Texts in Conversation
In John, Jesus is said to die to gather into one the scattered children of God. In the Didache, an early church manual, the church prays to be gathered like bread once scattered on the hills, a Christian form of the hope that Israel would be gathered.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Didache 9:4
Early Christian
1 Regarding the Eucharist, conduct the Eucharist in this way: 2 First, concerning the Cup, say: 'We thank You, our Father, for the Holy Vine of David Your servant, which You revealed to us through Jesus Your Son; may You be glorified forever.' 3 Concerning the broken Bread, say: 'We thank You, our Father, for the life and knowledge that You revealed to us through Jesus Your Son. May You be glorified forever.' 4 'Just as this broken bread was scattered over the hills and then gathered together and became one, so let Your Church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into Your kingdom. Yours is the glory and power through Jesus Christ forever.' 5 Only those who have been baptized in the Lord's Name may eat or drink from your Eucharist. For the Lord also said, 'Do not give what is holy to dogs.'
John 11:52
New Testament
49 Then one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said, “You know nothing at all! 50 You do not realize that it is more to your advantage to have one man die for the people than for the whole nation to perish.” 51 (Now he did not say this on his own, but because he was high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the Jewish nation, 52 and not for the Jewish nation only, but to gather together into one the children of God who are scattered.)
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Notes and References
“... The gathering of the gentile church is a basic concept of earliest Christianity, and because this theme figures prominently in the eucharistic prayers, it calls for a more elaborate comment at this point of our discussion. As has been shown above, the longing for a Christian gathering parallels the Jewish hope for the restoration of Israel and the gathering of the people. The idea of the assembling of the church is already reflected in the (later stages of?) the gospels. In the so-called Synoptic Apocalypse in Mark, it says that when the Son of Man comes, "he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven" (Mark 13:27; cf. Matt 24:31). In John 11:52, the Jewish aspect is linked with the speculation about the gentile believers: Jesus did not come only for the Jewish nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one (cf. also John 10:15-16). ...”
Sandt, Hubertus W., and David Flusser
The Didache: Its Jewish Sources and Its Place in Early Judaism and Christianity
(p. 326) Royal Van Gorcum, 2002
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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