Do we, in our affluent society, really need to pray this prayer \u2014 with our jobs, houses and cars, bank accounts, credit cards, superannuation and so on? We are not like the children of Israel in the desert, dependent on God to supply manna and quails and water from the rock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the other hand, do the following things factor into how we should regard this petition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jesus was a renowned party goer \u2014 except of course he partied with the wrong people?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The great festive banquet promised at the end of the age. See Isaiah 25:6-8 and of course Psalm 23)?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a0 \u00a0We should learn to live one day at a time \u2014 our DAILY bread?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think the petition does refer to our physical needs. There is and always has been a great temptation to regard the \u2018spiritual\u2019 as more important and worthy of more attention than the physical. It stems from the philosophy of Plato, and is known (at least by some) as Platonic dualism, and it values the spiritual over the physical. But throughout the Bible, from Genesis chapter 1, where God creates humans with physical bodies, to the last couple of chapters of Revelation, that speak of the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven to a very physical new earth, there is no distinction between the value God places on the physical and the spiritual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
God fed the children of Israel with bread and poultry whilst they spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness. Jesus had a very physical body \u2014 even after the resurrection \u2014 on a couple of occasions he is recorded as eating after his resurrection. He promises us new physical bodies at the second coming. We celebrate his death and resurrection with physical bread and wine in the communion service. He fed the 5000 with real bread and fish. He was seriously into partying, albeit with the wrong people (a deliberate sign of the Kingdom) p. . . and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I don\u2019t really believe this particular petition deals with spiritual bread, but with meeting our physical needs. William Barclay writes ‘God cares for our bodies. Jesus showed us that; he spent so much time healing people\u2019s diseases and satisfying physical hunger. He was anxious when he thought that the crowd who had followed him out into the lonely places had a long journey home, and no food to eat before they set out upon it. We do well to remember that God is interested in our bodies’<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having said that, I think there are some significant lessons to be taken to heart. The most obvious is that ultimately it is God who provides for all our needs, including our physical ones. The oft repeated injunction in Paul\u2019s letters to be thankful at all times includes being thankful for our daily physical needs. Then \u2018give us today\u2019 surely suggests we should not be anxious for tomorrow. As Hebrews 13:5 (which I am fond of quoting) says literally ‘I will not, I will not cease to sustain and uphold you. I will not, I will not, I will not let you down\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You might have a smile at this delightful story, also from William Barclay. ‘The difficulty of interpreting this petition was increased by the fact that there was very considerable doubt as to the meaning of the word epiousios<\/em>, which is the word translated in the Revised Standard Version as daily. The extraordinary fact was that, until a short time ago, there was no other known occurrence of this word in the whole of Greek literature. The third-century Christian scholar Origen knew this, and indeed held that Matthew had invented the word. It was therefore not possible to be sure what it precisely meant. But not very long ago a papyrus fragment turned up with this word on it; and the papyrus fragment was actually a woman\u2019s shopping list! And against an item on it was the word epiousios. It was a note to remind her to buy supplies of a certain food for the coming day.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n Barclay goes on: \u2018very simply, what this petition means is: \u2018Give me the things we need to eat for this coming day. Help me to get the things I\u2019ve got on my shopping list when I go out this morning. Give me the things we need to eat when the children come in from school, and the family come in from work. Grant that the table is not bare when we sit down together today.\u2019 This is a simple prayer that God will supply us with the things we need for the coming day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And this: \u2018We must note that Jesus did not teach us to pray: \u2018Give me my daily bread.\u2019 He taught us to pray: \u2018Give us our daily bread.\u2019 The problem of the world is not that there is not enough to go round; there is enough and to spare. The problem is not the supply of life\u2019s essentials; it is the distribution of them. This prayer teaches us never to be selfish in our prayers. It is a prayer which we can help God to answer by giving to others who are less fortunate than we are. This prayer is not only a prayer that we may receive our daily bread; it is also a prayer that we may share our daily bread with others.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tom Wright<\/strong> comments<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n At the heart of the petition is a central biblical symbol of the kingdom: the great festive banquet which God has prepared for all his people. This picture goes back to the vision of the land flowing with milk and honey; to the Psalmist, saying \u2018Thou shalt prepare a table before me, in the presence of my foes\u2019; to the children of Israel being fed with quails and manna in the wilderness; to prophecies like that of Isaiah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples The three petitions in the prayer he gave his followers was a prayer for the complete fulfillment of the Kingdom: for God\u2019s people to be rescued from hunger, guilt and fear<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This clause reminds us that God intends us to pray for specific needs.<\/strong> It may seem more \u2018spiritual\u2019 to pray for the conversion of the world than for a parking space near to to the meeting for which we\u2019re about to be late. Now of course it would trivialize Christian prayer if we thought it was only about praying for parking spaces, or for our team to win the match, or for fine weather for the church fete. But once we put the prayer for daily bread within the whole Kingdom prayer where it belongs, to turn then to specific things we honestly need right now, it is not trivial. It is precisely what children do when they love and trust the one they call \u2018Father\u2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Do we, in our affluent society, really need to pray this prayer \u2014 with our jobs, houses and cars, bank accounts, credit cards, superannuation and so on? We are not like the children of Israel in the desert, dependent on God to supply manna and quails and water from the rock. On the other hand, … <\/p>\n
a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,
of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.
And he will destroy on this mountain
the shroud over all peoples,
the veil that is spread over all nations.
He will swallow up death forever;
and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces,
and the disgrace of his people\u00a0
he will take away from all the earth,
for the LORD has spoken. (Isaiah 25:6-8)<\/p>\n\n\n\n