Lord's Supper Only on the Lord's Day
Reprinted from The Carolina Messenger, November 2003
David R. Pharr

Only twice in the New Testament do we find the word translated Lord’s as in “the Lord’s supper” (I Cor. 11:20) and “the Lord’s day” (Rev. 1:10).  (Other uses of Lord’s in English are not from kuriakos.)  This is significant in reminding us that the Lord’s Supper and the Lord’s Day belong together.

Strange and unscriptural practices have developed in some quarters.  We read and hear of communion services on various days of the week.  The iconoclastic spirit that despises pattern authority now goes so far as to tamper even with this holy ordinance.  The New Testament practice, the one set in place by apostolic authority, was to memorialize Christ’s death in the Supper on the day each week when we meet in recognition of his resurrection.  The Lord’s Supper belongs to the Lord’s Day and only on the Lord’s Day.

The bread is the symbol of the body of Christ.  The cup (“fruit of the vine”) is the symbol of his blood.  Christ’s hallowed injunction is to “do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19).  “For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come” (I Cor. 11:26).  Sacred are the thoughts of believers as in eating and drinking they recall the gospel record of Jesus on the cross of Calvary.  Wonderful is our testimony of faith which is given every Sunday in the symbols of communion.

What is it, however, that gives the cross its validity?  If Jesus had not been raised on the third day after dying, history would hardly notice his death.  Thousands of Jews in that era suffered the cruelties of crucifixion.  What makes Christ’s death unique, what makes it meaningful as the supreme gift of Heaven’s love, is that he is the Son of God, proven to be so by his resurrection (Rom. 1:4).

That the resurrection occurred on Sunday (“the first day of the week”) is not open to serious dispute (Mark 16:9).  Further, Christ’s post-resurrection meetings were on “the first day of the week”  (John 20:19, 26).  Pentecost, the birthday of the church, came on a Sunday.  The practice of the New Testament church was to meet “to break bread” on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7).  That these meetings were expected every week is made plain in I Corinthians 16:2, which literally says “the first day of every week” (NASB), or “every Sunday” (McCord).  The apostles were consistent in faith and practice among all the churches (I Cor. 4:17; 7:17; 11:2).

When brethren presume to have the Lord’s Supper on days other than the Lord’s Day, they are as contrary to the New Testament pattern as certainly as those denominations which have the Supper only on selected Sundays through the year.

Most denominations confuse the New Testament use of Sunday with the Old Testament ordinance of the Sabbath.  The only comparison between the Sabbath and the Lord’s Day is that both occur every week: the Sabbath on every Saturday and the Lord’s Day every Sunday.  Though denominations use Sunday as their weekly time for meeting, most seem unaware of its biblical significance.  We would hope that our brethren would be grounded in this truth, that all would know that we meet on Sunday because Christ arose on the first day of the week.

Memorial days take their significance from events.  In America there is celebration of July 4 in remembrance of the Declaration of Independence.  Sunday was not chosen at random.  It was not selected out of convenience, not by chance.  It was ordained by God and appointed by the apostles in recognition of that event which gives “assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead” (Acts 17:31).  The Bible attaches no significance to the month and the day of the month when Christ arose.  (The Scriptures know nothing of “Easter.”)  Instead we are appointed a day of the week, the first day of every week, in recognition of his resurrection.

The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ was foretold in Psalm 118:22 in the figure of the rejected stone which became the head corner stone (cf. Acts 4:11).  The prophet explained, “This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes,” and added, “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it” (Psa. 118:23f).

In recognition of the Creator we rejoice that every day is a day the Lord has made.  The thought of the Psalm, however, was in regard to a special day, the day of Christ’s being raised to be the chief cornerstone (cf. Isa. 28:16; I Cor. 3:11; Eph. 2:20).  While some may want to give “the day” named in the Psalm a different interpretation, there can be no doubt that the event that makes Sundays significant is the resurrection, and our gatherings each Sunday “rejoice” in celebration that the Stone which was rejected has been made the foundation stone of our salvation.

The point to be made is that the Lord’s Supper belongs to the Lord’s Day.  To separate them is to leave both incomplete.  The Supper memorializing his death apart from his resurrection leaves him dead.  Our celebration of his resurrection presupposes his death and the meaning of it.  The apostolic pattern is that the weekly day in recognition of his resurrection is the occasion to partake of the symbols of his death.  Some err in having the Lord’s Day without the Lord’s Supper; others err in having the Lord’s Supper without the Lord’s Day.  When brethren presume to have the Lord’s Supper on days other than the Lord’s Day they are as contrary to the New Testament pattern as those denominations which have the Supper only on occasional Sundays through the year.

Some may cry, “legalism.”  This is the standard cry when they are confronted by the applicable texts, but have no text of their own.  One will never find a text that favors communion for any day except the Lord’s Day.

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