Shorter Catechism Q. 59. Which day of the seven hath God appointed to be the weekly sabbath? A. From the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, God appointed the seventh day of the week to be the weekly sabbath; and the first day of the week ever since, to continue to the end of the world, which is the Christian sabbath.
Commentary: In the commentary for WSC 58, we noted that the heart of the fourth commandment is not the setting aside a specific day of the week but “one whole day in seven.” This means that it is possible to change the day without changing or revoking the commandment. As is the case with covenants, altering the administration of the commandment (how it is applied) doesn’t alter its substance.
The catechism affirms that God has indeed changed the day from the seventh to the first day of the week at or with the resurrection of Christ. The change, therefore, occurred when Jesus rested from his redemptive work of the new creation. This change was anticipated in the Old Testament by the various redemptive feasts, which foreshadowed Christ’s work, because they were celebrated on the first day of the week. And this change was firmly established and confirmed in the New Testament by apostolic example as they gathered the church for worship on Sunday, which they called the Lord’s Day (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2; Rev. 1:10; John 20:1, 19, 26).
Extra-biblical support for the change of day is supplied by the universal practice of the early church. The church historian Philip Schaff wrote, “Nothing short of apostolic precedence can account for the universal religious observance (of Sunday) in the churches of the second century. There is no dissenting voice.”