For many believers, especially those new to Christian history, it can feel confusing that the Bible speaks clearly of the seventh-day Sabbath (Saturday), yet most Christians today gather on Sunday. How did this happen? Is it biblical? Is it good? And why do some scholars say the shift to Sunday carries a subtle antisemitic message within Christian history?
To answer these questions, we need to look at both Scripture and history—and to speak honestly about the blessings and the problems that came with the change.
The Biblical Sabbath: A Gift on the Seventh Day
In the Bible, the Sabbath is Saturday, the seventh day. This begins in Genesis, where God rests on the seventh day to bless and complete creation (Genesis 2:2–3). Later, the fourth commandment instructs Israel to rest on the seventh day as a sign of freedom and belonging to God (Exodus 20:8–11).
For Jews, the Sabbath has always been a sacred gift—a weekly reminder that life is not defined by work, production, or performance. You rest not because you earned rest, but because you belong to God.
Jesus Himself kept the Sabbath as a Jew (Luke 4:16), and the earliest followers of Yeshua continued meeting in synagogues on Saturdays (Acts 13:14; 17:2), not Sundays.
So Why Do Christians Worship on Sunday?
The simple answer: because of the resurrection.
According to the New Testament, Jesus rose from the dead “early on the first day of the week” (Mark 16:9). Early Christian communities began gathering on that day to celebrate the resurrection, calling it “the Lord’s Day” (Revelation 1:10).
But it is important to understand something:
The earliest Christians kept both days.
They continued honoring the seventh-day Sabbath as Jewish Scripture commanded while also gathering on Sunday to celebrate the resurrection. The two practices existed side by side for centuries.
The shift from Sabbath to Sunday as the Christian day of rest was not made by the apostles, nor by the New Testament. It was made by the Roman Empire.
Constantine and the Year 321: When Sunday Became Law
In the year 321 CE, the Roman Emperor Constantine, known to be an anti-Semite, issued a civil law declaring Sunday the official day of rest across the empire. The exact wording states:
“On the venerable Day of the Sun, let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed.”
(Codex Justinianus 3.12.2)
Several important points:
- Before this law, Rome had no weekly day of rest.
The Roman calendar had months and years but no seven-day rhythm like Judaism did. Constantine’s decree introduced the week itself as a formal unit of time. - Constantine did not call it “the Lord’s Day” (Dies Domini).
He used the pagan name Dies Solis — “The Day of the Sun.”
This reflected Roman pagan sun symbolism. - The decree came from politics, not Scripture.
Constantine wanted unity across his empire. A shared rest-day helped create that unity.
This law did not erase the Jewish Sabbath—but it gently pushed Christians toward Sunday as their identity marker.
The Positive Side
For Christians, Sunday worship carries real theological beauty as it sets a weekly day of rest. Sunday gatherings also became a central way early Christians expressed their identity as followers of the risen Messiah. This is the positive side: Sunday became a symbol of joy and new beginnings.
The Negative Side
However, we must also speak honestly. The move from Saturday to Sunday became tied to something darker: It caused Christians to distance themselves from Jews. Emperor Constantine said, “Let us then have nothing in common with the detestable Jewish crowd; for we have received from our Savior a different way.”1
By the second and third centuries, some church leaders wanted to separate Christianity from Judaism further. A growing attitude in the Roman world saw Jews as cursed and rejected by God. To “prove” Christianity was different, Sunday became a boundary marker.
Some early Christian writings openly criticized Sabbath-keeping simply because Jews kept it. By the time of Constantine, anti-Jewish attitudes were common, and Sunday laws were part of a broader effort to create a non-Jewish Christian identity.
So What Should Christians Do Today?
A healthy approach is simple and humble:
- Honor Sunday as the day of resurrection—a joyful Christian tradition.
- Respect Saturday as the biblical Sabbath—a gift God gave to Israel and never took back.
- Acknowledge the Jewish roots of the Christian faith instead of erasing them.
- Reject all forms of antisemitism.
Christians do not need to become Jews. But Christians should understand that their faith is built on Jewish soil.
- Vita Constantine 3.18, http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/25023.html. ↩︎
