Why Christians Worship on Sundays

Easter Sunday is known throughout the Christian world, if not beyond, as the day Christ rose from the dead. Jesus, who suffered and died, was buried on a Friday behind a massive rock guarded by Roman soldiers; was alive again on Sunday! When Mary Magdalene, in her excitement upon recognizing Jesus, tried to squeeze Him to death, He told her He had "not yet gone to His Father." So she ran and told the apostles that she had "seen the Lord." Being just a woman, they of course, didn't believe her and went off to see for themselves, John eagerly rushing on but politely waiting for the older and heavier Peter to enter the tomb first. Then they too excitedly reported back to the rest that our Lord has indeed risen!

Only then did the Apostles remember that Jesus had told them Himself, in the language of a parable, that He would destroy the temple and rebuild it on the third day. Only then did the Apostles realize that everything that Jesus said was true.

For the entire Sabbath after His death, the Apostles and His mother had been in mourning. Imagine the discouragement, the shattered dreams.

The Lord is risen! Such glorious news! Who could not remember and celebrate something so profound, something unheard of? Jesus had raised the dead while he was alive, but to raise Himself? Even more stunning!

The Resurrection was such a stupendous event and had such an impact upon the lives of all who knew Jesus, that celebrating and commemorating His Resurrection on Sundays was almost a foregone conclusion.

From the earliest days of the Christian Church, even before they were known as Christians, Christians have commemorated the resurrection of Jesus on Sunday.

Early Christians were devout Jews. As practicing Jews, they attended Synagogue on the Sabbath, following all Sabbath regulations. They met Sunday evenings to share stories about Jesus, to remember what He had told them and the things He had done, and to hold an evening supper of "breaking bread" just as Jesus had asked them to do at the Last Supper. . No matter where the earliest Apostles went in the world, evangelizing and bringing the Good Word to Diaspora Jews and Gentiles alike, they would worship in the Synagogue on Saturdays and hold remembrance services on Sunday

When non-believing Jews made Christian Jews unwelcome in Synagogues, the early Christian Jews continued to meet on Sundays, in private homes called house churches, to re-enact the Last Supper. These Sunday evening services incorporated Sabbath synagogue services by reading passages from the Torah, then talking about Jesus, His messages and His works and showing how His life reflected the writings of the Hebrew Bible. This "Liturgy of the Word" was always followed by the ritual of "breaking bread" and drinking from the shared "cup of wine" or the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

In the early days of the Church, the Gospels had not yet been written. The only "written" Bible was the Torah.

As more and more non-Jews became Christian converts, the early Church had to come to many decisions about which of the Jewish laws and practices were to be incorporated into the new church. In the beginning, the arguments raged over whether Christians must first become Jews (be circumcised) before they could become Christians. The early Church eventually reached the decision that Christians did not have to be Jews first in order to become Christians.

From this foundational decision came the concomitant decision that Christians did not have to follow all the rules and mandates of the Hebrew law (including the dietary laws). Circumcision was no longer required prior to a valid baptism into the Church. Church leaders did not have to sacrifice live animals to have a valid service of worship. Instead, the "breaking of bread and drinking of wine" in commemoration of Jesus passion and death became a "ritual sacrifice." How, where and when to conduct worship services, was another major decision.

The earliest believing Jews, the earliest Christians, celebrated Jesus life, death and resurrection on Sunday. That practice has continued to this day.