Apostolic Fathers: Didache
Chapter 10 1 And after being satisfied, give thanks: 2 “We give thanks to You, holy Father, for Your holy name. Tabernacle in our hearts by the knowledge and faith and immortality You have made known to us through Your Son Jesus. To You be the glory forever. 3 Almighty Master, You planted everything for Your name's sake, You give food and drink to men for enjoyment, so that they might give You thanks. You have blessed us with spiritual food and drink and everlasting life through Your Son Jesus. 4 Before everything we give thanks to You, because You are powerful. To You be the glory forever. 5 Remember Your congregation, O Lord, to deliver it from all evil and to fill it with Your love, and gather the sanctified from the four winds into the kingdom You have prepared, because Yours is the power and the glory forever. 6 May grace come and may this world pass away. Hosanna to the God of David. If anyone is holy, let him come. If anyone is not, let him repent, for the Lord is coming. Amen.” 7 Entrust yourselves to the prophets to give thanks as they desire. The Teaching continues with a post-communion collect that asks God to do exactly what He promises to do in the Eucharist: forgive sins and grant salvation and eternal life. In this prayer the simple, temporal elements are shown to be elevated to a higher status because of their spiritual usage. Therefore, the congregation asks that God continue to provide for them in every way. The prayer begins with an acclamation of the First Petition of the Lord's Prayer: “Hallowed be Thy name.” “We give thanks to You, holy Father, for Your holy name.” Our entire being and life and salvation are wrapped up in God's name. The Triune God put His name on us in Baptism. We proclaim the name of the Triune God as we partake of the bread and wine of the Eucharist. “Tabernacle in our hearts.” We seek God to continue His work through Christ that He began when He was “conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary.” He tabernacled among us in flesh and blood (John 1:14) and purchased redemption and the forgiveness of sins by the same flesh and blood. “By the knowledge and faith and immortality You have made known to us through Your Son Jesus.” We seek Jesus to tabernacle in our hearts through the knowledge that He gives us in the Gospel. The Corinthians had written to St. Paul, “All of us possess knowledge.” St. Paul replies back, “This 'knowledge' puffs up, but love builds up” (1 Corinthians 8:1). Fleshly knowledge is not what is being cited as an effect of Jesus' tabernacling among us. The knowledge of faith and immortality is only found in the Gospel. God has shown us this knowledge through His Scriptures as they testify to Jesus (John 5:39). This “has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel” (2 Timothy 1:10). “Almighty Master, You planted everything for Your name's sake.” God created everything in order to praise and glorify His name. The first commandment given to all living creatures was “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth” (Genesis 1:22, 28). It was repeated again after the Flood (Genesis 8:17; 9:1, 7). Every living thing has been created by God for the purpose of praising Him. Even the stars were created to show signs in the Heavens that proclaim God's glory (Genesis 1:14; Psalm 19:1). “You give food and drink to men for enjoyment, so that they might give You thanks.” God provides for man to be fed from the fruits of the earth. Originally, man was vegetarian or possibly even vegan (Genesis 1:29). After the Flood, God gave the right for man to eat from the clean animals (Genesis 9:1-5). After Jesus' resurrection, every animal has been made clean and can be eaten faithfully (Acts 10:15). All of these things given for food is given so that we might enjoy our life. We are to acknowledge God's gift of feeding our mortal bodies with meat and vegetables and grain and “receive our daily bread with thanksgiving” (SC III 14). “You have blessed us with spiritual food and drink and everlasting life through Your Son Jesus.” The prayer immediately turns from physical food and drink to spiritual food and drink. The Eucharist gives us the opportunity to sit at the Lord's table in His kingdom that never ends. We eat and drink physical bread and wine, but we also eat and drink the bread and wine of Heaven. This bread and wine give us everlasting life because of Jesus' sacrifice. “Before everything we give thanks to You, because You are powerful.” The Eucharist is aptly named. We give thanks to Jesus before and after the meal for His great sacrifice for our sins. We give thanks before everything and everyone. David aptly speaks of the Eucharist in Psalm 23:5: “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” This table, spread for us with Christ's body and blood, reminds us that our lives should be lives of continual rejoicing (Philippians 4:4) and thanksgiving (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Faith in Christ gives us the power to give thanks at all times. He gives us the power over death and the grave through the victory He won on the cross. “Remember Your congregation, O Lord, to deliver it from all evil and to fill it with Your love.” As the body of Christ, the Church calls for God's remembrance of the congregation. In the Great Litany of the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil, the congregation is brought into remembrance every Sunday in several petitions: • “For peace in the whole world, for the stability of the holy churches of God, and for the unity of all, let us pray to the Lord.” • “For this holy house, and for those who enter it with faith, reverence, and the fear of God, let us pray to the Lord.” • “For this parish and city, for every city and town, and for the faithful who live in them, let us pray to the Lord.” The congregation is lifted up before God because it is called by His command. The Church seeks deliverance from evil and for the filling of her heart with love. By remembering the congregation in prayer, the Church seeks God's presence and protection for the Church. Emphasized through Jesus' own words: “Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). “Gather the sanctified from the four winds into the kingdom You have prepared.” We must also look towards Jesus' words of comfort as He details the tribulations of the End Times: “He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of Heaven to the other” (Matthew 24:31). Each Christian congregation prays for the Church scattered throughout the world. Although we are scattered because of geography, ethnic culture, doctrinal confession and worship style, the entire Church prays for the Day when Jesus will gather the entire Church in Heaven and on earth around His table, where we will enjoy the marriage feast of the Lamb in His kingdom which has no end. “Because Yours is the power and the glory forever.” As the Lord's Prayer concludes with similar words, this post-communion prayer contains these words. The power and glory are all Jesus'. His power and glory are eternal. And this is why we praise Him in our worship. “May grace come and may this world pass away.” In His eternal power and glory, Jesus comes to us with His grace. Part of this grace is for this world to pass away. This world must pass away when Jesus returns. As the primeval world passed away in Noah's flood, the world will pass away with fire on the Last Day (Genesis 6-9; Matthew 24:35; Mark 13:31; Luke 21:33; 2 Peter 3:10). His grace sees us through the passing away of the world into the glories of His eternal Kingdom. In this kingdom, we will never again need to shout, “Hosanna to the God of David” (Matthew 21:9, 15). Pleas for salvation will no longer be needed. We will be rejoicing in our salvation. The hymns of Revelation illustrate this distinction with Jesus' Triumphal Entry. Entering Jerusalem, the pilgrims shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” They begged for Jesus to bring the promised Messianic kingdom. In Revelation, the four living creatures, the twenty-four elders, the angels and the countless hosts of the saints throughout history still sing: • “Worthy are You, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things, and by Your will they existed and were created” (4:11). • "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing"(5:12). • "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb … Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen"(7:10-12). • "Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God” (12:10). • "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for His judgments are true and just; for He has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality, and has avenged on her the blood of His servants" (19:1-2). “If anyone is holy, let him come.” Here we have one of the first inklings in Church history of the practice of close communion. This practice revolves around the agreement between church bodies in the essential doctrines of the Church. Unfortunately, the required amount of agreement varies from one church body to the next. However, the Church in the Apostolic Age and the generation after had this simple rule: If anyone is holy, let him come. The communicant had to be examined by himself and the bishop before receiving communion. This was to ascertain that all those seeking to receive the Lord's Supper were a member in good standing of an orthodox congregation. Many times this was accomplished with a signed letter from the visitor's bishop witnessing to the person's good standing in the congregation. This was similar to the practice of the apostolic epistles being the Apostle's signature on the courier's good standing (Romans 16:1-2; Ephesians 6:21-22). This practice is further attested by the ancient practice of dismissing the catechumens and visitors after the sermon so that only the communicant membership were allowed to witness the mystery of the Lord's Supper. The previous chapter has the admonition: “And let no one eat nor drink from your Eucharist, but those who have been baptized into the Lord's name, for also concerning this the Lord has said, 'Do not give the holy thing to the dogs'” (9:5). In the ancient Church, most adult Baptisms occurred on the Great Vigil of Easter after having been properly catechized by the bishop. The catechumens first saw the great mystery of the Eucharist on Easter morning immediately after their Baptism. This practice was necessary for doctrinal reasons as well. Even in the first generation of the Church, there were many heterodox and heretical teachers seeking to lead away the faithful. This practice was also necessary for the safety of the congregation. Only those who had been vetted as baptized Christians were allowed into the Eucharistic service so that Roman spies (an immanent example of dogs) would not receive the Eucharist. Christianity was an illegal religion in the Roman Empire before Constantine's edict of toleration in 313 AD. Close communion was also a way for the Christian congregation to continue to survive in the times of persecution. When the Teaching was written in the mid-first century, the greatest of the persecutions hadn't even begun. But the admonitions given would give Christians the strength to persevere the upcoming persecutions. “If anyone is not, let him repent.” The unrepentant are not allowed to receive the Eucharist. Those who are unholy—unrepentant—must repent before receiving the Eucharist. St. Paul also wrote, “Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself” (1 Corinthians 11:28-29). Those who discern the body of Christ in the bread and the blood of Christ in the wine acknowledge their sins and Jesus' mercy in dying on the cross to forgive their sins. Without this discernment, they receive judgment instead of mercy. For the Lord is coming. St. Paul writes to Thessalonians words of encouragement because false teachers had come into their midst and taught that the resurrection of all flesh had already happened (1 Thessalonians 4-5; 2 Thessalonians 2). In each of his epistles to the congregation, St. Paul refers to the resurrection of all flesh in the future tense. The Lord will come. He hasn't already come. We haven't missed it. However, we must always look at Jesus' coming as being near. “I am coming soon,” He says (Revelation 22:7, 20). Therefore the Church throughout the ages has replied to this doctrine, “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20). 8 Concerning the oil thus you shall give thanks: 9 “We thank You, our holy Father, who was made known to us through Jesus Your Son, to You be the glory forever. Amen.” These verses are found in Lake's Greek text of the Teaching. However, most of the historic translators of the text have omitted these verses. Even in Lake's Apostolic Fathers' Greek-English parallel, the English has no translation for the Greek column. The most likely reason for this omission is that it focuses on chrismation. Chrismation is the anointing of the baptized with oil immediately following Baptism. This anointing illustrates the anointing of the Holy Spirit upon the baptized, giving the gift of faith. This anointing, while not usually done in Lutheran congregations, is indicative of Peter's words: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). In the Old Testament covenant, kings and priests were anointed with oil when they were installed into their office (Leviticus 8:12; 1 Samuel 10:1; 16:13; Psalm 89:20). This repeated theme calls the Israelites and the Church a kingdom of priests. • Exodus 19:6: “You shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” • Revelation 1:5-6: “To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood and made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” • Revelation 5:9-10: “And they sang a new song, saying, 'Worthy are You to take the scroll and to open its seals, for You were slain, and by Your blood You ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and You have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.'” In the Apostles' ministry, they also anointed the sick with oil (Mark 6:13; James 5:14). Chrismation and the anointing of the sick are still done in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches. This anointing of the sick is accompanied by prayer because “the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (James 5:16 NKJV). One such prayer, found in the Orthodox service of healing says, “O Lord Almighty, Healer of our souls and bodies, who put down and raise up, who chastise and heal also, visit now in Your mercy our brother/sister, (name), who is ill. Stretch forth Your arm, which is full of healing and health, and raise (him/her) up from this bed, and cure this illness. Put away the spirit of disease and every malady and pain and fever. And if (he/she) has committed sins and transgressions, grant remission and forgiveness, because You love mankind. Amen.” This anointing prayer comes straight out of James 5:14-16. The thanksgiving prayer for the oil simply gives thanks to God for making Jesus known through the Scriptures and the voice of the Holy Spirit. Chrismation visually illustrates the entrance of the Holy Spirit into the baptized's heart. On the night Jesus was betrayed, He prophesied the coming of the Holy Spirit, saying, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I have said to you” (John 14:26). Luther teaches this in the Third Article of the Creed. The Holy Spirit gives us the faith to believe in Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit prompts us to call Jesus Lord (1 Corinthians 12:3). It is He who enlightens our darkened souls to receive the true Light of the World, “which gives light to every man” (John 1:9). The oil of chrismation is the seal of that enlightenment. In this enlightenment, the Holy Spirit grants us faith.