Jesus teaches us to pray that God would give us daily bread (Matthew 6:11). Obviously Jesus was not telling His disciples to pray only for bread. But bread was a staple in the diet of the Jews, and had been so for many years. Furthermore, bread was a powerful symbol of God’s provision for His people in the Old Testament. We remember how God cared for the Israelites when they were in the wilderness after their exodus from Egypt. Life in the wilderness was hard, and soon the people began to complain that it would be better to be back in Egypt, where they had wonderful food to eat. In response to these complaints, God promised to “rain bread from heaven” (Ex. 16:4). The next morning, when the dew lifted, there remained behind on the ground “a small round substance, as fine as frost… . It was like white coriander seed, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey” (vv. 14, 31). When God miraculously fed His people from heaven, he did so by giving them bread.
It’s interesting to me that in the language of Western culture, we sometimes speak of one partner in a marriage (it used to be almost exclusively the husband, but not so much these days) as the wage earner of the home. But more colloquially, we call that partner “the breadwinner.” Even in our slang, we use the word bread as a synonym for “money.” Bread remains, at least in our language, as a powerful symbol of the rudimentary basis of provision for our needs. Keep reading
This excerpt is taken from R.C. Sproul’s The Prayer of the Lord. Download the digital edition free through February 28, 2014.
Mr. Jordan,
ReplyDeleteThis is not really a comment on the particular post it is attached to. Rather, it is a general note of thanksgiving for your extraordinary work in providing years of astonishingly learned, wide ranging, and encouraging "daily bread" for Reformed, Anglican Christians.
If I have not ever commented before (and I may have; I forget), it is not from a lack of interest or gratitude. It is only that there is rarely much more to say after you have treated a topic.
I am a (soon to retire) rector in the Diocese of New York (TEC), which has turned out to be just as good a place as any to function as a presbyter who would (if only anyone had ever asked) unreservedly subscribe my name to the Articles of Religion. Begining with the REC, not one of the alphabet soup of self-styled "Continuing Anglican" churches has actually kept the promise to faithfully continue the work of the marytyrs of the English Reformation.
Your prodigious output of quality research and comment makes my job, in my little corner of the world, a lot easier.
(The Rev.) Eric Cosentino