Falco Knotwise wrote: ↑Fri Jan 05, 2024 9:49 pm
The reference to “the hypocrites” here was apparently a reference to the Pharisees who fasted on Mondays and Thursdays. The authors of the didache were apparently trying to create distinct Christian customs. I doubt it was really “all about Mondays.”
Yes I know who it was referring to. They were not being called out for the day but rather the way. So to pick out the day as the issue is missing it. They could have simply said as Jesus
Mat 6:16 Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
Mat 6:17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;
Mat 6:18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.
Luk 18:11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
Luk 18:12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
Luk 18:13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
Luk 18:14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
I am not saying there is anything wrong with a church mandating fast days, but to say as they did and not perhaps like Jesus did… they are missing it.
They literally draw a link between the day and being a hypocrite. They don’t explain why there is reason to change the fast days nor do they explain why the Jews were hypocrites.