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Matthew 6:11

(11) Give us this day our daily bread.
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In Deuteronomy 8:3, God draws a straight line between the Israelites eating bread He supplied from heaven and consuming and using His Word. The miracle of the manna was a daily lesson to impress on them that real living requires the individual to conduct his life in obedience to God's instructions. He urges them in Deuteronomy 30:15-20 to “choose life,” which He defines as “to love the LORDyour God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the LORD your God will bless you . . .” (verse 16).

Jesus' response to the Devil's temptation in Matthew 4:4and Luke 4:4, where He quotes Deuteronomy 8:3, strikes the same chord. He was famished, having fasted for forty days, and Satan suggested that He could save Himself the weakness and pain by turning stones into physical bread, something the Creator God could easily do. But Jesus understood the Adversary's temptation: to put His physical life before His spiritual life. He would never do this, knowing that, as the apostle Paul would later put it in Romans 14:17, “the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

Our requests for daily bread, then, also cover instruction from God through His Word to enhance our walk on the path to His Kingdom. As Peter advises in II Peter 3:18, “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Paul concurs, writing, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom” (Colossians 3:16), “increasing in the knowledge of God” (Colossians 1:10), and “rightly dividing the word of truth” (II Timothy 2:15). Scripture commends the Bereans of Acts 17:11 for “receiv[ing] the word with all readiness, and search[ing] the Scriptures daily,” just as the Model Prayer suggests.

But bread has an even higher antitype. In John 6:32-40, 48-58, Jesus Christ titles Himself “the Bread of Life”: “For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world” (John 6:33). Our Savior not only gave His life in sacrifice for the remission of sins, but He also says He gives His flesh and blood to those who believe in Him so they can have eternal life.

The metaphor Jesus uses in this chapter—which the Jews considered to be horrific and macabre—parallels others found in Scripture like “putting on Christ,” “putting on the new man,” and “walking in His steps.” Notice John 6:56: “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.” The verbs “eats” and “drinks” are active case present participles, suggesting ongoing activity. Those who continue to feed on or ingest Christ—symbolic of learning about Him, obeying Him, imitating His example, and growing spiritually—remain in an active relationship with Him.

When we ask God to give us our daily bread, we ask for far more than food for our stomachs. We request complete nourishment for our bodies, our minds, and our spiritual lives, for the only sure, life-giving sustenance comes from God Himself.

— Richard T. Ritenbaugh

To learn more, see:
The Model Prayer (Part Six): Our Daily Bread