1 The day after the Sabbath day was the first day of the week. At dawn on the first day, Mary Magdalene and another woman named Mary went to look at the tomb.
2 At that time there was a strong earthquake. An angel of the Lord came down from heaven, went to the tomb, and rolled the stone away from the entrance. Then he sat on the stone. 3 He was shining as bright as lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The soldiers guarding the tomb shook with fear because of the angel, and they became like dead men.
5 The angel said to the women, “Don’t be afraid. I know that you are looking for Jesus, who has been crucified. 6 He is not here. He has risen from the dead as he said he would. Come and see the place where his body was. 7 And go quickly and tell his followers, ‘Jesus has risen from the dead. He is going into Galilee ahead of you, and you will see him there.’” Then the angel said, “Now I have told you.”
8 The women left the tomb quickly. They were afraid, but they were also very happy. They ran to tell Jesus’ followers what had happened. 9 Suddenly, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings.” The women came up to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Go and tell my followers to go on to Galilee, and they will see me there.”
Read Matthew 28:1-10 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
If you have ever wondered what day of the week the Sabbath was in the Bible, you don’t need to look any further than the resurrection story to find your answer. Aside from Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, nothing stands out clearer and more in unison among the four gospel writers than this.
But before we get to that, the roots of the Sabbath travel all the way back to creation. Some people believe that since we have no idea what day of creation week corresponds to what day of the current day of the week, any day can be celebrated as the Sabbath (i.e. the seventh day of creation that God set apart as holy in His perfect world before sin). While the creation record in Genesis does not call the seventh-day “the Sabbath”, it still marks it as significant and set apart as holy.
While any day can be celebrated and worshiped on, there are some simple clues in the Bible that lead us straight to the identity of this special day of the week.
Most people believe that the first mention of the Sabbath by name (i.e. the seventh day of the week) is in the Ten Commandments, but this is not the case. While the Israelites are traveling to Mount Sinai, and they are grumbling about not having any food, God sends them a substance called manna from heaven. Exodus 16 describes this event, and notes that God Himself marks the Sabbath day by not sending any food on it. The people were to gather twice as much on the sixth day. Several chapters later, in Exodus 20, when God gives Moses the Ten Commandments, He links the Sabbath day of rest as a memorial of creation.
From that point forward, the Sabbath day was known, and the Jewish nation has kept a record of where it lands ever since.
Each gospel writer confirms the date of the Sabbath in their Resurrection event. Matthew 28 opens by saying, “The day after the Sabbath day was the first day of the week…”; Mark 16 opens by saying, “The day after the Sabbath day…”; Luke 24 opens by saying, “Very early on the first day of the week…”; and John 20 opens by saying, “Early on the first day of the week…”.
In order to identify the Sabbath today, all we need to do is look at what day we celebrate the resurrection. Regardless of any calendar adaptations that have happened since the first century, Christians almost unanimously hold the belief that Jesus was resurrected early Sunday morning, and this makes the biblical Sabbath Saturday.
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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