07-Christ and the First Day

The previous chapters must not be forgotten. What have we
gleaned? We have seen that the early churches treated the
first day as the day for church life; in my view, calling it the
Lord’s day. Above all – and the evidence is unmistakable –
the early churches, though initially composed of converted
Jews – did not assemble on the sabbath.1 Why not? This, to
my mind at least, is the most significant fact in this entire
debate. It merits a closer look. Why did the early churches
not keep the sabbath? Why did they never use the word
‘sabbath’ for their day of assembly? And why did they keep
the first day?