heartless “rule” by healing the sick during the Sabbath hours (see John 5:1-9; Mark 1:21-27; etc). By so doing, our Lord revealed His Divinity, His power over sickness and Satan, and that the Sabbath was originally ordained by God to be a blessing to man, not a curse. In one instance, “the ruler of the synagogue” became angry “because Jesus healed [a woman] on the Sabbath day.” Luke 13:14. Jesus countered, “Ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?” Luke 13:16. Because of His Sabbath healings, “Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only broke the Sabbath, but also said God was his Father, making himself equal with God.” John 5:18. First, Jesus is “equal with God” (see Phil. 2:6), thus this was no valid reason to seek His death; and second, Jesus never “broke the Sabbath” (see John 15:10), but only the Pharisees’ rules.If Jesus really “broke the Sabbath,” He would have sinned, and thus His sacrifice on the cross would not have been perfect. But Jesus “committed no sin” (see 1 Peter 2:22).

When Christ’s disciples plucked and nibbled grain while walking to a synagogue one Sabbath morning, the Pharisees accused them of doing “that which is not lawful to do on the Sabbath day.” Mat. 12:1. But Jesus defended His disciples, pronounced them “guiltless,” and defined their acts as “lawful … on the Sabbath” (Mat. 12:7, 12); that is, in harmony with the fourth commandment. Another time Christ declared, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath: Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath day.” Mark 2:27, 28. Here Jesus pointed back to Creation Week. Man was made on the sixth day (see Gen. 1:26, 31), and “the Sabbath was made” on “the seventh day” to be a blessing to man. Gen. 2:1?3. Those Pharisees had changed creation’s order by putting the Sabbath first above the needs of man. (Is it right to change the order again by making the “first day of the week” a new Sabbath?). Jesus then said He was ” Lord also of the Sabbath day .” This means that He is the true “Lord” who made the world in six days and rested on the seventh day (see Ex. 20:11). Thus the Sabbath is, biblically speaking, “the Lord’s day.” See Revelation 1:10. Jesus made the day, and He knows how to keep it. It was not wrong for Him to heal the sick and to meet human needs on His Holy Day.

In the New Testament Church: The Sabbath was a non-issue in the New Testament Church. There was no controversy over it in the book of Acts or in any of the epistles. If the weekly Sabbath, observed for over 1000 years by Jews, had been changed or abolished, there would have been much discussion about this by the New Testament Church. But there was none. The early Christians kept the Sabbath. Acts 13:12, 42-44; 16:13; etc. (see our “Sabbath Facts in the Book of Acts” article).

For more information, read Truth Left Behind by Steve Wohlberg, Sunday: The Origin of Its Observance in the Christian Church, by E.J. Wagonner, or watch the fascinating 5-part TV documentary, The Seventh-day: Revelations from the Lost Pages of History, produced by LLT Productions. All three are now available from 

Roman Catholics Testify

Question: Which is the Sabbath day?
Answer: Saturday is the Sabbath day.

Question: Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?
Answer: We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday.” Rev. Peter Geiermann C.S.S.R., The Convert’s Catechism of Catholic Doctrine, p. 50 (1946).

“But since Saturday, not Sunday, is specified in the Bible, isn’t it curious that non?Catholics who profess to take their religion directly from the Bible and not from the Church, observe Sunday instead of Saturday? Yes, of course, it is inconsistent; but this change was made about fifteen centuries before Protestantism was born, and by that time the custom was universally observed. They have continued the custom, even though it rests upon the authority of the Catholic Church and not upon an explicit text in the Bible. The observance remains as a reminder of the Mother Church from which the non-Catholic sects broke away–like a boy running away from home but still carrying in his pocket a picture of his mother or a locket of her hair.” The Faith of Millions: The Credentials of the Catholic Religion, by Rev. John O’ Brien, Ph.D., p. 473.

”The [Roman Catholic] Church changed the observance of the Sabbath to Sunday by right of the divine, infallible authority given to her by her founder, Jesus Christ. The Protestant claiming the Bible to be the only guide of faith, has no warrant for observing Sunday.” The Catholic Universe Bulletin ,August 14, 1942, p. 4.

“The observance of Sunday by the Protestants is homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the [Roman Catholic] Church.” Monsignor Louis Segur, Plain Talk about the Protestantism of Today, p. 213.

”I have repeatedly offered $1,000 to anyone who can prove to me from the Bible alone that I am bound to keep Sunday holy. There is no such law in the Bible. It is a law of the holy Catholic Church alone. The Bible says ‘Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.’ The Catholic Church says, No. By my divine power I abolish the Sabbath day and command you to keep holy the first day of the week. And lo! The entire civilized world bows down in reverent obedience to the command of the Holy Catholic Church.” Priest Thomas Enright, C.S.S.R., February 18, 1884

“Sunday is a Catholic institution, and… can be defended only on Catholic principles… From beginning to end of Scripture there is not a single passage that warrants the transfer of weekly public worship from the last day of the week to the first.” Catholic Press , Aug. 25, 1900

“The Sabbath was Saturday, not Sunday. The Church altered the observance of the Sabbath to the observance of Sunday. Protestants must be rather puzzled by the keeping of Sunday when God distinctly said, ‘Keep holy the Sabbath Day.’ The word Sunday does not come anywhere in the Bible, so, without knowing it they are obeying the authority of the Catholic Church.” Canon Cafferata, The Catechism Explained, p. 89.

”Reason and sense demand the acceptance of one or the other of these alternatives: either Protestantism and the keeping holy of Saturday, or Catholicity and the keeping holy of Sunday. Compromise is impossible.” John Cardinal Gibbons, The Catholic Mirror, December 23, 1893.

“Christians are ‘saved by grace?’ So why keep the Sabbath?”:

Yes, undoubtedly, Christians are “saved by grace.” Ephesians 2:8. But it is vital to inquire, saved from what? Here’s the answer: Jesus Christ came to our dark world to “save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21. That was His mission. Next question: What is sin? Here’s the answer: “Sin is the transgression of the law.” l John 3:4. Next question: What law? Here’s the answer: Paul wrote, “I had not known sin , but by the law .” Then he quoted the tenth commandment, “You shall not covet.” Romans 7:7. Thus, according to Paul, it is the law of Ten Commandments that reveals sin to us. The Good News is that Jesus Christ “died for our sins, according to the Scriptures” (see 1 Cor. 15:3), which would include breaking the Sabbath commandment too . Ever since the days of Adam and Eve, humanity has strayed from its Creator. All have sinned” and are “guilty before God” for breaking His law. Romans 3:23, 19. Once guilty, we cannot be saved or “justified” (made right with God) by keeping the law (Romans 3:20), but only through faith in Jesus Christ our Savior (Romans 3:21-28). If we confess our sins, God promises to forgive us (1 John 1:9). Then Jesus says, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” John 14:15. Which ones? Here’s the answer: By comparing John 14:15 with Exodus 20:6, we discover that Jesus was quoting the second commandment. Thus the Ten Commandments are Jesus Christ’s commandments (along with all of His teachings), for Jesus Christ is God (see John 1:1-3; read carefully also Matthew 5:17-19). If we love our Savior, we will want to obey His commandments, not to be saved, but because we are saved by His love and grace.

“Are all ‘Sunday-keepers’ lost?”:

Obviously not.Throughout history millions of Spirit-filled Christians have not understood the Sabbath commandment and have kept Sunday. It is the same today. Yet listen to God’s Word: During “the times of this ignorance God winked; but now He commands all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30). When further light comes, God wants us to follow it. In “the time of the end … knowledge shall increase.” Daniel 12:4. Knowledge is now increasing on the Sabbath subject. You may not be aware of the trend, but around the world ministers and Christians of many denominations are studying and accepting the truth about the Sabbath of Jesus Christ.

“Is God so particular?”:

Ask Adam and Eve. One bite plunged our entire world into chaos and led to the death of Jesus Christ. The Sabbath day is very important to God. See Ezekiel 22:26; Jeremiah 17:19?27; Isaiah 58:13. The Bible says that breaking God’s Law is sin (see 1 John 3:4), and that sin is what caused Jesus Christ to die on Calvary (see 1 Cor. 15:3).

“Shouldn’t we worship God every day?”:

Of course, but only “the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord.” Exodus 20:10. The Sabbath is the only day that God rested on, blessed, and sanctified. See Gen. 2:1-3.

“How can so many ‘good people’ be wrong?”:

Eve was not only a good person, but she was a perfect person, yet she was wrong when she obeyed the serpent (see Gen. 3:1-6). Only eight people entered Noah’s ark, which teaches us that majority opinion should not be our guide. See Matthew 7:13, 14. Jesus told a group of religious leaders that they were “making the word of God of none effect” by their “tradition.” Mark 7:13. If this happened to religious leaders in Christ’s day, it can happen today. Many “good people” have never really studied this subject carefully.

Vedion on Sabbath  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KPEtAVzxws