Objection: Why did the Catholic Church change the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday, and thereby violate God's commandment?
The short answer to that question is that the Catholic Church didn't change the Sabbath. The Sabbath is still the seventh day of the week, as it always has been. But, of course, it is true that Catholics (similar to most other Christians) worship on Sunday, as they have done since the first century. Following the teaching of the Apostles as expressed in the New Testament, and that of the Christians of the earliest centuries, they recognize that Christians are not obligated by God's law to any longer observe the Sabbath. Rather, they acknowledge the day of the resurrection, "the Lord's day", as the day primarily set apart for worship (and rest) under the new covenant.
(Of course, Sunday is often loosely referred to in common speech as "the Sabbath", since it fulfills in the new covenant to a great degree the purposes which the Sabbath did in the old covenant. That said, strictly speaking, it is not accurate to call it the Sabbath. This is important to keep in mind in a technical context like this discussion.)
Now, there are some Christian groups (a minority even among non-Catholics, to be sure) who object that Christians should still keep the Sabbath, and not Sunday. They allege that the Sabbath is part of the Ten Commandments, and that in fact the observance of the Sabbath dates back to the Creation (cf. Gen 2:2-3). Some have even gone so far as to allege that keeping Sunday instead to be a mark of the Antichrist! So how should a Catholic respond?
First, I think it helpful to ask ourselves: did Christians in the New Testament observe the Sabbath, or the first day of the week? The answer to that question is of the utmost importance. After all, if the earliest Christians observed the Sabbath, then that would seem to indicate we should as well. On the other hand, if they observed the first day of the week instead, then our practice should follow accordingly (however we may answer the arguments presented above). So what does the evidence show?
As a matter of fact, while there is very little evidence to go on at all (if we restrict ourselves simply to the New Testament, though I think we should also see what the practice of the earliest Christians outside the New Testament was as well), what evidence there is in fact leans in the direction of the first day of the week being the primary day of worship for Christians. We read in Acts 20:7, for instance:
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.This verse isn't as explicit as would be desirable, to be sure. While it seems to indicate that the disciples came together to "break bread" on the first day of the week, some may argue that Acts 2:46 indicates that the early Christians in Jerusalem would "break bread" daily.
(On the other hand, that raises a question: was "breaking bread" daily a universal practice in all of the churches of the New Testament, or was it specific to the church of Jerusalem at that time, and for the same reason that it was unique to the same church to hold all things in common as well, i.e., living in a much more tight-knit community where such things were more practicable? Scripture nowhere else indicates the daily practice of "breaking bread, so it is quite possible, even likely, only the Jerusalem church did so.
Naturally, since Catholic churches often have daily Mass, I think the practice acceptable, but I do not assume all the churches in the New Testament did so at that time, especially given that churches were naturally smaller then. To do so runs the the risk of being anachronistic.)
In any case, in this passage the Apostle Paul, who was at Troas seven days (cf. v. 6), is described as preaching only on the first day of the week. Given that bit of information, combined with the fact that the text does connect the first day of the week with "when the disciples came to break bread", that would indicate there is a good chance this was at the very least the primary assembly for Christians. While by its very nature such is a speculation, given the facts above, it appears the most likely.
There seems to be another indication that the primary day of worship was Sunday as well, this one from Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, where he writes:
Still, the above verses, while they certainly seem to lean in the direction of Sunday as the primary day of worship, are not as explicit as could be desired. But with that said, such evidence is nevertheless still a goldmine compared to that which can be provided as evidence for proving that Christians in the New Testament insisted on the necessity of keeping the Sabbath (that is, insisted with apostolic approval). For as concerns the latter, there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever. Literally, there is not a single verse that even begins to hint at it. In fact, it is quite the opposite, and it is rather the case that the insistance that Christians must keep the Sabbath is condemned by the New Testament!
But, some may object, didn't Jesus, as a Jew, Himself keep the Sabbath? Yes, He did. In fact, He kept the whole Mosaic law. Before His death and resurrection, it was still the time of the old covenant, after all. The birth of the Church did not take place till Pentecost, and therefore after the time of His ministry.
However, later on, after the establishment of the Church, we see from the Acts of the Apostles as well as the epistles of the New Testament (most notably Romans, Galatians, and Hebrews) that Christians were considered to be no longer under the Mosaic law (of which the Sabbath was a part) after the inauguration of the new covenant. Jesus fulfilled the law (cf. Mt 5:17), but He did so by transforming it to the reality which it prefigured, that is, from the "shadow" to the "very image" (Heb 10:1). But the image is not the same as the shadow. The law in and of itself was only ever meant to be a schoolmaster, so argues the Apostle Paul to the Galatians (cf. 3:24). "But", as Paul goes on to say in the next verse, "after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster." That is why later in the same epistle he would rebuke the Galatians for listening to the Judaizing teachers among them who insisted on the necessity of keeping the Mosaic law (contrary to what the Apostles had taught at the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15). This included the necessity of keeping the holy days of the Jewish law (of which the Sabbath was one):
In fact, after the time of Pentecost (and outside such missionary efforts), there is only one other mention of the Sabbath by name in all of the New Testament (though, in addition to the aforementioned passage from Galatians, where it is implied, there is also an illusion to the "seventh day" in Hebrews 4, but which is not relevant to this discussion.) That other reference is in Colossians 2:16, where we read:
As we can see, the only evidence in the New Testament at all which speaks to the question of the primary day of worship for Christians is all on the side of worshiping on the first day of the week, and against those who claim we would need to keep the Sabbath.
Still, one may wonder how the objections presented above that are based on the Old Testament may be answered. Take the first one. Is it not true that the command for keeping the Sabbath is found in the Ten Commandments? The answer is yes. However, insofar as the Ten Commandments are part of the Mosaic law, they are not (as such) binding on Christians, paradoxical as that may sound at first. This is because, as we have already seen, the New Testament is abundantly clear that the Mosaic law is not so binding. So to the extent that Christians must nevertheless still keep any of those commandments (as is indeed the case), it is for another reason than that they are part of the Ten Commandments given by Moses to Israel as part of the covenant at Sinai. And it is that same reason which also explains why worshipping on the Sabbath in particular is not required.
To begin with, we need to make a distinction. On the one hand, there was the Mosaic law under the old covenant (the Ten Commandments being part thereof) established for the Israelite people of that time specifically. On the other hand, Christians are now under "the law of Christ" (cf. Gal 6:2), delivered to us by our Savior. But while those two sets of law are different, they both reflect another law, the moral law, which is binding on all peoples of all places, based as it is in human nature as such. Therefore, while Christians, being under the law of Christ, are no longer bound under the Mosaic law (as we have seen), they are nevertheless still bound by the moral law.
That explains why many commands found in the Mosaic law are binding on Christians as well (such as most of the Ten Commandments or the command to "love they neighbor"), even though the Mosaic law as such is not so binding. These commandments derive their force from being part of the moral law, which is universally binding (and so naturally reflected both in the law of Moses and the law of Christ). Since it can be known naturally, the moral law is found even among those peoples who have never received supernatural revelation (cf. Rom 2:14-15).
Since the Ten Commandments are the prime example of where the moral law (which is also part of the law of Christ) is reflected in the Bible, it has naturally been used by Christians as a summary of what we are obligated to do and not do from a moral perspective. There is, however, one part of the Ten Commandments which does not reflect the moral law (not being based in human nature as such), but is rather a specific law for the people of Israel. I allude to the commandment for keeping the Sabbath.
That we are obligated to set aside time for rest and worship of our Creator is part of the moral law, insofar as we need rest and it is a matter of justice that we set aside time specifically dedicated to His worship. And therefore, a commandment dealing with a day set apart is included in the Ten Commandments. But there is nothing, morally speaking, that would require us to worship on the Sabbath specifically (like the Jews did) as distinct from the day of the Resurrection (like the early Christians did). Worshiping on the Sabbath was part of the Mosaic law, a sign of the old covenant between the Lord and the nation of Israel specifically. As such, it is not binding on Christians. We know this, not simply because the New Testament states its observance is no longer necessary, nor simply because it is not part of the moral law. We also know it because Scripture explicitly says that the Sabbath was for Israel in particular, not the human race as a whole. Thus, we read in the prophet Ezekiel God speaking to the Jews:
As we see, it was only the "children of Israel" to whom the requirement was given that they must keep the Sabbath in particular. It was a sign between God and them specifically (not mankind in general). And that, in turn, answers the other objection presented above, as to the observance of the Sabbath dating back to the Creation. For, as a matter of fact, as we see from what Scripture actually states, it doesn't.
Certainly it is true that Genesis shows God blessing and sanctifying "the seventh day" of creation week specifically in the second chapter of Genesis. [2] However, nowhere is the Sabbath itself as an institution shown as being commanded or observed by God's people prior to Exodus 16, when Moses has already led the Israelites into the wilderness, and shortly before they camp at Mount Sinai and receive the Ten Commandments. None of the Old Testament figures prior to that time (such as Adam, Noah, Melchizedek, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, etc.) are ever shown to have "observed" the sabbath. Even in Exodus 16:22-23, where it is referred to for the first time, it is presented as something new, with Moses having to explain it to the Israelites. There is no indication that God's people have ever observed it before this time. This seeming novelty, combined with a complete silence in Scripture concerning its observance prior to this time, is hard to explain if it was something that was observed all the way back to the Creation itself among God's people. (That is all the more so given the prominence to the necessity of its observance by the Israelites under the Mosaic law; the contrast is startling under such circumstances.) However, all these facts are quite easily explained if, as the books of Exodus and Ezekiel state, it was a sign between God and the nation of Israel specifically. (That also explains why, for all of the judgments God pronounced against the Gentile nations that surrounded Israel for violations of the moral law, He never condemned such nations for not observing the Sabbath. This is because that was something they were not bound to observe, in contrast to the moral law which they were bound to observe, as all people are.) Finally, now we see why the Apostle Paul, when writing to the Colossians, groups the Sabbath with the other feasts of the Mosaic law which were specific to the Jews, but not binding on Christians.
That being the case, when we consider the Ten Commandments, we recognize that for the most part this is an area in which the Mosaic law reflects the moral law. Since the moral law is also binding on Christians, the Ten Commandments have been found a useful summary of it for Christians. However, while the moral law dictates we set aside a day for worship and rest, the specific day for the observance of worship is not part of the moral law. Rather, the Sabbath observance was commanded as a sign to the Israelites in particular, as part of the Mosaic law, and is therefore (as the New Testament makes abundantly clear) no longer binding.
Rather, as was the basically unanimous practice of the Church for almost two thousand years, from the very beginning of Christian history until dissenters arose in the last couple centuries, the primary day of worship for Christians is the day of the Resurrection. Thus, it is no surprise that the Christians of the earliest centuries, including those martyred under the Roman emperors (thereby demonstrating they were in no mood to compromise their faith in any respect), kept Sunday as the primary day of rest and worship, for so it had been handed down to them from the Apostles. [3]
To briefly review what has been shown above, we see that Scripture and the witness of the early church indicate that Christians should worship in a special way on Sunday instead of Saturday, and that such was taught by the Apostles. Scripture never presents Christians keeping the sabbath as necessary, and in fact argues against that notion. The Old Testament presents the observance of the Sabbath being instituted as a sign for the nation of Israel in particular, not mankind in general. That is why, prior to Moses, no one among God's people is presented in the Old Testament as keeping it, nor after Moses are the surrounding Gentile nations ever rebuked for not keeping it, despite being rebuked for other actions. The specific day of worship being the seventh day was simply part of the Mosaic law, and as such is not binding on Christians today, any more than any other commandments of the Mosaic law which do not reflect the moral law are (such as circumcision or its dietary restrictions). That explains why in the New Testament, what evidence we do have seems to indicate that Christians worshiped on Sunday as the primary day of worship. Certainly the Christians in the next generations closest to the Apostolic age, including those to whom the Apostles personally handed on the faith, definitely observed Sunday, as their writings show. Therefore, far from worshiping on Sunday contradicting Scripture (or even being a mark of the Antichrist), it is rather the insistence on keeping the Sabbath which rests on erroneous, anti-Scriptural premises, even indicating Judaizing tendencies that the Apostle Paul himself rejected as being "another gospel" (Gal 1:8), and as such to be shunned.
[3] For a list of quotes of Christians from the earliest centuries demonstrating Sunday worship, see https://www.catholic.com/tract/sabbath-or-sunday
In any case, in this passage the Apostle Paul, who was at Troas seven days (cf. v. 6), is described as preaching only on the first day of the week. Given that bit of information, combined with the fact that the text does connect the first day of the week with "when the disciples came to break bread", that would indicate there is a good chance this was at the very least the primary assembly for Christians. While by its very nature such is a speculation, given the facts above, it appears the most likely.
There seems to be another indication that the primary day of worship was Sunday as well, this one from Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, where he writes:
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)One naturally wonders why Paul would ask for a collection to be taken up on that day specifically, if not for the reason that it was, in fact, the primary day of worship on which Christians came to meet together. That is the most obvious explanation. And, in fact, it has been so understood by Christians throughout history.
Still, the above verses, while they certainly seem to lean in the direction of Sunday as the primary day of worship, are not as explicit as could be desired. But with that said, such evidence is nevertheless still a goldmine compared to that which can be provided as evidence for proving that Christians in the New Testament insisted on the necessity of keeping the Sabbath (that is, insisted with apostolic approval). For as concerns the latter, there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever. Literally, there is not a single verse that even begins to hint at it. In fact, it is quite the opposite, and it is rather the case that the insistance that Christians must keep the Sabbath is condemned by the New Testament!
But, some may object, didn't Jesus, as a Jew, Himself keep the Sabbath? Yes, He did. In fact, He kept the whole Mosaic law. Before His death and resurrection, it was still the time of the old covenant, after all. The birth of the Church did not take place till Pentecost, and therefore after the time of His ministry.
However, later on, after the establishment of the Church, we see from the Acts of the Apostles as well as the epistles of the New Testament (most notably Romans, Galatians, and Hebrews) that Christians were considered to be no longer under the Mosaic law (of which the Sabbath was a part) after the inauguration of the new covenant. Jesus fulfilled the law (cf. Mt 5:17), but He did so by transforming it to the reality which it prefigured, that is, from the "shadow" to the "very image" (Heb 10:1). But the image is not the same as the shadow. The law in and of itself was only ever meant to be a schoolmaster, so argues the Apostle Paul to the Galatians (cf. 3:24). "But", as Paul goes on to say in the next verse, "after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster." That is why later in the same epistle he would rebuke the Galatians for listening to the Judaizing teachers among them who insisted on the necessity of keeping the Mosaic law (contrary to what the Apostles had taught at the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15). This included the necessity of keeping the holy days of the Jewish law (of which the Sabbath was one):
Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain. (Gal 4:10-11)It is sometimes objected, however, that we read of the Apostle Paul often going into the synagogues on the Sabbath day, and that his example proves that Christians should keep the Sabbath instead of Sunday. But in those cases he went to preach to the non-Christian Jews and God-fearing Gentiles who were gathered there. In other words, since they attended the synagogue on the Sabbath, that is obviously the time and place he would try to win them to Christ. This was simply a consequence of his more general evangelization strategy which he describes in his first letter to the Corinthians:
And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law [.] (1 Cor 9:20)
Yet one cannot argue from such missionary efforts among non-Christians as to what the primary day of worship for Christians was.
(As an aside, it is also acknowledged that the Apostles had no objections to Jewish Christians keeping their ancestral customs, if they so wished, for cultural reasons or as a matter of tender conscience, in such a transitional age, as some did. Yet it was only so long as it was recognized that it was not a general rule applying to all Christians. See Romans 14.)
In fact, after the time of Pentecost (and outside such missionary efforts), there is only one other mention of the Sabbath by name in all of the New Testament (though, in addition to the aforementioned passage from Galatians, where it is implied, there is also an illusion to the "seventh day" in Hebrews 4, but which is not relevant to this discussion.) That other reference is in Colossians 2:16, where we read:
Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days.In other words, the only other time the Sabbath is mentioned in connection with Christians under the new covenant is where Paul is (again) warning Christians against those who claim we would need to keep the Sabbath (or any of the other Jewish holy days of the old covenant).
As we can see, the only evidence in the New Testament at all which speaks to the question of the primary day of worship for Christians is all on the side of worshiping on the first day of the week, and against those who claim we would need to keep the Sabbath.
Still, one may wonder how the objections presented above that are based on the Old Testament may be answered. Take the first one. Is it not true that the command for keeping the Sabbath is found in the Ten Commandments? The answer is yes. However, insofar as the Ten Commandments are part of the Mosaic law, they are not (as such) binding on Christians, paradoxical as that may sound at first. This is because, as we have already seen, the New Testament is abundantly clear that the Mosaic law is not so binding. So to the extent that Christians must nevertheless still keep any of those commandments (as is indeed the case), it is for another reason than that they are part of the Ten Commandments given by Moses to Israel as part of the covenant at Sinai. And it is that same reason which also explains why worshipping on the Sabbath in particular is not required.
To begin with, we need to make a distinction. On the one hand, there was the Mosaic law under the old covenant (the Ten Commandments being part thereof) established for the Israelite people of that time specifically. On the other hand, Christians are now under "the law of Christ" (cf. Gal 6:2), delivered to us by our Savior. But while those two sets of law are different, they both reflect another law, the moral law, which is binding on all peoples of all places, based as it is in human nature as such. Therefore, while Christians, being under the law of Christ, are no longer bound under the Mosaic law (as we have seen), they are nevertheless still bound by the moral law.
That explains why many commands found in the Mosaic law are binding on Christians as well (such as most of the Ten Commandments or the command to "love they neighbor"), even though the Mosaic law as such is not so binding. These commandments derive their force from being part of the moral law, which is universally binding (and so naturally reflected both in the law of Moses and the law of Christ). Since it can be known naturally, the moral law is found even among those peoples who have never received supernatural revelation (cf. Rom 2:14-15).
Since the Ten Commandments are the prime example of where the moral law (which is also part of the law of Christ) is reflected in the Bible, it has naturally been used by Christians as a summary of what we are obligated to do and not do from a moral perspective. There is, however, one part of the Ten Commandments which does not reflect the moral law (not being based in human nature as such), but is rather a specific law for the people of Israel. I allude to the commandment for keeping the Sabbath.
That we are obligated to set aside time for rest and worship of our Creator is part of the moral law, insofar as we need rest and it is a matter of justice that we set aside time specifically dedicated to His worship. And therefore, a commandment dealing with a day set apart is included in the Ten Commandments. But there is nothing, morally speaking, that would require us to worship on the Sabbath specifically (like the Jews did) as distinct from the day of the Resurrection (like the early Christians did). Worshiping on the Sabbath was part of the Mosaic law, a sign of the old covenant between the Lord and the nation of Israel specifically. As such, it is not binding on Christians. We know this, not simply because the New Testament states its observance is no longer necessary, nor simply because it is not part of the moral law. We also know it because Scripture explicitly says that the Sabbath was for Israel in particular, not the human race as a whole. Thus, we read in the prophet Ezekiel God speaking to the Jews:
Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them. But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they walked not in my statutes, and they despised my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; and my sabbaths they greatly polluted: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them in the wilderness, to consume them. (Ezek 20:12-13)Such words reflect what we read in the book of Exodus:
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak thou also unto the children of israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you [...] Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever... (Ex 31:12-13; 16-17a) [1]
As we see, it was only the "children of Israel" to whom the requirement was given that they must keep the Sabbath in particular. It was a sign between God and them specifically (not mankind in general). And that, in turn, answers the other objection presented above, as to the observance of the Sabbath dating back to the Creation. For, as a matter of fact, as we see from what Scripture actually states, it doesn't.
Certainly it is true that Genesis shows God blessing and sanctifying "the seventh day" of creation week specifically in the second chapter of Genesis. [2] However, nowhere is the Sabbath itself as an institution shown as being commanded or observed by God's people prior to Exodus 16, when Moses has already led the Israelites into the wilderness, and shortly before they camp at Mount Sinai and receive the Ten Commandments. None of the Old Testament figures prior to that time (such as Adam, Noah, Melchizedek, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, etc.) are ever shown to have "observed" the sabbath. Even in Exodus 16:22-23, where it is referred to for the first time, it is presented as something new, with Moses having to explain it to the Israelites. There is no indication that God's people have ever observed it before this time. This seeming novelty, combined with a complete silence in Scripture concerning its observance prior to this time, is hard to explain if it was something that was observed all the way back to the Creation itself among God's people. (That is all the more so given the prominence to the necessity of its observance by the Israelites under the Mosaic law; the contrast is startling under such circumstances.) However, all these facts are quite easily explained if, as the books of Exodus and Ezekiel state, it was a sign between God and the nation of Israel specifically. (That also explains why, for all of the judgments God pronounced against the Gentile nations that surrounded Israel for violations of the moral law, He never condemned such nations for not observing the Sabbath. This is because that was something they were not bound to observe, in contrast to the moral law which they were bound to observe, as all people are.) Finally, now we see why the Apostle Paul, when writing to the Colossians, groups the Sabbath with the other feasts of the Mosaic law which were specific to the Jews, but not binding on Christians.
That being the case, when we consider the Ten Commandments, we recognize that for the most part this is an area in which the Mosaic law reflects the moral law. Since the moral law is also binding on Christians, the Ten Commandments have been found a useful summary of it for Christians. However, while the moral law dictates we set aside a day for worship and rest, the specific day for the observance of worship is not part of the moral law. Rather, the Sabbath observance was commanded as a sign to the Israelites in particular, as part of the Mosaic law, and is therefore (as the New Testament makes abundantly clear) no longer binding.
Rather, as was the basically unanimous practice of the Church for almost two thousand years, from the very beginning of Christian history until dissenters arose in the last couple centuries, the primary day of worship for Christians is the day of the Resurrection. Thus, it is no surprise that the Christians of the earliest centuries, including those martyred under the Roman emperors (thereby demonstrating they were in no mood to compromise their faith in any respect), kept Sunday as the primary day of rest and worship, for so it had been handed down to them from the Apostles. [3]
To briefly review what has been shown above, we see that Scripture and the witness of the early church indicate that Christians should worship in a special way on Sunday instead of Saturday, and that such was taught by the Apostles. Scripture never presents Christians keeping the sabbath as necessary, and in fact argues against that notion. The Old Testament presents the observance of the Sabbath being instituted as a sign for the nation of Israel in particular, not mankind in general. That is why, prior to Moses, no one among God's people is presented in the Old Testament as keeping it, nor after Moses are the surrounding Gentile nations ever rebuked for not keeping it, despite being rebuked for other actions. The specific day of worship being the seventh day was simply part of the Mosaic law, and as such is not binding on Christians today, any more than any other commandments of the Mosaic law which do not reflect the moral law are (such as circumcision or its dietary restrictions). That explains why in the New Testament, what evidence we do have seems to indicate that Christians worshiped on Sunday as the primary day of worship. Certainly the Christians in the next generations closest to the Apostolic age, including those to whom the Apostles personally handed on the faith, definitely observed Sunday, as their writings show. Therefore, far from worshiping on Sunday contradicting Scripture (or even being a mark of the Antichrist), it is rather the insistence on keeping the Sabbath which rests on erroneous, anti-Scriptural premises, even indicating Judaizing tendencies that the Apostle Paul himself rejected as being "another gospel" (Gal 1:8), and as such to be shunned.
Notes
____________
[1] Even the "children of Israel" are no longer bound to observe the Sabbath as far as the letter (as distinct from its fulfillment) of the law is concerned. The words "for ever" do not preclude the Sabbath being transformed and being fulfilled by celebrating the day of the Resurrection, any more than God's command that the Passover be kept as a feast "for ever" (cf. Ex 14:12) is precluded from it being transformed and fulfilled by Christ as our Passover lamb (cf. 1 Cor 5:7b-8a). Similarly, the "everlasting covenant" of circumcision (cf Gn 17:13) is transformed and fulfilled by baptism, the "circumcision of Christ" (cf. Col 2:11-12. See also Acts 15). In all of those examples, the command to keep them "for ever" is fulfilled so long as one keeps the image of which the Old Testament observances were the shadow (cf. Heb 10:1).
[2] That being the case, in commemoration of the first creation, the Sabbath was an especially appropriate day for the people of Israel to worship on under the old covenant. For the same reason, worshipping on the day of the Resurrection, the "Lord's Day", (Sunday), is especially appropriate in the new covenant as a commemoration of the new creation inaugurated by Christ. And, indeed, the first time after the Resurrection we hear of the "opening the Scriptures" and the "breaking of the bread" (charactertistics of Christian worship; cf. Acts 20:7) is on Easter Sunday, when Christ himself performed such on the Emmaus road (cf. Lk 24:11-35).
[3] For a list of quotes of Christians from the earliest centuries demonstrating Sunday worship, see https://www.catholic.com/tract/sabbath-or-sunday
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