QUESTION: "I understand that Saturday is the Sabbath day commanded in the Bible, but Christians keep Sunday as their day of worship because Jesus rose from the dead on that day."

, I would like to make two important points in regard to that argument, 1. The Bible does not teach that Jesus was resurrected on Sunday, 2. If He had it would not change the fourth Commandment or change the character of the Seventh day. It would not make the Sabbath unholy. If true it may not be wrong to honor that day but it certainly would give no license to dishonor the Sabbath day.

    Although it is tradition to believe that Jesus was crucified on Friday and rose on Sunday the Bible does not support this belief, nor does it confirm Jesus’ own words. When asked what sign would be given to prove that He was the Messiah Jesus answered -"the sign of Jonah. . .so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." (Matt.12:39-40) Three days and three nights cannot be counted from Friday afternoon to Sunday morning. This is one of the major obstacles to Muslims coming to accept that Jesus was more than a mere prophet. Since Jesus was crucified on the "day of preparation" some erroneously assume it was Friday, the day before the weekly Sabbath. But the Bible clearly shows that Jesus was crucified on the Passover which is always a day of preparation for the High Sabbath of the First Day of Unleavened Bread. The Passover falls on the 14^th day of the first month of the Hebrew calendar and can be any day of the week. 

    Most scholars agree that Jesus was crucified in 30 or 31AD -both of these dates had Wednesday Passovers. Jesus was crucified on Wednesday, put in the grave late that afternoon, remained in the tomb for three days and three nights until He arose late Saturday afternoon. Days in the Bible begin and end at sundown, so at sundown Saturday would dawn the first day of the week. Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early Sunday morning while it was yet dark and found the tomb empty. The empty tomb was discovered early Sunday but Jesus had already risen the Sabbath before. If Jesus had stayed in the tomb until Sunday morning then it would count three days and four nights.

    In fairness, many point to Mark 16:9 which reads "Now after He had risen early on the first day of the week He first appeared to Mary Magdalene." The original Bible manuscripts have no punctuation so translators must add it. If you place a comma after "week" then it would be identifying when Jesus arose. If you place the comma after "risen" then it would be identifying when Jesus appeared to Mary. Those who believe in a Sunday resurrection place the comma after "week" and those who do not place it after "risen" However the fact remains that the Passover in 30 and 31 AD were on Wednesday.