Dearest e-votees,
There is a lot of talk of hunger and thirst in our OT lesson for this Sunday from 1 Kings and our Gospel lesson from John. Where are you today? Hungry or sated? Thirsty or slaked? Are you being literal or more metaphorical? Where is God in all of this for you?
Peace,
Karl
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4 But [Elijah] himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.” 5 Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.” 6 He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again. 7 The angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.” 8 He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.
1 Kings 19:4-8, NRSV
35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
. . .
41 Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” 43 Jesus answered them, “Do not complain among yourselves. 44 No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. 46 Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. 47 Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
John 6:35, 41-51, NRSV
One of the themes that flows throughout the prophetic ministry of Elijah and the ministry of Jesus is that of being in need (hunger, thirst, famine) and being fed (in abundance, perpetually, forever).
In our text today Elijah is ready to die. He has had enough (of everything, not talking the abundance of food here). Even though he has been miraculously fed by ravens just two chapters ago, even though he was instrumental in defeating the 450 prophets of Baal just one chapter ago, even though..., even though... Elijah falls asleep and is awakened by room service compliments of an angel. There is bread and water there for him. I'm a little surprised that water wasn't wine (or turned into wine) but nevertheless a meal was there. Elijah was strengthened enough for forty days and forty nights from that meal. Reminiscent of another person we know who went without food and drink for 40 days in the desert.
Jesus is talking in this Sunday's gospel lesson about bread. He says that whoever believes will live forever. Jesus promises that whoever believes will neither hunger nor thirst. This is an interesting promise from one who hungered after fasting for forty days in the desert. This is an interesting promise from one who cried out "I thirst!" from the cross. How can one who suffered hunger and thirst himself promise to spare others from the same? Jesus endured temptation to turn stones into faux bread--he knew what the real food was and from where it was to come. He was taunted with the faux wine at the end of a stalk of hyssop on a sponge--he knew what the real wine was and from where it was to come. Jesus endured counterfeit communion elements in order to bring us into full communion with God.
Perhaps Jesus can promise us lasting food and drink precisely because he knows the emptiness of the bread and wine of this world--the "bread" of the desert (not manna) and the "wine" of the cross. He invites all to the table. He eats with the unwashed. He drinks with the unworthy. He makes them holy as he breaks bread and pours wine with them. We are just as unwashed and unworthy as any. Jesus invites us to the feast. Any of us who eat the bread he offers and drinks the wine he serves are given life eternal.
God, help us eat what you give and drink what you pour. Strengthen us for the days ahead--be they 2 or 40 or 687. And strengthen our faith unto live everlasting. Amen.
There is a lot of talk of hunger and thirst in our OT lesson for this Sunday from 1 Kings and our Gospel lesson from John. Where are you today? Hungry or sated? Thirsty or slaked? Are you being literal or more metaphorical? Where is God in all of this for you?
Peace,
Karl
------------
4 But [Elijah] himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.” 5 Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.” 6 He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again. 7 The angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.” 8 He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.
35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
41 Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” 43 Jesus answered them, “Do not complain among yourselves. 44 No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. 46 Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. 47 Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
One of the themes that flows throughout the prophetic ministry of Elijah and the ministry of Jesus is that of being in need (hunger, thirst, famine) and being fed (in abundance, perpetually, forever).
In our text today Elijah is ready to die. He has had enough (of everything, not talking the abundance of food here). Even though he has been miraculously fed by ravens just two chapters ago, even though he was instrumental in defeating the 450 prophets of Baal just one chapter ago, even though..., even though... Elijah falls asleep and is awakened by room service compliments of an angel. There is bread and water there for him. I'm a little surprised that water wasn't wine (or turned into wine) but nevertheless a meal was there. Elijah was strengthened enough for forty days and forty nights from that meal. Reminiscent of another person we know who went without food and drink for 40 days in the desert.
Jesus is talking in this Sunday's gospel lesson about bread. He says that whoever believes will live forever. Jesus promises that whoever believes will neither hunger nor thirst. This is an interesting promise from one who hungered after fasting for forty days in the desert. This is an interesting promise from one who cried out "I thirst!" from the cross. How can one who suffered hunger and thirst himself promise to spare others from the same? Jesus endured temptation to turn stones into faux bread--he knew what the real food was and from where it was to come. He was taunted with the faux wine at the end of a stalk of hyssop on a sponge--he knew what the real wine was and from where it was to come. Jesus endured counterfeit communion elements in order to bring us into full communion with God.
Perhaps Jesus can promise us lasting food and drink precisely because he knows the emptiness of the bread and wine of this world--the "bread" of the desert (not manna) and the "wine" of the cross. He invites all to the table. He eats with the unwashed. He drinks with the unworthy. He makes them holy as he breaks bread and pours wine with them. We are just as unwashed and unworthy as any. Jesus invites us to the feast. Any of us who eat the bread he offers and drinks the wine he serves are given life eternal.
God, help us eat what you give and drink what you pour. Strengthen us for the days ahead--be they 2 or 40 or 687. And strengthen our faith unto live everlasting. Amen.
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