Pope Francis, in Campobasso-Italy, grieved over abandoning the traditionally Christian practice of observing Sundays.
He said, that while poor people need jobs to have dignity, opening stores and other businesses on Sundays as a way to create jobs wasn’t beneficial for society.
Pope Francis added, the priority should be “not economic but human”. He continued: ‘’Maybe it’s time to ask ourselves if working on Sundays is true freedom.” The Associated Press – 07/05/14.
Observe Sunday???
Surprisingly, nowhere in the Bible is there a command to observe Sunday. There is not a single verse in the scriptures that teaches the sanctity of the first day of the week.
Jesus (Lu 4:16), the disciples (Lu 23:56: Acts 13:14, 42-44; 16:13; 17:2; 18:4) and all the prophets observed the seventh-day Sabbath according to the fourth commandment:
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work; you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates” (Exodus 20:8–10).
The seventh-day Sabbath was not made only for the Jews because it was instituted at creation, before there were any Jews (Genesis 2:2, 3). And God’s law has not been changed by Jesus (Matthew 5:17, 18) or the apostles (Acts 17:2; 13:13, 14). All people are called to honor God’s Sabbath (Isaiah 56:2, 6, 7).
So, where does the observance of Sunday come from?
Sunday observance is a tradition of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church claims that it changed the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday:
“Question: Which is the Sabbath day? Answer: Saturday is the Sabbath day. Question: Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday? Answer: We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church in the Council of Laodicea transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday.” The Convert’s Catechism of Catholic Doctrine by Peter Giermann.
“Question: Have you any other way of proving that the Church has power to institute festivals of precept? Answer: Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her; she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday, the seventh day; a change for which there is no Scriptural authority.” Steven Keenan’s Doctrinal Catechism.
This repeated practice through the generations has ingrained these traditions, making them seem as truth. But the Sunday observance tradition certainly lacks the Biblical support.
The Bible predicted that a power “shall intend to change times and laws” (Daniel 7:25). Jesus warned that some would make “the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition” (Matthew 15:6). He added, “In vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” (v. 9).
“We ought to obey God rather than men.” (Acts 5:29).
