Chp.15 - The True Fast Is To Lead The Soul To Health

"“Learn, therefore, to keep the true fast of God, as Isaiah says, that you may please God. . . ." Justin Martyr. (1885). Dialogue of Justin with Trypho, a Jew. In A. Roberts, J. Donaldson, & A. C. Coxe (Eds.), The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus (Vol. 1, p. 202). Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company. Justin calls Trypho to a true fast, for the Jewish fast was for appearance sake; but God's intention was for the sinner to cease from carnal enjoyments to meet with the joy of their salvation and bring health to the soul of the nation. First, he expounds Isaiah by defining the pure intentions of the fathers' fasting of old, saying, "Isaiah has cried thus: ‘Shout vehemently, and do not spare: lift up thy voice as with a trumpet, and show My people their transgressions, and the house of Jacob their sins. They seek Me from day to day, and desire to know My ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the judgment of God." But the error of this generation was a false trust in the deeds of the past that have died with these fathers "as a nation that did righteousness". They have followed and honored their fathers pragmatically and have no thought for what needs amended in their own generation. They put their trust in dead works of the past and are not looking to their future and seeking a vision of wisdom to take them there. "Because in the days of your fasting you find your own pleasure, and oppress all those who are subject to you. Behold, ye fast for strifes and debates, and smite the humble with your fists. Why do ye fast for Me, as to-day, so that your voice is heard aloud? This is not the fast which I have chosen, the day in which a man shall afflict his soul. And not even if you bend your neck like a ring, or clothe yourself in sackcloth and ashes, shall you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the Lord. This is not the fast which I have chosen, saith the Lord; but loose every unrighteous bond, dissolve the terms of wrongous covenants, let the oppressed go free, and avoid every iniquitous contract. Deal thy bread to the hungry, and lead the homeless poor under thy dwelling; if thou seest the naked, clothe him; and do not hide thyself from thine own flesh." Justin Martyr. (1885). Dialogue of Justin with Trypho, a Jew. In A. Roberts, J. Donaldson, & A. C. Coxe (Eds.), The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus (Vol. 1, p. 202). Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company. Therefore the true fast that God calls for is to seek God for the understanding of how to honor the poor and lead them back to health and safety as a nation and as a church of the Most High. Whatever laws that their fathers made previously may have delivered some from death in its own generation are now leading others to their death in the current generation; and this was the political cycle of the kings and priests of Israel. Therefore this was a call to fast for their own regeneration and salvation, first, so that they may lead God's people to the water of life. "Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thy garments2 shall rise up quickly: and thy righteousness shall go before thee, and the glory of God shall envelope thee. Then shalt thou cry, and the Lord shall hear thee: . . . then shall thy light arise in the darkness, and thy darkness shall be as the noon-day: and thy God shall be with thee continually, and thou shalt be satisfied according as thy soul desireth, and thy bones shall become fat, and shall be as a watered garden, and as a fountain of water, or as a land where water fails not.’3 ‘Circumcise, therefore, the foreskin of your heart,’ as the words of God in all these passages demand.”" Justin Martyr. (1885). Dialogue of Justin with Trypho, a Jew. In A. Roberts, J. Donaldson, & A. C. Coxe (Eds.), The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus (Vol. 1, p. 202). Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company. This is a description of the new birth. So, therefore, the purpose of the fast is not to change external appearances but the inward nature of the soul. Jesus describes the true fast when he said: Matthew 6:16–18 (NKJV) 16 “Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 17 But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

Chp.16 - Circumcision Given As A Sign Of Destruction And A Curse

Justin points to the purpose of the Mosaic and Levitical covenant; that it was given, according to the flesh, for a sign of separation from the nations to illustrate and demonstrate the destruction of the fleshly (sinful) nature of man in the context of a national covenant. All who are born into this covenant are under its curse to keep the whole law until its fulfillment by the Christ. "For the Lord your God is both Lord of lords, and a great, mighty, and terrible God, who regardeth not persons, and taketh not rewards[a bribe].’4 And in Leviticus: ‘Because they have transgressed against Me, and despised Me, and because they have walked contrary to Me, I also walked contrary to them, and I shall cut them off in the land of their enemies. Then shall their uncircumcised heart be turned.’5" Justin Martyr. (1885). Dialogue of Justin with Trypho, a Jew. In A. Roberts, J. Donaldson, & A. C. Coxe (Eds.), The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus (Vol. 1, p. 202). Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company. Christ came to the Jews first to walk contrary to their external deeds and in the uprightness of his pure heart for the love and glory of God in true righteousness as the sign of the true circumcision. "For the circumcision according to the flesh, which is from Abraham, was given for a sign; that you may be separated from other nations, and from us; and that you alone may suffer that which you now justly suffer; and that your land may be desolate, and your cities burned with fire; and that strangers may eat your fruit in your presence, and not one of you may go up to Jerusalem.’6 For you are not recognised among the rest of men by any other mark than (your fleshly) circumcision." Justin Martyr. (1885). Dialogue of Justin with Trypho, a Jew. In A. Roberts, J. Donaldson, & A. C. Coxe (Eds.), The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus (Vol. 1, p. 202). Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company. Justin is basically making a pun alluding to their lack of understanding concerning the intentions of God regarding the symbolic circumcision. In others words the circumcision after the flesh is a sign of Israel's destruction. "Accordingly, these things have happened to you in fairness and justice, for you have slain the Just One, and His prophets before Him; and now you reject those who hope in Him, and in Him who sent Him—God the Almighty and Maker of all things—cursing in your synagogues those that believe on Christ. For you have not the power to lay hands upon us, on account of those who now have the mastery. But as often as you could, you did so." Justin Martyr. (1885). Dialogue of Justin with Trypho, a Jew. In A. Roberts, J. Donaldson, & A. C. Coxe (Eds.), The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus (Vol. 1, p. 202). Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company. Justin makes it clear to Trypho, the Jew, that Israel's judgment is just! But he also bids Trypho to draw near to God through the new and divinely appointed means in the new covenant of Christ's blood, as did Isaiah: "Wherefore God, by Isaiah, calls to you, saying, ‘Behold how the righteous man perished, and no one regards it. For the righteous man is taken away from before iniquity. His grave shall be in peace, he is taken away from the midst. Draw near hither, ye lawless children, seed of the adulterers, and children of the whore. Against whom have you sported yourselves, and against whom have you opened the mouth, and against whom have you loosened the tongue?’1" Justin Martyr. (1885). Dialogue of Justin with Trypho, a Jew. In A. Roberts, J. Donaldson, & A. C. Coxe (Eds.), The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus (Vol. 1, pp. 202–203). Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company. Trypho is to come to Christ confessing the transgression of the fathers and of his own lawlessness; closing his mouth to the condemnation of the justified in Christ. Justin reserves no punches and is going for the knock out! He is pressing Trypho for a decision and laboring for his repentance. Chp.17 - Justin Accuses The Jews Of Being A Stumbling Block To The Gentiles

"“For other nations have not inflicted on us and on Christ this wrong to such an extent as you have, who in very deed are the authors of the wicked prejudice against the Just One, and us who hold by Him. For after that you had crucified Him, the only blameless and righteous Man,—through whose stripes those who approach the Father by Him are healed,—when you knew that He had risen from the dead and ascended to heaven, as the prophets foretold He would, you not only did not repent of the wickedness which you had committed, but at that time you selected and sent out from Jerusalem chosen men through all the land to tell that the godless heresy of the Christians had sprung up, and to publish those things which all they who knew us not speak against us. So that you are the cause not only of your own unrighteousness, but in fact of that of all other men." Justin Martyr. (1885). Dialogue of Justin with Trypho, a Jew. In A. Roberts, J. Donaldson, & A. C. Coxe (Eds.), The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus (Vol. 1, p. 203). Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company. Justin again holds nothing back by giving him the judgment of Christ against Israel's hypocrisy. He quotes verse after verse that stands in condemnation over the wickedness of Jews. "For He appeared distasteful to you when He cried among you, ‘It is written, My house is the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves!’5 He overthrew also the tables of the money-changers in the temple, and exclaimed, ‘Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye pay tithe of mint and rue, but do not observe the love of God and justice. Ye whited sepulchres! appearing beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones.’6 And to the Scribes, ‘Woe unto you, Scribes! for ye have the keys, and ye do not enter in yourselves, and them that are entering in ye hinder; ye blind guides!’" Justin Martyr. (1885). Dialogue of Justin with Trypho, a Jew. In A. Roberts, J. Donaldson, & A. C. Coxe (Eds.), The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus (Vol. 1, p. 203). Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company. The is a prime example of how the good news of the Christ's testimony and character is a bitter meal to those who despise his life and witness. Apart from a true conversion a Jew would not swallow their pride to take in such hash threats, because they are completely true. One has to wonder if Justin is going to add some gentle encouragements to lead him to some life giving water in the gospel.