Upon The First Day of the Week

Chapel by Thomas Kinkade

American, 1958-2012

Some Facts about the First Day of the Week:

*Christ arose from the dead on the first day of the week.

*The first gospel sermon, recorded in Acts chapter 2 was preached on the first day of the week.

*The first conversions took place as a result of that sermon, on the first day of the week.

*The Lord's church, His kingdom, was established on the first day of the week. Acts 2.

*The disciples broke bread together on the first day of the week and celebrated the Lord's supper.

*The disciples were commanded to gather on the first day of the week to "lay by in store."

* Acts, chapter 20 records the apostle Paul having to wait until the first day of the week to meet with some of his fellow Christians.

Sunrise

by Thomas Kinkade

Between His resurrection and ascension, for forty days he appeared several times:

First,  to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary  - Matthew 28: 1-89.

The Way to Emmaus

by Robert Zund

from Allposters

Second, to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus - Luke 24:15

Third, to Simon Peter - Luke 24:34

Fourth, to ten of the apostles - Luke 24:36

The above four appearances took place on Sunday, the first day of the week,  the day of the resurrection.

Fifth, to the eleven disciples - John 20:26

Sixth, to the seven apostles in Galilee  - John 21:4

Seventh, to James - Ist Corinthians 15:7

Eighth, when they were assembled together and at Bethany when he ascended - Luke 24:50

Acts 20:7

And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.

1 Corinthians 16:2

Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.

After the resurrection, things changed for the believers. Jesus was the first to rise from the dead to live again, and He established his kingdom, which is his body of believers, who meet on the first day of the week to partake of the memorial he established on the night he was betrayed. He takes it with us, in that He is spiritually present. The last will and testament of Christ went into effect, and that will is the New Testament, which contains instructions on how to become a Christian and live the Christian life.  The curtain of the temple was torn, to symbolize the completion and fulfillment of the Old Law, which culminated in the sacrificing of the lamb of God, the purest lamb, for the removal of sins of all those who would obey and follow Him.

For further reading on the subject of the first day of the week, see more comments at the end of this post, and read carefully the time sequence recorded in Mark, chapters 15 and 16.



I've added "I Know That My Redeemer Liveth" from the second part of Handel's Messiah, to my playlist, but you can hear it right now by clicking on the video below. Most people are familiar with the Hallelujah  chorus, but there are many more pieces in this wonderful composition, which contains not one man-made word, but all from scripture.