7 Reasons Why Acts 20:7 Does Not Support Sunday as the Sabbath

In this post, learn how so many Christians misinterpret Acts 20:7 and why it has nothing to do with turning the Sabbath Day into Sunday.


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The majority of Christians today use Acts 20:7 to prove that the Sabbath Day is Sunday. Because of the lack of evidence in the Bible that supports Sunday worship, many would seize the opportunity to use any verse that seems to slightly support their belief.

If you haven’t read Acts 20:7, let me show you:

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.

That’s what you will read in the New King James version and other popular Bible versions today.

What Sunday worshipers believe

Now, here’s what most Christians believe about Acts 20:7. They believe that this verse proves that Sunday, being the first day of the week, is the new Sabbath.

Why?

Because on Acts 20:7, the disciples came together to “break bread.” Paul even preached to the crowd or spoke to them and continued his message until midnight.

Is this understanding correct? 

Is this what Acts 20:7 really is saying here? 

Does Acts 20:7 prove that we can now disregard the true Sabbath and keep Sunday as our day of rest and worship?

To answer these questions, let me share with you 10 points to consider.

7 Reasons Why Acts 20:7 Does Not Support Sunday as the Sabbath

Point no. 1: There’s no command to forget about the Sabbath Law in Acts 20:7

The Sabbath has been and has always been on the seventh day of the week. It was instituted on the creation week, blessed and sanctified by God, kept by His servants, observed by Christ and His disciples, and continued to be observed by Christ’s true followers.

If you read from Genesis to Revelation, the Bible from cover to cover, you will never find any verse that supports the claim that we should disregard the Sabbath and keep Sunday instead.

In fact, most Sunday worshippers would confess that it wasn’t God who changed the Sabbath, but it is them!

In desperation, Sunday worshippers would use Acts 20:7 to justify their belief. However, even in this verse, you will not read a clear statement that the sanctity of the Sabbath was already transferred to Sunday!

Go on, read it again. Be honest to yourself. Do you see a command here that Sunday is the new Sabbath?

Of course not!

If God intended to abolish His Sabbath command, He should have made it crystal clear and doesn’t have to use an obscure verse like Acts 20:7 to say it.

Point no. 2: Gathering together does not mean changing God’s law

If you gather together for a Bible study on Wednesday, does that mean Wednesday is already your Sabbath day? If it sounds ridiculous, it probably is. Yet, that’s the common reasoning of Christians today.

They read Acts 20:7 that says, “Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread.” Notice that this verse is simply saying that they were gathering together. 

We can all gather together as much as we want and do it on any day of the week. But that doesn’t change the fact that we still set apart a day that we call the Sabbath.

The Sabbath is still the Sabbath even if you already met on Monday, Tuesday, or any day. When the Sabbath comes, we are still going to gather together as what God has commanded in His Word.

Point no. 3: Breaking bread does not mean communion in Acts 20:7

Acts 20:7 tells us:

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.

A lot of Christians take the phrase “break bread” in Acts 20:7 as proof that the disciples were having communion.

Well, that’s actually a poor understanding of this verse.

Breaking bread simply means eating a meal. In fact, if you read a few verses later, Acts 20:11,  that’s exactly what it means:

“Now when he had come up, had broken bread and eaten, and talked a long while, even till daybreak, he departed.”

In ancient times, bread is baked as a big lump. Thus, they need to break the bread to distribute it to others.

In Acts 2:46-47, we read that breaking bread simply means sharing of meals:

46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

Notice as well Acts 27:33-35:

33 And as day was about to dawn, Paul implored them all to take food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day you have waited and continued without food, and eaten nothing. 34 Therefore I urge you to take nourishment, for this is for your survival, since not a hair will fall from the head of any of you.” 35 And when he had said these things, he took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of them all; and when he had broken it he began to eat.

Take note, too, if Paul was having Passover or communion as most people would like to call it, he wouldn’t do so with unconverted people. Remember, Paul was with his Roman captors. They were not Christians. Since Passover is a serious matter that is only reserved for converted people (Acts 11:28-29), Paul would have not shared it with the unconverted soldiers.

Another proof that breaking bread is simply a colloquial expression of eating, we read in Matthew 15:36:

36 And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude. 

Yahshua or Jesus didn’t hold communion during this occasion. He was simply distributing food.

As you can see, breaking bread means eating together.

Point no. 4: Communion isn’t always on Sunday

Communion is derived from Passover day. It’s a day when Yahshua/Jesus instituted the New Testament emblems of His body as the bread and His blood as the wine.

However, did you know that when Christ instituted the Passover, it was NOT Sunday? Yes, that’s right. It was actually on a Wednesday night!

This is a huge topic, so, please read “Did the Resurrection Changed the Sabbath?

So, as you can see, communion isn’t always on a Sunday. This means that when the disciples broke bread in Acts 20:7, it doesn’t automatically mean they are having communion.

Just a side note as well, the Passover service is only done once a year. It is never done daily, weekly, or monthly.

Point no. 5: The proper timing of Acts 20:7

For most Christians today, what they call Sabbath would be Sunday, which starts at 12 midnight and ends at 12 midnight.

However, did you know that’s not how the Bible reckons time? In fact, a day in the Bible starts in the setting of the sun or in short, at sunset. Here are some verses to prove this point:

  • Exodus 12:18
  • Joshua 8:9
  • II Chronicles 18:34
  • Nehemiah 13:19
  • Mark 1:32
  • Leviticus 23:32

So, what does this have to do with our topic? A lot.

Let’s read Acts 20:7 again:

7 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.

Let’s focus on the phrase, “First day of the week.” Just a side note, if you look into the Greek word of this phrase, it literally means, “One of the Sabbaths.” This tells you that Acts 20:7 doesn’t prove that the Sabbath was already ignored at that time. Instead, it is saying quite the opposite!

Acts 20:7 is actually proving that even many years after Christ’s death, His disciples continued to observe the Sabbath!

That’s just a side note. Let’s go back to our main point.

So, Acts 20:7 happened on the “first day of the week.” Take note, when does a day start? It starts in the evening. Therefore, Acts 20:7 happened on Saturday night according to how we reckon time today.

Read verse 8:

8 There were many lamps in the upper room where they were gathered together.

So, this confirms that it happened in the night. Someone has even fallen asleep and died in the story. That someone is Eutychus. It wasn’t because Paul’s preaching was boring that he fell asleep. It was because it was already late in the evening.

With these clues, we can surmise that Paul preached to the disciples during the weekly Sabbath. Because Paul’s departure was almost near, He decided to continue preaching until the night, when the first day of the week started.

For me, this is a more plausible explanation rather than thinking that Paul started to preach on Sunday morning until the daybreak of Monday.

Point no. 6: Paul traveled on Sunday

If you read Acts 20:7-12, you will read that Paul actually traveled on Sunday. If Sunday is truly the Sabbath, he should have rested, preached to the people, and not use a good portion of Sunday to travel.

Point no. 7: The reason why they gathered in Acts 20:7

We have read that the disciples gathered together.

But why?

It is because Paul was about to leave them.

We read in Acts 20:7:

7 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. 

As you can see, Paul was ready to leave. He will not tarry anymore. It is the final period of time he will be spending with the brethren in that area.

Therefore, the disciples’ main reason for gathering is to hear Paul’s last words before he departs. Aside from his spiritual message, it is more likely that Paul was also giving his farewell message. The disciples seized this moment to also formally bid Paul their goodbyes and see him probably for the last time.

Normally, they would also talk over a meal. So, they brought out the bread, broke them, and distributed it to the brethren.

Final words

As you can see, Acts 20:7 is not a verse that supports Sunday worship. 

Its context shows us that they came together on the Seventh-day Sabbath. Since Paul wanted to maximize the remaining time he had in Troas, they decided to continue preaching until the first day of the week, which started at night. During this occasion, they broke bread, signifying a sharing of a meal. Paul then departed the next day as planned.

There’s no need to complicate things simply to find a way to support a day of worship God NEVER instituted. As hard as people try to convince themselves that Sunday is the new Sabbath, they will ultimately fail.

Why?

Because you know, they know, and everyone knows that Sunday was never sanctified by God as the Sabbath and Acts 20:7 shows us exactly that.