Listening to a recent podcast by Donnie Rader, regarding the observance of the Lord’s Supper, I was struck by his explanation as to why the Supper is to be observed on the first day of every week.
He first noted that it is common for some religious groups to observe the Supper on a quarterly or annual basis, once a month or on special occasions. This is in contrast to what is revealed in scripture.
In Acts 20:7, the scripture states, “Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight.”
First, brother Rader pointed out that in our own practice, the use of such a phrase would indicate a weekly observance. If I were to say, “Our foursome plays golf on Monday,” it would be assumed that weekly on that day we would play golf. If it were monthly, I would say, “We play golf on the second Monday of the month.” If it were annually I would say, “We play golf on the second Monday in August.”
The same thing is true with regard to observances found in God’s word. In the case of an annual observance, the specific day of the year would be noted. The same would be true of a monthly observance. A weekly observance would specify the day of the week. Consider a few examples:
- In Exodus 12, God instituted the day the Passover Feast would be observed. “Now you shall keep it until the 14th day of the same [first, 12:2] month…” This was an annual observance, the 14th day of the first month was the day of the Passover feast.
- In Leviticus 23, there were three feasts that were designated for annual observance. The Feast of Trumpets was to be observed on the first day of the seventh month (24). The Feast of Atonement was to be observed on the tenth day of the seventh month (27), and the Feast of Tabernacles was to be observed on the fifteenth day of the seventh month (39-44). All of these were annual observances, so the day of the year is specified.
- God spoke concerning the observance of the Sabbath in Exodus 20:8-11, “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. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.” The sabbath was observed weekly, so the Lord specified the day of the week.
The Lord’s Supper was observed by the disciples on the “first day of the week.” It too was a weekly observance. They did not observe the supper on the second Sunday of the month (a monthly observance). They did not observe it on the fourth Sunday in the Month of May (an annual observance. The scripture states, “Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight” (Acts 20:7).
That is what the disciples did in the first century, and this is why — when we follow the Biblical pattern — we do the same.
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