What does the Bible say about the Sabbath?

Old Testament

One of the Ten Commandments says,

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy. (NAS, Exodus 20:8-11)

The Jewish Sabbath was, and continues to be, the seventh day of the week, Saturday. Continuing the Old Testament tradition, Jews observe the Sabbath from sunset Friday until sunset Saturday. The Old Testament law forbade doing any work on the Sabbath, and one could receive the death penalty for breaking this law (Numbers 15:32-36).

New Testament

Jesus observed the Jewish Sabbath (Luke 4:16) and never suggested a change to Sunday. He did, however, reject a strict legalistic interpretation of the Old Testament commandment. He said Sabbath observance was not a duty that mankind owed to God. Rather, God made the Sabbath as a day of rest for mankind's benefit (Mark 2:27). Jesus and His disciples did not observe the strict Jewish rules against doing any work on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:1-14, Mark 2:23-28, 3:1-6, Luke 6:1-11, 13:10-17, 14:1-6, John 5:1-18).

The first Christians came from among the Jews and continued to observe the Jewish Sabbath (Acts 13:14, 17:1-2, 18:1-4). But because Jesus arose from the dead on the first day of the week, Sunday, those early Christians called it the "Lord's Day" (Revelation 1:10), and regularly met for worship on Sunday (Acts 20:7, 1 Corinthians 16:2). When Gentiles began to convert to Christianity, the early Church leaders decided it was not necessary for them to observe the Jewish Sabbath (Acts 15:28-29, Romans 14:5-6, Colossians 2:16).

Constantine was the first emperor of the Roman Empire to convert to Christianity. In 321 A.D. he proclaimed Sunday a legal day of rest and ordered all judges, city-people and craftsmen to rest.

By this time, the Christian Church had lost contact with its Jewish roots, and there was much hostility between Christians and Jews. This hostility may have influenced Christians to abandon Sabbath observances. In about 363 A.D., a regional Church council in Asia Minor, the Council of Laodicea, declared that Christians must not rest on the Sabbath, but must work on that day, rather honoring the Lord's Day (Sunday).

Today, most Christians follow the tradition of holding worship services on Sunday. Some believe that Saturday, the original Sabbath day, is the proper day for rest and worship.