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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The More We Dig. The More We Find.

Chapters

• 0:48 Welcome to Bible Breakdown Extras
• 1:15 Understanding the Didache
• 2:20 Baptism Practices in Early Church
• 4:56 Fasting and Prayer Guidelines
• 6:23 The Lord's Supper Instructions
• 9:02 Treating Holy Moments with Reverence

Transcript

Speaker 0: 0:24

Well, hello everybody, welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast. And this is one of those Bible Breakdown Extras where we take a little time and we kind of step outside of our normal daily Bible reading and kind of work on it instead of in it and kind of, you know, just apply some extra things to our faith. And for some of those, we walk through apologetics, sometimes we walk through spiritual disciplines, but for the past few weeks, past few episodes rather, we have been walking through something called the Didache. And what the Didache is is remember, the Didache is not Scripture. Okay, it's not Scripture, but it was written most likely around the same time that Scripture was written, because what most scholars believe is about the time that John is writing, luke is writing, matthew and Mark are writing. All these people are writing. A lot of what they're saying is being broken into practical steps for local churches. It was going to be a while before all those letters got around to everybody, and so people were kind of writing, kind of that TLDR too long, didn't read, just like give me the facts. And that's what the Didache was is it was the teaching of the Lord to the Gentiles through, and I misspelled the word through God help us through the 12 disciples. And so it is just very practical things that was passed around.

Speaker 0: 1:41

The early church Now one more time is not inspired. Nobody wanted this thing to be put in the canon, all right, nobody wanted it there. It was just a document to help the early church figure out what was going on, right? And so we have all these different chapters that give very practical tips, and why I love it is it gives us a window into what the early church thought, what the early church was living. And here's the thing it might have come from some of the apostles, but for whatever reason this is the most important thing for whatever reason, the Holy Spirit did not want these to be rules that were required. 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 so the Holy Spirit didn't include it, and so that's why we do not say you have to do these things, but it's very, very interesting. So, once again, remember, we don't know who wrote it. It was an early church manual and it was most likely written around the same time as the early church was being formed, and so what we're going to do today is we're going to read chapter 7 through chapter 9. And I want to do something real quick, and that is, if you have been with us over the past few times we have done this, you have noticed that the translation I found was written in very old Elizabethan English and it was really hard to understand. So I have found a different translation that is a little bit more modern context. So that's why it's going to sound a little bit different, but I think all of us are going to give a very hearty amen to this. Okay, and so these three chapters are very short, so let's read them and then break them down together.

Speaker 0: 3:06

The Didache chapter 7, says this when it comes to baptism. So this was the practical terms for baptizing baptize this way After you have taught everything we just covered in the previous chapters baptize people in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit using living water, which means running or flowing water. If you don't have access to running water, baptize with any other kind of water. If it's not warm, then use cold if you can, but if you don't have enough water for immersion, pour water three times on the person's head once for the Father, for the Son and for the Holy Spirit. Before the baptism, both the one being baptized and the one baptizing, and anyone else who can should fast. The person being baptized should 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 two just to prepare your heart for baptism. Then, if you can, go to running water there's probably some practical reasons, but also a symbol of the flowing of the 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 it in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Very interesting, right? Chapter 8 says this Don't fast like the hypocrites.

Speaker 0: 4:32

Those who do it for show they fast on Mondays and Thursdays. Instead, you should fast on Wednesdays and Fridays when you pray. Don't pray like the hypocrites either. Instead, pray the way the Lord taught us in his prayer. Now, I love this.

Speaker 0: 4:48

This is before they had passed around the Gospels. Okay, so this is. It was already happening, but this wasn't everywhere, so for some people. They may not have had a chance to hear the New Testament as we know it today, but they would have 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 earth as it is in heaven. Give us today the food we need and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. Do not let us fall into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for yours is the power and the glory forever. And it says pray this three times a day. So what were they encouraged to do with spiritual disciplines? They were encouraged to fast two days a week. Two days a week Monday through Friday or, excuse me, wednesday and Fridays. Now, if it helps any, the most common fast of the time was a sunup to sundown fast, so they would 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 supposed to pray the Lord's prayer and they're supposed to pray three times a day.

Speaker 0: 5:54

All right, chapter nine says this when you give thanks during the Lord's supper, do it like this. First, over the cup, we thank you, our father, for your holy over the cup. We thank you, our Father, for the holy vine of your servant, david, which you made known to us through Jesus, your servant. To you be the glory forever. Then, over the broken bread, we thank you, our Father, for the life and the knowledge that you made known to us through Jesus, your servant. To you be the glory forever. Just as this broken bread was scattered over the hills and then gathered together as one loaf, so may your church be gathered from the ends of the earth into your kingdom, for yours is the glory and the power through Jesus Christ forever. Only those who are baptized in the name of the Lord should take part in this meal.

Speaker 0: 6:45

As the scripture says, don't give what is holy to dogs. So there's a couple things there. First of all, in chapter 7, the main thing that we learn is, when you baptize somebody, celebrate, but also realize it's important and so prepare yourself for it. I love how it even says fast a day or two beforehand. Just prepare your heart that this is a big deal. I think that's wonderful. To make sure we always remember that fasting is not just something, excuse me, baptism is not just something we just do, but it's a symbol of something beautiful.

Speaker 0: 7:18

Chapter 8 was all about how they encounter God, about how they fasted on Wednesdays and Fridays and, like I said, I don't know for sure, but one of the most common ways to fast from sunup to sundown. So we do that on Wednesdays and Fridays as a way of honoring the Lord. But I love how they said don't fast like the hypocrites, for they do Mondays and Thursdays. We're holy, so we do Wednesdays and Fridays. I love that. And then they pray the Lord's Prayer, and they pray it just the way Jesus taught it and they do it three days a week. And then when it says the Lord's Prayer, here's the one that's interesting it says when you do it, make sure you bless the cup and then you bless the bread. But then it said only those who have been baptized in the name of the Lord should take part in this meal.

Speaker 0: 7:58

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 experience baptism, we experience prayer and we experience the Lord's Supper.

Speaker 0: 8:10

We're doing holy things and because of that we should treat them in holy ways and I love how the early church they took it seriously. And what would it look like in our life if we took it seriously? I think maybe we would be able to enjoy a lot of the peace with God and the peace with one another that the early church did. There's a lot of information that says that it was through the Lord's Supper and through baptism that they would reaffirm their love for God and their love for their community with one another. So I want to encourage you next time that your church has communion, don't go into it as just something to endure, something that your church has communion. Don't go into it as just something to endure, something to get over, but see it as a holy moment of reaffirming your love for God and your brotherhood and your sisterhood with your church family all around you. Isn't that awesome? All right, I love you. I'll see you tomorrow as we get back into the Bible Breakdown podcast.