The First Day of the Week

Have you ever noticed that every great event connected with the founding of the Christian Church took place on the first day of the week?

In Lewis Sperry Chafer’s book entitled Grace, he talks about eleven events that took place on the first day of the week.[i]  Those eleven events can be summarized as follows:[ii]

1. The first and most obvious, Jesus arose from the dead on Easter Sunday, and that became the basis of the Church’s faith and practice.

2. Jesus ascended into heaven for the first time on that first Easter Sunday.. Mary

Magdalene was there in the garden. She had sought to hold Him and Jesus said, “Don’t hold me now because I’m not yet ascended to my Father. But I’m ascending to Him; in the meantime, you run and tell His disciples that I’m risen from the dead.” (John 20)

3. He appeared to the disciples for the first time on that first Easter Sunday and bequeathed to them His great benefit of peace. “Peace I leave with you,” He said. He gave them all of those blessings. They weren’t at peace. They were troubled men. They weren’t rejoicing. They were bothered and were filled with fear. He bestowed peace and gave them a cause of rejoicing. (John 14)

4. Jesus broke bread with His disciples on the first day of the week. It happened twice—once on the way to Emmaus where He met with the Emmaus disciples and was recognized by them with the breaking of the bread; and again that same evening back in Jerusalem as He met with the disciples. (Luke 24)

5. On the first day of the week Jesus opened the understanding of the disciples to know what the Scriptures taught concerning Him. We see this on the road to Emmaus. Jesus took them to the pages of the Word of God, to the Old Testament, and began to show how it was necessary that Christ should suffer all of these things and enter into His glory. (Luke 24)

6. On the first day of the week, Jesus commissioned His disciples to the task of world evangelism. He said, “As the Father has sent me, even so send I you.” In Luke He says, “You are witnesses of these things.” (John 20)

7. On the first day of the week, Jesus breathed on the disciples, imparting to them the Holy Spirit. (John 20)

8. On the first day of the week, seven weeks after the resurrection, at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended from heaven and began His ministry for the entire age of the Christian Church. (Acts 2)

9. On the first day of the week, the Holy Spirit directed Paul to gather the believers together and preach to them (Acts 20).

10. The first day of the week was established by Paul as the day on which each believer was to lay aside as God has prospered him. That is, they were to take up offerings for the support of the ministry and the expansion of the Gospel. (1 Cor 12)

11. Finally, on the first day of the week the Lord Jesus Christ appeared to the apostle John on the island of Patmos and revealed to John His heavenly glory. This revelation outlined Christ’s plans concerning the future, the Church age, and the details of His second coming. (Revelation 1)

[i] Lewis Sperry Chafer, Grace (Chicago, IL: The Bible Institute Colportage Association, 1939), 272-276.

[ii]Think & Act Biblically Devotional series “Until the Third Day” by James Montgomery Boice