Resurrection in the Didache
(avg. read time: 4–7 mins.)
As last year I examined resurrection in various books of the NT (see here for those and other past entries), and as I would like to write at least one volume on resurrection in subsequent Christian literature, today I am beginning what I expect to be a long-running series on the same. The first few entries will be on the Apostolic Fathers, and then we will move in rough chronological order through various other sources (“rough” in the sense that second-century sources will be covered before third-century ones and so on, but I am not strictly dedicated to making sure everything is in precise order within each century, as there is plenty of room for ranges in dating some sources). Because I plan to publish something on the subject, albeit after the NT series is done far from now, at least some of this series, particularly the longer entries, will be exclusives for my paid subscribers.
Our first entry is on the Didache, otherwise known as “The Teachings of the Twelve Apostles.” It was written in either the first or early second century and proved to be a popular source. It is part ethical exhortation and part ecclesiological exhortation. That is to say, it teaches the proper way to live (particularly by appeal to the “two ways” format of instruction seen as far back as Deuteronomy and popular in Jewish and Christian circles, as well as by allusive appeals to Jesus’s teaching in the Sermon on the Mount) and the proper praxis for communal gatherings (concerning baptism, fasting, prayer, the Eucharist, and how to treat church leaders).
The end of this document in ch. 16 supplies eschatological expectations that provide motivation for following the preceding instructions. This is similar to what we see in various places in the NT in the call for vigilance in conduct in anticipation of the time that is coming. Interestingly enough, this includes the expectation of the coming of the “world-deceiver” pretending to be the Son of God who will perform signs and wonders (16:4). The book then ends with these lines in 16:5–8 (the translation is my own):
Then the creation of/that is humanity will come into the conflagration/burning of examination/trial, and many shall be made to stumble and perish, but those who persevere in their faith will be saved from under the curse itself. 6 And then will appear the signs of the Truth; first is/will be a sign of the spreading out in heaven, then is/will be a sign of a sound of a trumpet, and the third is/will be the resurrection [ἀνάστασις] of the dead. 7 Now it is not all of them, but as has been said: “The Lord will come and all the holy ones/saints with him.” 8 Then the world will see the Lord coming above the clouds of heaven.
The key term is the same as the main noun for referring to resurrection that we have seen in the NT. The phrase as a whole in reference to the resurrection of the dead (ἀνάστασις [τῶν] νεκρῶν) also appears several times in the NT (Matt 22:31 [par. Luke 20:35]; Acts 17:32; 23:6; 24:21; 26:23; Rom 1:4; 1 Cor 15:12–13, 21, 42; Heb 6:2). Here, it appears as the third and climatic sign accompanying Jesus’s return.
The passage in which it appears is something of a mutation and amalgamation of expectations we have seen presented in diverse places in the NT. The fiery trial is reminiscent of 1 Cor 3:10–15 and 2 Pet 3. The warning against the coming deception and the call for vigilance fits with what Jesus said in the Olivet Discourse, as well as Paul’s instructions in the letters to the Thessalonians, the letters of Peter, and others. As such, the call for perseverance that one can see across the NT is renewed here for the faithful. The reference to the sounding of a trumpet in connection with Jesus’s coming and the resurrection is clearly reminiscent of 1 Cor 15:52 and 1 Thess 4:16 (cf. Matt 24:31). The resurrection being only of the saints is not necessarily suggesting that they will be the only ones ever resurrected, but it might be built on the notion that the resurrection of the saints will be separated in time from the resurrection of others (cf. Rev 20:4–6), so that the declaration in 1 Thess 4:16 that “the dead in Christ will rise first” would also be taken to mean that they will rise before the rest of the dead as well. This is also linked explicitly (in a way that is implicit in 1 Thessalonians and the Olivet Discourse) to Zech 14:5, which, as we have seen elsewhere, has been linked with resurrection otherwise. The description of Jesus coming “above” the clouds uses a different preposition than appears in any similar description in the NT (Matt 24:30; 26:64; Mark 13:26; 14:62; Luke 21:27; 1 Thess 4:17; Rev 1:7; cf. Dan 7:13), but the event expected is the same.
The context calling for vigilance in conduct to avoid becoming deceived has multiple levels of significance for this reference to resurrection. First, perseverance in faithfulness unto death—that is, for those who die before Jesus’s return—will mean that one will partake in that resurrection of the saints that serves as the climactic sign of Jesus’s coming. This resurrection to everlasting life will involve the vindication and exaltation of the faithful and their way of life (as we have seen in the theme in the NT noted above). Second, the resurrection here is thus an identifying action for the saints whereby they are confirmed to be the holy ones of God by their participation in this resurrection. Third, in the context of climactic deception, the resurrection is the climactic sign of the Truth that the deception parodied. As we have seen time and again (including in the previously cited grammatical analysis), only God will raise the dead so that it is an identifying action. It is in connection with the coming of this Lord, this true Son of God, that the resurrection will happen. Fourth, it is somehow connected with these other signs that identify the true Lord at his coming. The link with the sound of a trumpet had already been established in early NT texts, and one could argue that the “spreading out” (ἐκπέτασις) is another means of identification. That is, it could refer to the “spreading out” of Christ’s hands signified in the cross. Given how the larger context resonates with the Olivet Discourse, it could be that the author identifies some representation of the cross as the sign of the Son of Man (Matt 24:30), rather than the sign being the Son of Man himself. Of course, this remains unclear to us today, and it could be some other heavenly sign being indicated, but I think it is at least plausible that this would be another way of linking the resurrection of the dead with Jesus, the risen crucified one, and thereby identifying those who are raised as saints. Fifth, by the link of this event with Zech 14:5, this also fits with what we have seen at various points in the NT (e.g., see here) of the resurrection being linked with the fulfillment of Scripture. As Jesus’s resurrection fulfilled Scripture, so too must the saints be raised to fulfill Scripture when he consummates its grand story.
Beyond this explicit reference, one can also note 14:1. The author has previously implied the eschatological framing of the Eucharist by reference to the kingdom in chs. 9 and 10. That is an extension of Jesus’s own teaching in the institution of the same (as Paul also conveys with speaking of proclaiming Jesus’s death until he comes in 1 Cor 11:26). But it is further supported by taking this meal on the Lord’s day. The text of 14:1 refers to “each Lord’s [day] of the Lord” (κατὰ κυριακὴν δὲ κυρίου) when the people gather to break bread. This is in reference to the first day of the week (Sunday) which was also called the Lord’s day (with the same adjective) in Rev 1:10 and was a time of gathering and breaking bread in the NT (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor 16:2). Why was this the Lord’s day? Because it was on this day that he rose from the dead. With this first fruits of the eschatological resurrection, the life of the Church and its practices like the Eucharist have an eschatological frame of reference that gives them meaning. For in the Eucharist (as with baptism in another way) the people declare the eschatological salvific work of Christ, their union with him, that he is the source of salvation because of God’s eschatological action in him (declared by God raising him from the dead to everlasting life), and the promise that the one who gave his body and blood for the salvation of others is yet again coming back because he is risen.