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“Give us this day our daily bread.”Matt. 6:11 NKJV

(This is the fifth segment of The Model Prayer series.)

Daily. Interesting word. The word source for daily in this verse has been debated by scholars. The Greek word seems to be a compound word (epiousios), which has perplexed commentators because it occurs nowhere else in either classical or sacred Greek.

In one old manuscript, only Matthew uses the word epiousios. Luke’s account in Luke 11:3 uses the word epiousa for daily. It means following, next, or the ensuing day or night. Some experts say that the same word epiousios is used in both verses in other manuscripts.

According to the separate elements of the word used by Matthew, epi is a primary preposition, which means of time, place, order, over, upon, at, on, towards, upon, etc. Ousia means substance, property (possessions), or goods. Even this, say the experts, is questionable.

The Greek word for bread used in both verses means not just bread but food of any kind, that which is needful and sufficient for our nourishment. In other words, grant us this day our necessary nourishment.

In ancient times, bread held a great deal of significance in the lives of the Israelites and in their worship, being offered at feasts with other sacrifices. Bread was the confirmation of God’s presence. Being called showbread, meaning bread of presence or bread of face, it was placed in the Holy Place of the tabernacle and the temple.

God told Moses to “put the Bread of the Presence on the table before Me continually” (Ex. 25:30 Masoretic Text), as a perpetual symbol of His presence and provision.

Life depended upon the harvests of the grains, which depended upon the rain. As the sustenance of life, bread was, in a sense, also considered sacred, as a gift of God through His benevolence to allow the rain and the harvests. It remained a daily reminder of man’s unbroken dependence upon God for His provision.

The loaf of bread back then was thinner in shape and crisper than ours today, hence the term “breaking bread,” which signified sharing fellowship at a meal. The giving of bread symbolized hospitality, or as it was called, the bread of fellowship.

Breaking bread meant sharing the fellowship of a meal, which bound the participants in strong ties of friendship, as in covenant, and represented a pledge of reconciliation and peace. According to the law, one was expected to give a stranger or traveler water, food, shelter, and protection.

Bread was the best a poor man could give as his duty of hospitality to a guest. As a guest, to decline an offering of bread violated the sacred law of hospitality. In essence, it said to the host that his bread was unfit for use.

Eating with someone and then betraying them was one of the most despicable acts in the ancient world. As well as Obadiah (Ob. 7) and David (Ps. 41:9), think Judas.

And the writer of Hebrews reminds us from the time of Abraham, “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.” (Heb. 13:2 NKJV)

As the principal food, bread was called the “stay of bread,” or the support, protector, or sustenance of life. Or, as we would say, the staff of life.

As Jesus came from heaven to give life to the world, He said, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.” (John 6:35a NKJV)

We need not only our daily physical bread but also, and even more so, our daily spiritual Bread, our Staff of Life. Do we refuse the Bread that sustains life that Jesus offers? Do we then convey to Him that His Bread of Life is unfit for us?

The Bread of Life is the Word of Life. Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” (Matt. 4:4 NKJV)

“Lord, give us this bread always.” (John 6:34 NKJV)

The Passover meal celebrated the Lord’s deliverance of Israel out of Egypt’s bondage and from the plagues God sent on Egypt, including the death plague, which was halted for the Israelites by the blood of a lamb smeared on the doorposts of their homes.

Before the onset of the first Passover, God told Israel, “Every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household,” (Ex. 12:3b NKJV) and, after smearing the blood of the lamb on the doorposts, they were to roast it and eat it in anticipation of what the Lord was about to do.

For us as Christians, because each of us has taken a Lamb into our heart’s home, smearing His blood upon its doorposts, we are able to celebrate communion, commemorating our release as God’s people from bondage, the plagues of life, and the deliverance from the eternal curse of death.

In order for us to partake of Jesus’ life through the Lord’s Supper as a vital part of our Christian walk, we need to understand cleansing and commitment, for sharing in communion is more than just a religious ritual.

According to ancient, Hebrew traditions, if two joined in a covenant and ratified it with a meal, which included the breaking of bread and drinking of a cup of wine, it meant they were eating and drinking of each other.

At the beginning of His ministry, Jesus said, “I assure you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you cannot have eternal life within you. But those who eat My flesh and drink My blood have eternal life, and I will raise them at the last day.” (John 6:53-54 NLT)

Today, we Christians don’t give enough serious thought to what we are doing when we participate in the Lord’s Supper. In order to have our hearts right before God to take part in communion, we must…

…first, get right with others. Jesus declared in His Sermon on the Mount, “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you.” (Matt. 6:14 NLT)

We forget that forgiveness is not optional! No right relationship with God can prevail apart from forgiveness of others. If we do not forgive others, then what is the point of commemorating what Jesus died to do for us?

…then, get right with God. “But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.” (Matt. 6:15 NLT)

Therefore, we cannot engage in the bread of fellowship or the cup of covenant with an accumulation of unforgiveness in our hearts, as Paul warns us, “So if anyone eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily, that person is guilty of sinning against the body and the blood of the Lord. That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking from the cup. For if you eat the bread or drink the cup unworthily, not honoring the body of Christ, you are eating and drinking God’s judgment upon yourself.” (1 Cor. 11:27-29 NLT)

We do not take communion to get right with God; we get right with others and God before we place that wafer on our tongue or lift that cup to our lips. Unfortunately, many Christians take communion all too lightly, not grasping the full intent of these verses.

…then, we seek communion at the Lord’s table. Partaking of the communion table is a physical testimony of a spiritual conversion, affirming that we have bound ourselves to Christ in covenant.

Paul said, “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?” (1 Cor. 10:16 NKJV)

If we call it ‘communion,’ does that click in our finite minds what that means? The Greek word for it, ‘koinonia,’ means partnership, joint participation, fellowship, to share in common, intimacy, and so on.

Through communion, we take part in the sacrifice of Jesus’ body and His blood. In sharing the bread and the cup, we share in the intimacy of His fellowship, participating in the benefits of what He accomplished at the whipping post, in the judgment hall, on the cross, and through His resurrection.

What Paul said stands as relevant today as when he said it, “For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.” (1 Cor. 11:26 NIV)

Oh, please, my Christian brothers and sisters, please see the crucial importance of having a right heart before God that you may share in the fellowship of the Lord’s Supper worthily.

I pray that, after reading this, you will never again enter into the Lord’s covenant meal the same as you did before. May this be life changing for each of you.

What do you think the Bible means by hospitality?

In order to understand it, we need to start with bread. Bread? Yup!

In Biblical times, bread was thinner and crisper than our bread today, which brought about the term “breaking bread.” It signified sharing fellowship at a meal, or as it was called, the bread of fellowship.

It was one’s sacred duty of hospitality (called the sacred law of hospitality) to offer bread, give lodging, and protect any traveler that came to one’s door, treating him as a guest.

If the homeowner and the guest broke bread together, this bound them together by the strongest ties of friendship, as in covenant, and was confirmed occasionally by the giving of gifts. This was a pledge of reconciliation and peace and would descend to their heirs, for it was in perpetuity.

If the guest declined the offer, it meant, in essence, that the host’s bread was unfit for use, which violated the sacred law of hospitality and contained sever penalties.

In Chechnya, every family has a special guest room that is always kept ready for a visitor. No one is allowed to use this room. Food is always available to serve a guest if he or she should appear.

In the Middle East, if someone knocks on your door, you are obligated to let them in, to feed them, give them a place to sleep, and they can stay as long as they like and you cannot kick them out!

When Jesus sent out the disciples, He commanded them to take no bread or money with them, so that they would depend solely on the hospitality and acts of kindness of others and make covenant friends.

Therefore, if the disciples had rejected the hospitality offered them by others, it would have been considered rude or an offense, hindering their efforts to spread the gospel.

Also, Jesus gave them instructions on how to respond to the cities that did not receive them in hospitality, “When you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!” (Matt. 10:14-15 NKJV)

If they refused the disciples who were in partnership with Jesus, consequently, they refused Jesus. This was serious stuff!

Concerning this same sense of hospitality, Jesus spoke to the disciples of that future day of separating the sheep from the goats, “Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’” (Matt. 25:34-40 NKJV)

(‘Stranger’ also means a guest-friend, bound by ties of hospitality. ‘Took’ or ‘take in’ means among other things, to entertain hospitably, to bring one into your house for hospitality.)

Jesus continued, “For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.” (Matt. 25: 42-43 NIV) You received Me not; you did not receive me in hospitality.

This should be a wake-up call for us. Hospitality is more than having a potluck supper for our Bible study group.

Paul urges us, “When God’s children are in need, be the one to help them out. And get into the habit of inviting guests home for dinner or, if they need lodging, for the night.” (Rom. 12:13 TLB)

May you receive others to break bread in the spirit of hospitality.

~~Blessings, Lynn~~