Questions and Answers
Can the Lord's Supper be taken on days other than Sunday?
It is important that we do everything in a manner prescribed by the New Testament. What the Bible authorizes, we should practice; what the Bible does not authorize, we should avoid. Often we express the principle, "Speak where the Bible speaks, remain silent where the Bible is silent."
This attitude toward the Bible is supported by several claims in the New Testament. For example, Paul writes, "But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you" (Rom. 6:17). The word translated "form" is tupos, which carries the metaphor of "a cast or frame into which molten material is poured so as to take its shape." The gospel is the mold; those who believe in Christ conform to it by following it completely (Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, 464).
In another place, Paul writes to Timothy, "Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of men, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus" (2 Tim. 1:13). Here "form" is translated from hypotyposis, "the pattern placed before one to be held fast and copied" (Ralph Earle, Word Meanings in the New Testament, 404). Obviously, Paul wanted his young apprentice to copy exactly the "sound words" of the Bible.
The apostles' insistence on using God's Word as a pattern or mold led to uniformity among the first century churches. From one place to the next, Christians were practicing the same things in their worship services (cf. 1 Cor. 4:17).
So does a casual observance of the Lord's Supper fit the "mold?" Not according to the examples we find in the New Testament.
In Acts 20, we find Paul departing Philippi "after the days of unleavened bread," which came just following the Jewish Passover (v. 6). He was in a hurry to reach Jerusalem by Pentecost, which came 50 days later (v. 16). In spite of the fact he had hundreds of miles to cover in a short period of time, Paul and his companions tarried in Troas for seven days (v. 6). Why the delay? Luke explains: "And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight" (v. 7). This seems to imply that Paul waited for Sunday, when he could partake of the Lord's Supper with his brethren in Troas.
In addition to the account of Paul's travels in Acts, consider the same apostle's rebuke towards the Corinthian brethren in 1 Corinthians 11:20: "When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's Supper." Obviously, the apostolic instruction in those days was for Christians to eat the Lord's Supper when they "came together" for their worship services.
The question at this point is, "When did they come together?" If we can answer this, we may pinpoint with precision when the early Christians ate their memorial feast. Thankfully, Paul gives us the answer a little later on in the same letter containing his rebuke: "Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come" (1 Cor. 16:2). After reading this statement, no open-minded person would dream of partaking of the Lord's Supper on any day other than "the first day of the week." Paul wanted the Corinthians to eat it on Sunday; because his words are a part of the "pattern," we know the Lord wants us to eat it on the same day.
It is significant that some translations even indicate the Corinthians were meeting "on the first day of every week" (ESV, NASB). The Lord's Supper is designed as a weekly feature of the church's Sunday worship services.
History corroborates the biblical evidence. In the Didache (A.D. 120), the statement is made that Christians "come together each Lord's Day of the Lord, break brea, and give thanks" (7:14). Also, Justin Martyr (c. 152) speaks of Christians meeting on Sunday and sharing communion (Apology I, 67).
Worship, by definition, seeks to please God. Why, then, would anyone want to restructure it according to man's design? Those supporting a casual observance of the Lord's Supper need to step back and reconsider their motives.
