Did the church gather on the first day of the week?

Growing up in church, I heard the following verses being used (along with a few others) repeatedly to show that Sunday was the day when Christians gather to worship. 

Acts 20: 7-8

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

Seems pretty cut and dry huh? It looks like the disciples were gathering together on Sunday to break bread. Might we even dare to say that they were having communion? But is that really what is happening? That is certainly what is taught in most churches and even in the footnotes of many Bibles. 

The Macarther Study Bible says this in the footnotes: 20:7 first day of the week. Sunday, the day the church gathered for worship, because it was the day of Christ's resurrection. Cf. Matt. 28:1; Mark 162,9; Luke 24:1, John 20:1,19; 1 Cor. 16:2. The writings of the early church Fathers confirm that the church continued to meet on Sunday after the close of the NT period. Scripture does not require Christians to observe the Saturday Sabbath: 1) the Sabbath was the sign of Mosaic Covenant (Ex. 31:16, 17; Neh. 9:14; Ezek. 20:12) whereas Christians are under the New Covenant (2 Cor. 3; Heb. 8); 2) there is no NT command to keep the Sabbath; 3) the first command to keep the Sabbath was not until the time of Moses (Ex. 20:8); 4) the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15) did not order Gentile believers to keep the Sabbath; 5) Paul never cautioned Christians about breaking the Sabbath; and 6) the NT explicitly teaches that Sabbath keeping was not a requirement (see notes on Rom. 14:5; Gal. 4:10, 11; Col. 2:16,17) to break bread. The common meal associated with the communion service (1 Cor. 11:20-22)

Can the footnotes of a Bible be trusted? Or is it merely the opinions of men?

I will not at this time seek to refute everything this footnote proposes. I will leave that for another time, however, I will suggest that these opinions are not entirely accurate. I will focus instead on refuting the first point, which I believe is in error, thus it should bring into question every point that follows. After all, if the first point can be proven wrong, can you trust anything that comes afterwards?

When we read these passages, are we reading into the text our own understanding? Are we seeing something that isn't really there and making doctrines of it? What would happen if we changed our perspective a little? 

To get the context of what is happening, it is important to realize that the apostles are all Jewish, and their culture and religion is Jewish. They did not convert to Christianity. The realization and recognition of Messiah was a natural extension of their already existant faith. It was not something new, it was only true. Furthermore, they only had, the Old Testament or Tenakh as their scriptures. The New Testament was not compiled yet, as much of it had not even been written at this point. It is critical that we read the New Testament as if the authors believed that the Old Testament was the inerrant, enduring word of God. It is the foundation of their faith, and should be ours as well. 

I believe context is extremely important when figuring out what the Bible is really saying, so let's read some of the surrounding verses to gain some perspective. 

Acts 20:1-16

After the uproar had ceased, Paul called the disciples to himself, embraced them,and departed to go to Macedonia. 2 Now when he had gone over that region and encouraged them with many words, he came to Greece 3 and stayed three months. And when the Jews plotted against him as he was about to sail to Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia. 4 And Sopater of Berea accompanied him to Asia—also Aristarchus and Secundus of the Thessalonians, and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus of Asia. 5 These men, going ahead, waited for us at Troas. 6 But we sailed away from Philippi after the Days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days joined them at Troas, where we stayed seven days.

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.8 There were many lamps in the upper room where they were gathered together. 9 And in a window sat a certain young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep. He was overcome by sleep; and as Paul continued speaking, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. 10 But Paul went down, fell on him, and embracing him said, “Do not trouble yourselves, for his life is in him.” 11 Now when he had come up, had broken bread and eaten, and talked a long while, even till daybreak, he departed. 12 And they brought the young man in alive, and they were not a little comforted.

13 Then we went ahead to the ship and sailed to Assos, there intending to take Paul on board; for so he had given orders, intending himself to go on foot. 14 And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and came to Mitylene. 15 We sailed from there, and the next day came opposite Chios. The following day we arrived at Samos and stayed at Trogyllium. The next day we came to Miletus. 16 For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he would not have to spend time in Asia; for he was hurrying to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the Day of Pentecost.

I have highlighted some things that need to be noted about this passage. To understand these, we need to go back and look at Leviticus 23 where God lays out the instructions for observing His Feast days. 

Leviticus 23:4-8, 15-17

The Passover and Unleavened Bread

4 ‘These are the feasts of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times. 5 On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the Lord’s Passover. 6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; seven days you must eat unleavened bread. 7 On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it. 8 But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord for seven days. The seventh day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.’”

The Feast of Weeks

15 ‘And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. 16 Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord. 17 You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the firstfruits to the Lord. 

Remember, that Paul is Jewish, and never once, ever denounces his Jewishness. In fact, he defends it on numerous occasions (Acts 21:21-26, 24: 14, 25:8). We must dig into the Old Testament to gain our understanding of what Paul knew to be truth. Knowing this, we have a better chance of understanding what Acts 20 (and 1 Corinthians 16) is really telling us. Was it the first day of the week, Sunday? Or was it actually a 7th day Sabbath?

It must be noted that in Acts 20, verse 7, the word day is in italics, meaning that it was added by translators who were trying to make the text more understandable. However, it only serves to confuse the reader. Without the word day in the text, it simply reads "Now on the first of the week". In the greek, Acts 20:7 reads like this. 

20:7  ἐν δὲ τῇ μιᾷ τῶν σαββάτων συνηγμένων ἡμῶν κλάσαι ἄρτον ὁΠαῦλος διελέγετο αὐτοῖς μέλλων ἐξιέναι τῇ ἐπαύριον παρέτεινέν τε τὸνλόγον μέχρι μεσονυκτίου

If you are not a fluent in reading Greek, like myself, this might as well be Klingon writing and I don't understand a bit of it. Thankfully, Blue Letter Bible translates it for us. 

Translated directly from the Greek, it reads like this: 

And upon the first sabbath the disciples came together to break bread Paul preached unto them ready to depart on the morrow and continued his speech until midnight. 

Interesting that is says "first sabbath" isn't it? It's not just the first week, but the first sabbath. 

But is this just a coincidence? What about 1 Corinthians chapter 16:1-8? Aren't they gathering their on the first day of the week? Let's examine this portion. 

1 Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also: 2 On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come. 3 And when I come, whomever you approve by your letters I will send to bear your gift to Jerusalem. 4 But if it is fitting that I go also, they will go with me. 5 Now I will come to you when I pass through Macedonia (for I am passing through Macedonia). 6 And it may be that I will remain, or even spend the winter with you, that you may send me on my journey, wherever I go. 7 For I do not wish to see you now on the way; but I hope to stay a while with you, if the Lord permits. 8 But I will tarry in Ephesus until Pentecost. 9 For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.

Here we can see that again, day is in parentheses indicating it's not in the original Greek. And again, week is the Greek σάββατον (sabbaton = Sabbath). Paul mentions Pentecost indicating that this is again the first Sabbath counting down 7 Sabbaths to the feast of Shavuot (Pentecost). 

So what am I getting at? Why is that important?

I propose to you that what is happening in Acts chapter 20 and 1 Corinthians 16 is this: They had just finished Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and according to the Commandments of God, they were instructed to count 7 Sabbaths to the Feast of Shavuot. So I suggest that this is EXACTLY what is happening. They met together to break bread (which is common language for sitting down for a meal together, on the first of seven sabbaths, counting down to Pentacost. I believe this is verified in verse 16 where it clearly says that Paul intended to return to Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentacost and the same scenario is described in 1 Cor. 16. If we take these verses and compare them with those found in Leviticus 23, they are in the same order, and we know they were observing these Feasts according to the Torah. 

I believe that reading anything else into the text is reading into it our own cultural bias and understanding. But understanding the culture and context of this text tells us a much different story than what has traditionally been understood. So I am convinced that the argument that the disciples where meeting in Acts 20 and 1 Corinthians 16 on a Sunday falls apart completely and thus, forces us to rethink what we have been taught. This is also Biblical, for 1 Thessalonians 5:21 tells us "Test all things; hold fast what is good."

I do want to note however that Jesus did in fact raise to life on a Sunday morning. The Feast of Firstfruits was celebrated on the first day following the first weekly Sabbath after Passover, which makes it a Sunday. So we can still recognize Sunday, and gather to worship, etc. There's nothing wrong with that. This study is just refuting the theology that teaches that the New Testament in these two instances is proof that the believers gathered on Sunday instead of the Sabbath.

Please don't take my word for it, look into this matter for yourself and prove it out.