The answer
Yes. Saturday used to be the day of worship and rest in the Old Testament, i.e. before the coming of the Master Christ. The Hebrew word “sabbath” itself means “rest”39 (Exod. 20:8-11), and that is why the keeping of the Sabbath, to the Jews, was part of the Mosaic Law, and whoever kept the Sabbath was obliged to keep the whole Law.
After the coming of the Master Christ, the Christians were not bound to keep the Sabbath, because salvation is through Christ, and not by the keeping of the Law. So, Sunday became the Day of the Lord for a number of reasons:
- A. The Glorious Resurrection of the Christ was on Sunday (1 Cor. 15:4).
- B. The Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples was on Sunday (Acts 2:4).
- C. Sunday was the day of the Lord’s Supper since the foundation of the Church (Acts 20:7).
- D. Sunday was the day to collect the Church’s offerings since the foundation of the Church (1 Cor. 16:2).
- E. Sunday is referred to in Holy Scripture as the Day of the Lord (Rev. 1:10).
- F. The Early Church and Her Fathers kept this Tradition very clearly.
His Holiness Pope Tawadros II
Notes
39 Translator’s note: shabath, v.: to rest, to keep as a day of rest; to cease, to desist, leave off (cf. Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon.).
Pope Tawadros II, My Faith: A Series of Dialogues on the Creed (Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate, 2014), 105–106.
The pages in the book (105–106)
