Many years ago in school, classes began with the reciting of what was called the "Lord's prayer." That is a misnomer of sorts because it was not a prayer that Jesus Christ was giving, it was a model of prayer that He used to teach the disciples about praying. That model prayer begins by praising God and our willingness to obey Him. The line "Give us this day our daily bread" is not always fully understood. The next line to it asks that our sins or debts be forgiven. There is only one way in which our sins can be forgiven and that is through the precious blood sacrifice of our Saviour Jesus Christ. In the prayer, we then ask God to deliver us from the clutches of Satan and we look forward to His kingdom here on earth. In this prayer the one line that seems to ask something physical for ourselves is the title of this article. There is no doubt that we need to give thanks for our daily food as Jesus did in a number of examples (John 6:11). Thankfulness is important. In His sermon given on the mount, just a few lines further, we read that Gentiles seek for the things they eat, drink or wear, but we are reassured that God knows we have need of these things (Matt. 6:25,31,32). Jesus said God knows we need all these things and then we can ask why would we be asking for a physical need on a daily basis in the model prayer? The answer lies in understanding our need for daily bread.
God set about teaching Israel an important lesson as they were led into the wilderness from which they never did escape. They would never have been able to survive for 40 years in this wilderness since there were about three million people not counting cattle. For 40 years God gave them bread to eat each day. That bread came in the form of Manna and was called "what's it" because nobody had ever seen this before. Each person was to pick enough bread to eat for a day and on Friday they picked enough for two days - since none was given on the Sabbath for yet another lesson. They picked the Sabbath supply of bread on Friday. The bread was supplied by God to show the utter dependence they would have on Him for life. Remember that the God they served was the Logos that became Christ. He was the Rock that Israel followed for 40 years (I Cor. 10:4). Paul noted that these things were to be examples for us (v.6). One would wonder how it was that the people of Israel who had never seen Manna rain down from heaven before would not have been so fascinated and struck by this incredible phenomenon, that they would have never ever forgotten the source of their daily supply of bread.
One important lesson of the Manna was that God wanted them to understand that they were not to live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord (Deut. 8:3). Israel completely missed this important lesson because it seems there was no repentance in the wilderness and the whole generation died. When it was time to enter the Promised Land, Joshua had to call a halt and every male had to be circumcised before they could take the Passover and enter the Promised land (Josh. 5:6). Moses was commanded to keep an omer of Manna in a pot that would be placed inside the ark as a reminder for generations to come (Exod. 16:33,34). This teaching from God was very important and had great significance for the future. The pot of manna was to be placed inside the ark of the covenant along with Aaron's rod that budded and the tablets of the covenant. Those three items comprised the basis of the Old Covenant with Israel. They were to teach that God gave them daily bread from heaven and an ordained priesthood along with the laws which defined sin. Israel was expected to obey the laws of God as taught and preserved by the priesthood of Aaron.
The New Covenant that was given was similar to the Old. The laws are now written in the hearts of people (Heb. 8:10). Those laws still define sin and without the forgiveness of sin, people would still die as the people of Israel did when they turned from God. Today we have a new High Priest in Jesus Christ who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens (Heb. 8:1). It is now the Melchizedek priesthood that has taken over from Aaron. His is an enduring and unchangeable priesthood (Heb. 7:24). Under the Old Covenant, the priests would pray on behalf of the people and give sacrifices that were intended to lead people to obeying God. Under the New Covenant, Christ dwells in each converted person along with the Father through the Holy Spirit of God and converts are taught God's laws and way of life (I John 4:12-15). But what is the importance of the Manna that was also kept in the ark? What was the lesson God taught by giving Israel daily bread to eat?
Jesus did many things to teach the importance of the lessons of the New Covenant. At one point, Jesus fed hundreds of people with just a few fish and loaves of bread. These were signs, but as Jesus explained, that sign was to teach that rather than labour for the food which perishes, we are to work for the food that endures to everlasting lice, which Christ was to give (John 6:27). Jesus referred to the Manna by explaining that He was the true bread that God had sent from heaven. He was the bread that gives life to the world (John 6:32,33). Jesus continued to teach about the fact that He was the bread they were to eat that God had sent in the remainder of this chapter. "I am the bread of life." "I am the living bread which came down for heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world" (John 6:51). That was a hard teaching for the Jews to understand and even the disciples of Jesus wrestled with these new teachings. Jesus was hearkening back to the Manna that was sent from heaven to remind them of the lessons that were to be learned and that now He was the "Manna" that they needed every day to sustain life. In our case, it is for eternal life that Christ becomes our daily bread. Spiritual principles are not easy for physical minds to comprehend. Israel did not understand the physical, let alone the spiritual. The Jews had deep seated understanding that they were to eat only "clean" meat as defined by God. Human flesh was not clean and they had trouble understanding that Jesus was speaking of spiritual things. God placed a veil over the eyes of Israel and actually the whole world so that understanding comes only when He draws a person and opens their mind to truth. Conversion is that opening of the mind to realize His truths.
There is no question that we need physical food to eat. When Jesus was teaching people how to pray, He first made it clear that God knew that they need things to live before they asked Him. We are to ask for food and shelter, clothing and health. However, those are for physical existence. Jesus was much more concerned about spiritual existence. In the model prayer Jesus gave, He said to pray to the Father, seek His kingdom and then He said that they were to pray: "Give us this day our daily bread" Matt. 6:11). The rest of this prayer deals with spiritual things such as forgiveness of sin, being kept from temptation and Satan because our goal is God's Kingdom. In this prayer, the only words that might be considered for "us" and our physical needs are the "daily bread." However, it is very clear that on a spiritual level our daily bread is Jesus Christ. He is the reason we can ask God to forgive us our sins and lead us. His presence in our lives is the most important need we have. Many focus on considering that asking for daily bread means the food we eat. That was not the message Jesus brought or intended to convey to mankind. This model prayer is designed to lead a person toward eternal life in the "Promised Land" which really is the Kingdom of God that will last for eternity. That is the most important thing we can pray for and reach for. That was the intention of Jesus Christ when He taught people what to pray for.
When we ask God for our daily bread, Christ in our lives is far more important than the food we eat. We are to be thankful for all God's blessings. Let us rejoice in the lessons God teaches and treasure the help of our Saviour, our daily bread.