January 17

Leviticus 23:3
 
“The seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein; it is the sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings”— Leviticus 23:33Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings. (Leviticus 23:3).
THE Sabbath of old and the Lord’s Day now speak of rest; the one of rest after labor, the other of rest before service. People often ask, “Who changed the Sabbath?” Properly speaking, the Sabbath has never been changed. The Sabbath belongs to the old covenant, and is Israel’s Memorial Day. But Scripture tells us that after the death and resurrection of Christ “the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law” (Heb. 7:1212For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law. (Hebrews 7:12)). Under the new dispensation we see the first day of the week taking the place of the seventh-day Sabbath, and the Church has recognized this change from the beginning of the Christian era. We may safely say that the guidance of the Holy Spirit led believers to give special recognition to the memorial day of Christ’s resurrection, This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it” (Psa. 118:2424This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. (Psalm 118:24)). This is the day of verse 22 and 23, when the rejected stone was made “head of the corner,” when God raised Christ from the dead.
“The day of resurrection!
Earth tell it out abroad:
The Passover of gladness,
The Passover of God.
From death to life eternal,
From earth unto the sky,
Our Christ hath brought us over,
With hymns of victory.”
—John of Damascus, Trans by J. M. Neale.