How does the Earliest known Church Manual describe Jesus?
Reading The Didache for the first time can be a memorable experience for a Christian. It’s packed with teachings Jesus gave in the Gospel accounts, particularly from the Sermon on the Mount. But the Gospel itself is largely missing.
The name “Jesus” is mentioned only four times in the entire writing, all of which are in the liturgical section of the manual. (9.2-9.4, 10.2) What’s most puzzling is that the death and resurrection of Jesus are entirely absent!
So what do we do with this?
While The Didache doesn’t narrate the Gospel, nor give a systematic theology of who Jesus is, it would still be an overstatement to suggest there is no Christology in the writing. What little Christology we do find in The Didache is significant, and aligns with how the authors of the New Testament understood Jesus as Messiah and Lord.
Jesus is the Messiah Son of David
The liturgical section of The Didache reveals Jesus as the Messiah, specifically, the Davidic Messiah prophesied in the Hebrew Scriptures. In it’s instructions for partaking in the Eucharist, a prayer is given:
“We give You thanks, oh our Father, for the holy vine of Your son David, which You have made known unto us through Your son Jesus; Yours is the glory forever and ever.”
In this prayer we see Jesus being connected to the vine of David. In the conclusion of the Eucharist prayer, David is mentioned again. (10.6) Jesus is named the Christ in 9.4 of the Eucharist prayer. The declaration of Jesus as the Messiah, Son of David is a claim the Apostles and Gospel writers make throughout the New Testament. It is crucial to the Apostles’ understanding of the Gospel and how Jesus fulfills the Scriptures. (Matthew 1:1, Mark 10:47-48, Luke 1:31-33, Acts 2:29-36, Romans 1:1-4)
Jesus is the Son of God
While Trinitarian doctrine isn’t heavily expressed throughout the Didache, it’s worth pointing a time where it is: baptism.
“...baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit in running water.”
The Trinitarian formula given is nearly identical to the instructions of baptism Jesus gives in Matthew 28. Whether Matthew and the Didache are relying on each other or a third source is up for debate. What matters for this blog is that Matthew’s interpretation of the Trinitarian baptism refers to the Son being Jesus.
We also see in other 1st century Christian literature converts baptizing simply in the name of Jesus. (Acts 2:38, Galatians 3:27) With this in mind, I believe it is fair to assume The Didache’s Trinitarian baptism refers Jesus as the Son.
While the theological significance of baptism is not discussed in The Didache, converts to Christianity would have at least had a surface level understanding of what they were proclaiming when being baptized in the name of Jesus.
The name to which a person is baptized under is for said name’s purpose and cause. To be baptized in the name of Jesus was to be baptized for the sake of Jesus. (Janicki, 2017, Pg. 279) Paul brings this up when addressing the Corinthian division and reminding them that they were baptized in the name of Jesus, and not the Apostles. (1st Corinthians 1:12-17)
When we look at how converts are to be baptized in the Gospel of Matthew and The Didache, this makes Jesus being aligned with God the Father and the Holy Spirit all the more significant to Jesus’ status:
“The mention of the three names over the baptized person hands him over to the three as property and places him in their protection: the power of God and the Lord, the power of the Spirit comes over the baptism of the believer further.”
Jesus is Lord and Coming Judge
The last thing we’ll examine is how The Didache proclaims Jesus as Lord and Judge over the world. Understanding who “lord” is in The Didache is a bit complicated, as the word is used in different contexts throughout the writing.
Despite this complication, Murray J. Smith argues that of the twenty-four times “lord” is used in The Didache, at least five of those times almost certainly refer to Jesus and eleven are most likely referring to Jesus. (Smith, 2015, Pg. 365)
One example of this is in The Didache’s instruction for prayer. It gives the Lord’s Prayer, also nearly identical to Matthew’s version (Matthew 6:9-13). “Neither pray as the hypocrites do, but as the Lord commanded in his Gospel…” (The Didache 8.2a)
Another example is found when The Didache instructs who may and may not partake in the Eucharist:
“But let no one eat or drink of this Eucharistic thanksgiving, but they that have been baptized in the name of the Lord; for concerning this also the Lord had said: Give not that which is holy to the dogs.”
This is actually pretty fascinating upon closer inspection! This instruction is given shortly after instructing baptism in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Yet here, it simply states being baptized in the name of the Lord. And right after that, it quotes a Jesus saying as coming from “the Lord”. There are some big implications of Jesus sharing a divine status in this statement!
In regards to judgment, The Didache ends with a warning of tribulation and coming judgment from “the Lord”. While there has been debate in scholarship about who “the Lord” specifically is referring to in this passage, it is worth noting this passage seems to come from the same tradition as the Olivet Discourse given by Jesus in the Synoptic Gospels.
Going back to the liturgical prayers in The Didache 9-10, the Church calls upon God to bring the scattered Church together from all nations, which was a Messianic expectation. (Janicki, 2017, Pg. 360) With this and the Synoptic tradition in mind, The Didache points to Jesus being centered in its eschatology as the Lord who will come to judge the earth. (Smith, 2015, Pg. 384)
Conclusion
There is still more to examine with how The Didache understands Jesus and His role in Christianity. However, I hope this blog can be a helpful start in seeing that while the Christology of The Didache is minimal, it is not insignificant. The Didache believes Jesus is the Christ of Israel, Lord, the Son of God, and coming Judge.
Bibliography
Lightfoot, J.B. (1891). The Didache or Teaching of the Twelve Apostles. (I have updated some of the English to modern English)
Janicki, T. (2017). The Way of Life: The Rediscovered Teachings of the Twelve Jewish Apostles to the Gentiles. Marshfield, MI. Vine of David.
Knopf, R. (2023). Commentary on the Didache and on 1-2 Clement. Translated by Jacob N. Cerone. Eugene, OR. Wipf and Stock Publishers.
Smith, M.J. (2015). The Lord Jesus and His Coming in the Didache. In Draper and Jefford, The Didache: A Missing Piece of the Puzzle in Early Christianity. Atlanta, GA. SBL Press.
Wilhite, S. (2019). The Didache: A Commentary. Eugene, OR. Wipf and Stock.
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