BB Xtra: The Didache Part 3

Stepping away from our regular Bible reading, this Bible Breakdown Extra explores the Didache, a fascinating early church document that gives us a unique window into how the first Christians practiced their faith.

The Didache isn't Scripture – a point we emphasize repeatedly – but it emerged alongside the writing of the New Testament as a practical manual for new believers. Think of it as the "too long, didn't read" summary of apostolic teaching before all the letters and gospels had circulated widely. While nobody wanted it included in the biblical canon, this document reveals how early Christians approached baptism, prayer, fasting, and communion.

We dive into chapters 7-9, discovering surprising details about early Christian practices. Did you know the first believers were encouraged to fast for one to two days before baptism? Or that they considered it ideal to baptize in running water as a symbol of the flowing Holy Spirit? The Didache recommends fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays (explicitly distinguishing Christian practice from "the hypocrites" who fasted on Mondays and Thursdays), praying the Lord's Prayer three times daily, and approaching communion with specific blessings over the cup and bread.

What stands out most is the reverence with which early Christians approached these sacred rituals. They weren't just going through motions but preparing their hearts and treating these moments as holy encounters with God that strengthened their communal bonds. Perhaps there's wisdom here for modern believers. Next time your church celebrates communion, don't see it as something to endure, but as a powerful moment reconnecting you with God and your church family – just as the earliest Christians did centuries ago.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 0 (00:00):
Well, hello everybody , welcome back to the Bible
Breakdown Podcast.
And this is one of those BibleBreakdown Extras where we take a
little time and we kind of stepoutside of our normal daily
Bible reading and kind of workon it instead of in it and kind
of, you know, just apply someextra things to our faith.
And for some of those, we walkthrough apologetics, sometimes
we walk through spiritualdisciplines, but for the past

(00:22):
few weeks, past few episodesrather, we have been walking
through something called theDidache.
And what the Didache is isremember, the Didache is not
Scripture.
Okay, it's not Scripture, butit was written most likely
around the same time thatScripture was written, because
what most scholars believe isabout the time that John is

(00:42):
writing, luke is writing,matthew and Mark are writing.
All these people are writing.
A lot of what they're saying isbeing broken into practical
steps for local churches.
It was going to be a whilebefore all those letters got
around to everybody, and sopeople were kind of writing,
kind of that TLDR too long,didn't read, just like give me

(01:03):
the facts.
And that's what the Didache wasis it was the teaching of the
Lord to the Gentiles through,and I misspelled the word
through God help us through the12 disciples.
And so it is just verypractical things that was passed
around.
The early church Now one moretime is not inspired.
Nobody wanted this thing to beput in the canon, all right,

(01:23):
nobody wanted it there.
It was just a document to helpthe early church figure out what
was going on, right?
And so we have all thesedifferent chapters that give
very practical tips, and why Ilove it is it gives us a window
into what the early churchthought, what the early church
was living.
And here's the thing it mighthave come from some of the
apostles, but for whateverreason this is the most

(01:45):
important thing for whateverreason, the Holy Spirit did not
want these to be rules that wererequired.
You know, if it's in the Bible,we got to do it right.
I mean, that's the way it is.
These were suggestions, and sothe Holy Spirit didn't include
it, and so that's why we do notsay you have to do these things,
but it's very, very interesting.
So, once again, remember, wedon't know who wrote it.

(02:05):
It was an early church manualand it was most likely written
around the same time as theearly church was being formed,
and so what we're going to dotoday is we're going to read
chapter 7 through chapter 9.
And I want to do something realquick, and that is, if you have
been with us over the past fewtimes we have done this, you

(02:25):
have noticed that thetranslation I found was written
in very old Elizabethan Englishand it was really hard to
understand.
So I have found a differenttranslation that is a little bit
more modern context.
So that's why it's going tosound a little bit different,
but I think all of us are goingto give a very hearty amen to
this.
Okay, and so these threechapters are very short, so
let's read them and then breakthem down together.
The Didache chapter 7, says thiswhen it comes to baptism.

(02:46):
So this was the practical termsfor baptizing baptize this way
After you have taught everythingwe just covered in the previous
chapters baptize people in thename of the Father and the Son
and the Holy Spirit using livingwater, which means running or
flowing water.
If you don't have access torunning water, baptize with any

(03:07):
other kind of water.
If it's not warm, then use coldif you can, but if you don't
have enough water for immersion,pour water three times on the
person's head once for theFather, for the Son and for the
Holy Spirit.
Before the baptism, both theone being baptized and the one
baptizing, and anyone else whocan should fast.

(03:29):
The person being baptizedshould fast for one to two days
beforehand.
Do you know that?
So what did he just say?
They just said when you baptize, here's the best way, best rule
of thumb fast for a day or twojust to prepare your heart for
baptism.
Then, if you can, go to runningwater there's probably some
practical reasons, but also asymbol of the flowing of the

(03:50):
Holy Spirit.
And if you can't find that,then find whatever you can.
If you don't have enough money,have enough water to fully
immerse them, then just sprinkle.
Okay, but make sure you do itin the name of the Father, the
Son and the Holy Spirit.
Very interesting, right?
Chapter 8 says this Don't fastlike the hypocrites.
Those who do it for show theyfast on Mondays and Thursdays.

(04:11):
Instead, you should fast onWednesdays and Fridays when you
pray.
Don't pray like the hypocriteseither.
Instead, pray the way the Lordtaught us in his prayer.
Now, I love this.
This is before they had passedaround the Gospels.
Okay, so this is.
It was already happening, butthis wasn't everywhere, so for

(04:33):
some people.
They may not have had a chanceto hear the New Testament as we
know it today, but they wouldhave been taught this prayer.
Here it is Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored.
May your kingdom come.
May your will be done on earthas it is in heaven.
Give us today the food we needand forgive us our sins, as we
forgive those who sin against us.

(04:53):
Do not let us fall intotemptation, but deliver us from
evil, for yours is the power andthe glory forever.
And it says pray this threetimes a day.
So what were they encouraged todo with spiritual disciplines?
They were encouraged to fasttwo days a week.
Two days a week Monday throughFriday or, excuse me, wednesday

(05:13):
and Fridays.
Now, if it helps any, the mostcommon fast of the time was a
sunup to sundown fast, so theywould have been able to eat when
the sun went down.
But that was.
It doesn't say anything other,but we're going to go with what
was probably most common.
Then it says they were supposedto pray the Lord's prayer and
they're supposed to pray threetimes a day.
All right, chapter nine saysthis when you give thanks during

(05:33):
the Lord's supper, do it likethis.
First, over the cup, we thankyou, our father, for your holy
over the cup.
We thank you, our Father, forthe holy vine of your servant,
david, which you made known tous through Jesus, your servant.
To you be the glory forever.
Then, over the broken bread, wethank you, our Father, for the

(05:54):
life and the knowledge that youmade known to us through Jesus,
your servant.
To you be the glory forever.
Just as this broken bread wasscattered over the hills and
then gathered together as oneloaf, so may your church be
gathered from the ends of theearth into your kingdom, for
yours is the glory and the powerthrough Jesus Christ forever.

(06:16):
Only those who are baptized inthe name of the Lord should take
part in this meal.
As the scripture says, don'tgive what is holy to dogs.
So there's a couple thingsthere.
First of all, in chapter 7, themain thing that we learn is,
when you baptize somebody,celebrate, but also realize it's
important and so prepareyourself for it.

(06:39):
I love how it even says fast aday or two beforehand.
Just prepare your heart thatthis is a big deal.
I think that's wonderful.
To make sure we always rememberthat fasting is not just
something, excuse me, baptism isnot just something we just do,
but it's a symbol of somethingbeautiful.
Chapter 8 was all about how theyencounter God, about how they

(06:59):
fasted on Wednesdays and Fridaysand, like I said, I don't know
for sure, but one of the mostcommon ways to fast from sunup
to sundown.
So we do that on Wednesdays andFridays as a way of honoring
the Lord.
But I love how they said don'tfast like the hypocrites, for
they do Mondays and Thursdays.
We're holy, so we do Wednesdaysand Fridays.
I love that.
And then they pray the Lord'sPrayer, and they pray it just
the way Jesus taught it and theydo it three days a week.

(07:20):
And then when it says theLord's Prayer, here's the one
that's interesting it says whenyou do it, make sure you bless
the cup and then you bless thebread.
But then it said only those whohave been baptized in the name
of the Lord should take part inthis meal.
I think sometimes we have to be,or not always, but I think
sometimes, if we're not careful,we can forget that when we

(07:41):
experience baptism, weexperience prayer and we
experience the Lord's Supper.
We're doing holy things andbecause of that we should treat
them in holy ways and I love howthe early church they took it
seriously.
And what would it look like inour life if we took it seriously
?
I think maybe we would be ableto enjoy a lot of the peace with

(08:02):
God and the peace with oneanother that the early church
did.
There's a lot of informationthat says that it was through
the Lord's Supper and throughbaptism that they would reaffirm
their love for God and theirlove for their community with
one another.
So I want to encourage you nexttime that your church has
communion, don't go into it asjust something to endure,
something that your church hascommunion.
Don't go into it as justsomething to endure, something

(08:23):
to get over, but see it as aholy moment of reaffirming your
love for God and yourbrotherhood and your sisterhood
with your church family allaround you.
Isn't that awesome?
All right, I love you.
I'll see you tomorrow as we getback into the Bible Breakdown
podcast.