On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet.
//You may be surprised to know that this verse in Revelation is the only
reference in the scripture to The Lord's Day. Most of us read the words
without thinking any more about it, and conclude that John writes about
seeing his vision on a Sunday.
But
the earliest Jewish Christians continued to attend the synagogue on the
Sabbath (Saturday). In time, they also began to hold their own
gatherings on Sunday, with both Saturday and Sunday holy for a time--not
an either/or proposition--but eventually Sunday replaced Saturday as
the day of worship. We don't know exactly when Christians began to
recognize Sunday as the Lord's Day. Maybe not until nearly 130 CE and
then only in the cities of Rome and Alexandria, leaving us unsure how to
interpret today's verse.
Adding
to the confusion is John's awkward Greek, which sometimes makes
translation difficult. Some scholars contest the traditional
understanding of this verse, and assert that when John wrote "On the
Lord's Day I was in the Spirit," he meant "I was caught up in a vision
to the coming Day of the Lord."
Nevertheless,
it appears likely that this verse played a part in the eventual
development of a special day belonging to Jesus. Scholars of Revelation
recognize the intense competition in Asia Minor (where Revelation was
directed) between Christianity and Roman Emperor worship; just as
certain rulers claimed particular days as their own, so too did the Lord
Jesus deserve his own day, right? My understanding of the verse is
traditional. I think John encouraged setting aside a special day to
commemorate Jesus.
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