I believe that Luke tells the story not because it is a description of the first Sunday service but rather because of what happened to poor Eutychus. Remember they brought him up dead. (Acts 20:9). What did Paul do? He brought him back to life again (20:10)!� In my opinion some have missed the real significance of this narrative. If the emphases of the story was a Sunday Lords Supper after midnight, then why didn�t Luke tell us that?
Bacchiocchi tell us in From Sabbath To Sunday that, �The simplest way to explain the passage is that Luke mentions the day of the meeting not because it was Sunday, but (1) because Paul was ready to depart� (20:7), (2) �because of the extraordinary experience and miracle of Eutychus,� and (3) �because it provides an additional significant chronological reference to describe the unfolding of Paul�s journey (pp. 111).�
The most common two reasons why Christians will say they worship on Sunday is because; (1) that is the day Christ rose from the grave, on Easter Sunday, and (2) He made most of his resurrection appearances on Sunday. I will deal with these one at a time.
Did Yeshua rise from the grave on Sunday? I say no, I believe he raised on Saturday the Sabbath. Mary came to the tomb early Sunday morning before the sun had come up John 20:1. If she had come before the sun had risen then how could Jesus have raised on Sunday morning. He was already gone. Christ said he would be in the grave 72 hours (the sign of Jonah three days and three nights) Matthew 12:40. 40. �For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth (The Bible).� So if he were already gone when Mary got there Sunday morning, and we go back 72 hours then it would have been Wednesday afternoon at three o�clock when he died Luke 23:44-46. 44. �It was about noon, but the whole area became dark until three o'clock in the afternoon.� 45. �There was no sun! The curtain hanging in the temple was torn right down the middle.� 46. �Jesus shouted, Father, I put my spirit into Your hands.� �After Jesus said this, he died (Simple English).�
Let�s re-iterate, Jesus died Wednesday at three, Luke say�s it was Friday, but that can�t be. If it was Friday Jesus could not have lain in the tomb for three days and nights. Friday afternoon to Saturday afternoon is 24 hours. Then from Saturday afternoon to Sunday afternoon is 48 hours. This would have had Jesus rising from the tomb on Monday afternoon just before dark. For the sake of argument let�s say that Luke is right. The Lord still could not have risen on Easter Sunday it would have been Monday afternoon. Luke 23:53-54. 54. �So Joseph took the body down from the cross and wrapped it in a sheet. Then he put Jesus' body into a cave which was cut out of rock. This tomb had never been used before.� 54. �This was late on a Friday afternoon. (When the sun went down, the Sabbath day would begin.) (Simple English).�
So let�s go back one more time. If Christ was buried late on Wednesday then from Wednesday to Thursday afternoon would be 24 hours. Then from Thursday to Friday afternoon would be 48 hours. Then from Friday to Saturday afternoon would have been 72 hours and the Sabbath. Christ would rise to fulfill the promise he made about Jonah. Mary could not have been there on the Sabbath as it was prohibited to walk on the Sabbath. Luke 23:55-56. 55. �The women who had come from Galilee with Jesus followed Joseph. They saw the tomb. Inside they saw where the body of Jesus was placed.� 56. �Then the women left to prepare some sweet-smelling things . They rested on the Sabbath day, according to command. (Simple English).� And we already know that the two Mary�s went to the tomb early Sunday morning. So if Christ was going to fulfill his own prophecy about the sign of Jonah he could not have risen on Sunday morning. (Background information from personal interview with Rabi Barns)
Now the last and final reason that people worship on Sunday is because Christ had his appearances on the first day of the week. This is true. Christ did return on the first day of the week. But was that for a different reason than to have men change the Sabbath to Sunday?
Leviticus 23:1:37 tells us all the Sabbaths that God said we are to observe. There are eight of them.
1) Sabbath, this is the weekly Sabbath we have been talking about.
2) Passover, this is a yearly feast. Christ became our Passover Lamb.
3) The Feast of Unleavened Bread
4) Firstfruits. This is the Firstfruits of the land. They are brought to the Temple in the spring and the Priest waves a sheaf offering of them. This
is always done after the weekly Sabbath. Christ rose on the Sabbath and appeared on Sunday to represent the Firstfruits sheaf offering.
5) Shavuot. It is also called Pentecost. It always comes on the first day of the week. You start counting on the Sabbath before Firstfruits and go
seven weeks. So seven weeks plus one day for the Sabbath makes the Pentecost, it equals 50 days. Pentecost means 50.
6) The Feast of Trumpets, when the dead in Christ will rise.
7) The Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur
8) Feast of Tabernacles, Sukkoth
�(Barnes, Thomas R. The Eight Feasts of God).�
So I believe that Christ made his appearance on the day after the Sabbath to represent Firstfruits. Mark 2:27-28. 27. �And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:� 28. �Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.� I believe that Christ came to save us therefore; the Sabbath was made for man. I believe his life is mirrored in the Sabbaths that Yahweh created. Therefore I believe that Christ is Lord of the Sabbath. And I believe that the Sabbath is Saturday.
