The manna
The Old Testament
When the Israelites saw it, they asked one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. So Moses told them, “It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat.”
Exodus 16:15
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In the New Testament
Jesus answered, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never hunger, and whoever believes in Me will never thirst.”
John 6:35
BSB
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In the wilderness the people are hungry and grumble. Every morning God rains bread from heaven: manna, enough for one day, and on the day before the sabbath for two. For forty years the people eat it. The psalm calls it 'the corn of heaven' and 'angels' food'.
The crowd in Capernaum quotes exactly this psalm when they ask Jesus for a sign: our fathers did eat manna in the desert. Jesus answers that he is the true bread from heaven. There was a Jewish expectation that the Messiah would bring back the manna. The difference Jesus points out: those who ate the manna still died; whoever eats of this bread will live. Like the manna, the bread he taught us to pray for is for each day: give us this day our daily bread.
What Jesus said about it
- Bread from BethlehemI am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never hunger, and whoever believes in Me…John 6:35
- A puzzling wordGive us this day our daily bread.Matthew 6:11