God Gives Daily Bread To All Regardless

When Jesus guides us to pray for our daily bread, He's not only talking about bread itself. The word is often used as an analogy for food and all those other things that belong to daily living. Jesus even speaks about Himself as the living Bread. So we read,

By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return." - Gen 3:19 ESV 

Then he washed his face and came out. And controlling himself he said, "Serve the food." - Gen 43:31 ESV 

My appetite refuses to touch them; they are as food that is loathsome to me. - Job 6:7 ESV 

My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, "Where is your God?" - Psa 42:3 ESV 

How is it that you fail to understand that I did not speak about bread? Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees." Then they understood that he did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. - Mat 16:11-12 ESV

I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh." - Jhn 6:51 ESV

 Whether you do or do not pray for daily bread, the Father in heaven will most likely provide what you need today. Whether you do or do not care about what happens to your enemies, the sun will still rise today and the rain will fall on you and them. You have no control over it, as Jesus says in His sermon,

For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. - Mat 5:43-45 ESV

So why pray at all for food and other earthly blessings? The answer lies in your heart. Do you truly believe that you are a child of God? Do you believe that everything happening today is the Father's gracious gift to you, as Jesus taught?

But he answered, "It is written, "'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" - Mat 4:4 (Deut. 8:3) ESV 

And do you truly desire to listen to Him and His guiding?

If all this is so, then tell Him and let Him know how thankful you are for all that He continues to provide both by your words and by your actions. Let your life be a ceaseless prayer of praise and thanksgiving.

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. - 1Th 5:16-18 ESV

Further, learn from the teaching and examples of Jesus and the early disciples to love your enemies and pray for them even as they persecute you. Share with others what the LORD gives you each day and do so with joy in your heart. And make sure that you provide for your relatives, especially those who live with you or are close to you. In all these and related ways show the Father in heaven that you are truly His child, born anew by the washing of Baptism and the indwelling power of His Spirit.

You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons (i.e. children) of your Father who is in heaven. - Matt 5:44 ESV 

And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they (i.e. Jerusalem disciples) received their food with glad and generous hearts, - Acts 2:46 ESV  

But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. - 1Ti 5:8 ESV

Each day our heavenly Father provides us with good weather, food, shelter, friends, family, home, country, good government, work, protection, healing, help and countless other blessings. And He gives all these to us even though we do not deserve the least of them.

What then if He withdraws these blessings from our lives? Can we still pray? More about that tomorrow.

Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread

Daily bread? Why bread? Why not, say, broccoli or carrots or cake? Why does our LORD teach us to pray, Give us this day our daily bread (Matt. 6:11) ? 

The fourth petition of the prayer our LORD taught us has a history, like everything else in the Bible. It goes back to the Exodus of the Children of Israel from bondage and slavery in Egypt in the 13th century B.C. Once they made it to the wilderness area between Egypt and the promised land they believed they were in big trouble. And they immediately began to complain about it.

And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, and the people of Israel said to them, "Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger." - Exod. 16:2-3 ESV

The LORD's response to this grumbling disbelief was to "rain bread from heaven" for them. Every day they were to "gather a day's portion"—no more—so that the LORD might test their faith in Him and whether they were willing to walk in His commands. On the sixth day they were to gather twice as much, for on the seventh day they were to rest (Exod. 16:4-7, 21-27).

And what was this strange food that appeared with the morning dew? No one could tell. This is why they said to one another in Hebrew, "Man hu?" What is it?
Moses reply was simple and to the point,

"It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat. This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Gather of it, each one of you, as much as he can eat. You shall each take an , according to the number of the persons that each of you has in his tent.'" - Exod. 16:15-16 ESV 
omer

An omer was equal to a couple quarts in our terms. Some gathered more, some less, but they discovered that whoever gathered much had nothing left over for the next day and whoever gathered little had quite enough nevertheless. Some tried to save it over to the next day, but they soon found that it bred worms and stank. And they also learned that it melted in the sun's heat. So it was a day by day existence. They were completely dependent upon the blessings of the LORD, for there was little else to eat in that wild, deserted area.

Many have offered guesses about Manna, but they remain but guesses. Here is one such, based upon a 2010 NY Times article.

The Bible describes it as being “like coriander seed,” and “white, and its taste was like wafers with honey.” 

But as miraculous as its biblical apparition may seem, manna is real and some chefs have been cooking with it. 

The dozens of varieties of what are called mannas have two things in common. They are sweet and, as in the Bible, they appear as if delivered by providence, without cultivation. 

Most of this manna is either dried plant sap extruded from tiny holes chewed out by almost invisible bugs, or a honeydew excreted by bugs that eat the sap. 

Rarer are the mannas not from sap, including Trehala manna, the sweet-tasting cocoon of the Larinus maculates beetle from Turkey; and manna-lichen (Lecanora esculenta), which occasionally dries up and blows around to form semisweet clouds out of which manna settles into drifts from western Greece to the central Asian steppe. 

Mannas form best in extremely dry climates — like the Middle East’s — where sap oozes at night and dries up in the morning. The favored theory on what the Israelites called manna is the sap of a tamarisk tree. 

In Calabria and Sicily, Italian farmers cut the bark of the flowering ash (Fraxinus ornus) to get the dried sap, the only domesticated form of manna. Italian apothecaries used it for centuries as a laxative, and other mannas have been used for medicinal purposes.

I suppose its OK to claim to know what Manna was. The real point is that it was always there for them throughout the 40 years before they claimed the land promised to Abraham and his descendants (Genesis 13:14-18).

Jesus' prayer for today's bread has all this in mind. More about this in my next post.

Read The Signs Or Die

We're still talking about discipleship and the work of the church. In earlier posts we took a look at Jesus' feeding thousands in the wilderness along the northern shores of the Sea of Galilee or, as the
Romans called it, the Sea of Tiberias. As a result, the crowd wanted to make him their king, their Bread King. With him in charge the problem of food would be settled. But Jesus would have none of it. He hid himself back in the hills. We pick up the narrative in John 6.

When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened.
But he said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid."
Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going. - Jhn 6:16-21 ESV

In Matthew's account Peter boldly asks Jesus for permission to join him on the water. But then Peter loses his faith and has to be rescued from drowning. When they step into the boat Jesus remonstrates Peter, saying, "O you of little faith. Why did you doubt?"

Once in the boat, the wind ceased and shortly after that they made it safely to land. All this made a deep impression on the disciples. They knelt before him and said, "Truly you are the Son of God!"(Matt. 14:24-32)

Later Peter repeated his conviction that Jesus was God's Son. On the Mountain Peter, James and John saw Jesus transfigured and shining as bright as newly fallen snow. They heard the Father proclaim Jesus His Son (Matt.17:5). When the Sanhedrin tried Jesus they pronounced him guilty of blasphemy for declaring himself to be God's Son. This was a crime worthy of death (Matt. 16:63-66).

What has all this to do with the primary questions of Bread and healing raised by the crowd? Just this. Jesus is indeed the Son of God. As John wrote in the beginning of his Gospel,

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. - Jhn 1:1-3 ESV

Jesus gave them plain and obvious signs of this fact. He fed thousands with a five barley loaves and two fish. He walked on water amidst a raging storm and calmed the sea. Once again the LORD God had come among His people to feed them in the wilderness and take them safely through the fearsome waters of the sea, just as He did in the days of their Exodus from Egypt to the Promised Land. Truly He is the Son of God, Immanuel, God with us! The psalmist pulls this history together as he invites praise.

Shout for joy to God, all the earth; sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise! Say to God, "How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you. All the earth worships you and sings praises to you; they sing praises to your name." Selah

Come and see what God has done: he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man. He turned the sea into dry land; they passed through the river on foot. There did we rejoice in him, who rules by his might forever, whose eyes keep watch on the nations-- let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah

Bless our God, O peoples; let the sound of his praise be heard, who has kept our soul among the living and has not let our feet slip. For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried. You brought us into the net; you laid a crushing burden on our backs; you let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water; yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance. - Psa 66:1-12 ESV

Jesus is indeed the Son of God, King above all kings, Maker of heaven and earth, Master of wind and seas. All the signs pointed to this fact. But Jesus would not allow the crowd to declare him king. Why not?

Because they had no faith in him and his promises. They were not ready to be his disciples. Yes, they were concerned about their fundamental needs. As I pointed out in earlier postings, Maslow is correct. There is a hierarchy of needs and, as in the case of the hungry crowd and the frightened disciples on the sea, the need for food and safety are fundamental. Nothing wrong with that. But there is so much more.

The crowd was concerned only about themselves, their needs for healing, for food and drink and for personal safety. But that was all they thought about. As in the case of the Israelites in the wilderness, God was testing them again, trying them as silver is tried. As the proverb says,

The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and the LORD tests hearts. - Pro 17:3 ESV (see also Isaiah 48:10)

He tested them and they all failed the test. They did not give God the glory. They did not bless and praise Him. All they thought about was themselves. What's in this for me? You give us bread. You calm the storms. Great. We are well fed, healed and safe. Now that's the kind of king we want.

And that is the very nature of sin. Instead of keeping first things first, the focus is always and only upon me, my wants and my needs. The first and greatest of all God's commandments is this:

"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. - Deu 6:4-5 ESV

Here, right here in the wilderness near the Sea of Galilee, here was the LORD. All the signs all pointed to Him. But they would not see them. Their hearts were hardened. They worshipped only themselves. Peter and the disciples saw Him for who He is. They worshipped Him and acknowledged Him to be the Son of God. Weak as their faith was, it was still faith. They were his disciples, but the rest failed the test.

John continues. The crowd Jesus fed followed him and His disciples to the other side of the sea. Puzzled at how he got there they approached him.

They said to him, "Rabbi, when did you come here?"Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal." - Jhn 6:25-27 ESV

We must take a very careful look at this statement. As disciples of Jesus we are concerned about the whole person, about the needs of the body, but our central and primary task is to lead men to Christ. Fail to do that and we have failed to be the church. More on this next time as we learn more about Jesus' two kingdoms, those often called the kingdoms of his right and left hands.

Feeding The Whole Man, Both Soul And Body

I'm discussing the meaning of discipleship in the light of John's Gospel, particularly John 6 and the story of Jesus feeding thousands in the wilderness.

Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, "Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?" He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. 

Philip answered him, "Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little." 

One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, "There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?" 

Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. - Jhn 6:5-10 ESV

As noted in yesterday's Gospel, Philip was called by Jesus to be one of His disciples. He was from Bethsaida on the northern coast of the inland Sea of Galilee, the same town where Andrew and Peter lived. Philip introduced Nathanael to Jesus. Unlike the other disciples, Philip had a Greek name, implying some connection to the Greek speaking community of that multi-cultural region of Palestine. Later in John's Gospel Philip introduced members of this community to Jesus (John 14:8-11). We must assume that mixed among this crowd that followed Jesus out into the wilderness were Greek speaking people, perhaps many who were not even Jews. This may well explain why Jesus approached Philip first to ask him how they might feed such a large crowd.

But why be concerned about feeding the crowd at all? For the same reasons that Jesus was concerned about healing.

Back in the 1940s and 50s a psychologist by the name of Abraham Maslow introduced something he called the Hierarchy of Needs. These ideas were presented in his book Motivation and Personality, first published in 1954 and now available as an e-book. Maslow's theory is that basic to all human existence are the primary physiological and biological needs for air, food, shelter, warmth, sex, etc. Only as these are satisfied are people motivated to seek higher levels of need. This hierarchy is often presented in diagram format.

From Wikipedia: Maslow's hierarchy of needs

Keeping this understanding of human psychology in mind, it seems safe to conclude that our Lord Jesus was saying two things when he approached first Philip and through him the rest of the disciples.

1. There are people here who are not Jews. Philip, you know that better than the rest of us. You speak Greek, you have relatives among them. It doesn't matter that they don't speak Aramaic like the rest of us or that they may be Greeks, Romans, Syrians or even Samaritans. They're hungry and in need. We must care for them. How shall we do this?
2. Consider especially their physiological and safety needs. We must care for them or they'll never pay attention to their need to believe in Me, Jesus, their Lord, Savior and King. 

And with that I strongly urge all of us who are Christians and followers of Jesus to recognize the strategy of Jesus in reaching out to people. He has established the basic and fundamental model for all of us involved in His mission to reach the lost. In the name of love we cannot ignore all people's basic needs for food, shelter and sleep. Immediately following that are the needs for security and health for individuals and for their families. If we are indeed the Body of Christ, His arms and hands in our communities, then we must indeed be concerned for these fundamental needs of all, whether in the church or outside it. With these satisfied or cared for, people will be motivated to concern themselves with higher needs. Then we feed their souls as well.  

Jesus always cared for the whole person. Likewise this has always been the concern of the church, the living, active body of Christ in this world. Across the centuries this has led the church to establish hospitals and clinics, to feed the hungry, provide clothing and shelter for those in need and on and on and on. And along with these commitments to care for the body, the church brings the teaching of God's Word so that we may feed men with the Bread of Life (John 6:35-48), Jesus, Savior of the world and care for their spiritual needs. The two types of feeding, the feeding of both body and soul, are inter-connected and can never be separated one from the other. 

More about this in my next post as I continue this discussion of discipleship.