More than one kind of bread…

Many people know the Lord’s prayer yet how many realize what kinds of bread we need to ask for when we say, “Give us this day our daily bread”? (Matthew 6:11) Two are likely, and maybe a third (slang for money) but that one is not likely what Jesus had in mind!

Only those who live in poverty concentrate on literal bread. I’ve seen people living on the street and cooking their meager rations in an old paint can with hot charcoal in the bottom. Our city has hundreds of homeless people, but also shelters where they can go and get a meal. Me and most of the people I know seldom pray for bread other than thanking God for the abundance of food that we do have.
The other ‘bread’ is a different nourishment. When Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, the first trial was hunger…

And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ” (Matthew 4:3–4)

Jesus linked physical food with spiritual food. He’d gone several weeks without food and was obviously hungry, indicating that our greatest temptations can also be linked to our greatest felt needs. But Jesus didn’t go for it. I can’t turn stones into food yet He could, and it seems that my temptations are also related to things I could do myself without God’s direction or help, as well as to my deepest desires. That aside, Jesus wants me to ask Him for spiritual nourishment.

Job was born long before Jesus set the example of resisting temptation, but he had his priorities sorted out also. He needed physical food, but knew the value of spiritual food. He said:

I have not departed from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food. (Job 23:12)

Solomon also had it figured out. He was not interested in lies or being a rich man even though he was wealthy. All he wanted from God was what he needed:

Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me. (Proverbs 30:8)

The psalmists had the same love for spiritual food. They wrote: “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Psalm 119:103) and when I read the psalms I often experience that same sweetness. This past week, I decided to stop eating desserts and things with sugar — and am amazed that I don’t miss it. So far, the Word of God has blessed me far more than the chocolate bars, cakes, cinnamon buns, and other sweet items have not even tempted me. Praise God for that.

This brings me to a greater realization of one more thing Jesus said about food. At one point His disciples urged Him to eat and He said to them;

“I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. (John 4:32–34)

I understand that doing what God says is vital to spiritual growth. If I don’t obey, I stop growing. Jesus said by obeying, it was like food. The words that come to mind are: tasty, nourishing, part of communion and fellowship with others, even a reminder of Jesus’ death in eating bread and tasting wine. If I eat well physically, I am healthy. If I eat well spiritually, the life of Christ in me is nourished too, even more palatable to others. It also keeps my focus on Him, the Bread of Life.

PRAY: God, even in ordinary food, Your truth is illustrated. The only difference is that too much of the bread of life does not add the pounds that too much physical bread can do… yet both kinds of bread need exercise to do the most good in my life and the lives of those whom You ask me to share Your bread. Keep me alert to my own hunger and the hunger of those around me.

Feasting on the Bread of life?

In Scripture, BREAD is normally “food, especially bread or grain for making it” yet Jesus called Himself the Bread of life hinting that “bread” has a spiritual sense. The Hebrew language gets its word for bread from a root word that means “to feed on” but figuratively implies consuming or devouring in battle, to make and fight a war. Could it be that eating bread hints at more than a daily physical necessity?

“Bread” appears about 300 times in Scripture. Most of these are about literal bread. Some refer to manna, a mysterious food that God supplied when His people were delivered from slavery in Egypt and wandered in the wilderness. However, this root word was also used to describe armed conflict. In Deborah’s song of victory after a battle, she describes the reason for the conflict:

When new gods were chosen, then war was in the gates. Was shield or spear to be seen among forty thousand in Israel? (Judges 5:8)

Idolatry brought God’s people into a physical battle. This is also true in the spiritual realm; failing to put God on the throne of my life will result in a spiritual battle because I will be open to attacks from Satan. This is in line with the verse that says: “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7)

But what does war have to do with the word that is used for bread? Is this a typo? Or does Jesus make the connection when He was tempted in the wilderness and made this statement?

And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ” (Matthew 4:3–4)

Physical bread is needed yet is of no value when it comes to resisting evil. For that, I need the Word of God which is described here as “rhema” or a special word for the need of the moment, and in this context, that need is a Word from God that enables me to go to war and defeat the liar who is attacking me! It is not about a dough but about spiritual power from God’s Word.

This connection enriches the request for daily bread in the Lord’s prayer as it is followed by the request for forgiveness and spiritual protection:

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. (Matthew 6:11–13)

The ordinance of communion also has overtones of needing the strength of God to overcome the trials of life. Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take, eat; this is my body.” (Matthew 26:26) He was not talking about physical nourishment but spiritual reliance on Him. He said so with a declaration and a promise:

I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever . . . . unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him . . . . Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” (John 6:31-58)

His disciples grumbled at this “hard saying” and He said to them, “ . . . It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life” (John 6:60–63) linking bread with spiritual and eternal life, a life involving a battle against evil for which we need the life and power of Jesus Christ, the bread of life, to win. Baked bread will not do it.

GAZE INTO HIS GLORY. Meditate on what food does for me and how that necessity compares to Jesus and my need for Him — every day and for all that I do. Without bread, I become weak and unable to function or even think properly. Without Bread I am useless when the enemy shoots his lies at me. Like physical food is available in a great variety for physical needs, Jesus feeds me in many ways that are perfectly suited to my spiritual needs, mostly the need to do battle as I serve Him.