Revelation 1:10

10 "I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet..."

Meditation/Commentary

Today we should take notice of the phrase, "the Lord's Day". Since the resurrection of Jesus, the Lord's Day has been acknowledged as the Christian Sabbath (John 20:19; 26; Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2). Just as our Triune God rested from His work of Creation on the Sabbath (Saturday), so we rest in the finished work of Jesus each Lord's Day (Sunday) to be reminded that we are new creatures in Christ. Lord's Day celebrates new creation. Just as Moses led the Israelites out of Egyptian bondage, so the Greater Moses- Jesus Christ led us out of the bondage of sin. The Jewish Sabbath of the Old Testament was always pointing us to the day where we'd enjoy the Lord's Day because of the finished work of Jesus. The Old Jewish Sabbath was put in the grave with Christ. When Christ bodily and eternally rose from the grave, so did the new Sabbath emerge- The Lord's Day with Him.

Is this the perspective of those in Christian history? It certainly was the perspective of the early church (John 20:19; 26; Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2; Revelation 1:10). Listen to these quotes regarding the Lord's Day from those who have gone before us:

DIDACHE ON THE LORD'S DAY

"But every Lord’s day do ye gather yourselves together, and break bread, and give thanksgiving after having confessed your transgressions, that your sacrifice may be pure." (Didache Chapter XIV.11 —Christian Assembly on the Lord’s Day. 14 [A.D. 70]).

IGNATIUS ON THE LORD'S DAY

"During the Sabbath He continued under the earth in the tomb in which Joseph of Arimathæa had laid Him. At the dawning of the Lord’s day He arose from the dead, according to what was spoken by Himself, “As Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly, so shall the Son of man also be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” The day of the preparation, then, comprises the passion; the Sabbath embraces the burial; the Lord’s Day contains the resurrection." (The Epistle of Ignatius to the Trallians Longer Versions. Chapter IX.—Reference to the history of Christ.)

EUSEBIUS ON THE LORD'S DAY

“[T]he day of his [Christ’s] light . . . was the day of his resurrection from the dead, which they say, as being the one and only truly holy day and the Lord’s day, is better than any number of days as we ordinarily understand them, and better than the days set apart by the Mosaic law for feasts, new moons, and Sabbaths, which the apostle [Paul] teaches are the shadow of days and not days in reality”(Eusebius Proof of the Gospel 4:16:186 [A.D. 319]).

MATTHEW HENRY ON THE LORD'S DAY

"The day and time in which he had this vision: it was the Lord’s day, the day which Christ had separated and set apart for himself, as the eucharist is called the Lord’s supper. Surely this can be no other than the Christian sabbath, the first day of the week, to be observed in remembrance of the resurrection of Christ. Let us who call him our Lord honour him on his own day, the day which the Lord hath made and in which we ought to rejoice." (Matthew Henry on Revelation 1).

Concluding Thought

Believer, think about the organization of your Lord's Day. Are you using it to feast on Christ? Or is it just like any other day? The Lord sovereignly gave us a rhythm and His rhythm of life is good for us.