Taste and See the Living Bread
See on YouTube
https://youtube.com/live/TXe1lSFf0cg
Taste and See in the Living Bread
Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
Psalm 34:8 NIV
And the phrase "Taste and See" is only found in Psalm 34:8
Taste and See was written by Peder Eide. And performed by Peder Eide. Unfortunately he recently passed away from cancer. I met Peder at a youth congress.
In Psalm 34:8, David, the author of the psalm, invites readers to "taste and see that the Lord is good". The phrase "taste and see" means "try and experience". David encourages people to discover the Lord's goodness through personal experience and trial. He also wants people to experience what he has experienced so they can know what he knows.
To taste: Means more than a brief relationship. It means to feed on the Lord, to accept his truth deep within ourselves. This involves reading the Word of God and considering it as part of discipleship.
To experience: Means to open one's eyes and see the goodness of God that is all around us.
1 Kings 19:4-8 NIV
Elijah was given bread and water by the angel of the Lord for his journey. The journey he was about to go on was forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God. This is where Elijah was in a cave and the Lord passed by.
Bread and Water
I think it is interesting that in order to survive you are given bread and water.
What does the "bread and water" punishment mean in the US Navy in modern times? Does that actually mean bread and water only?
Story by Tim Druck, Nuclear Power School Grad, USS Enterprise veteran
I have personally been confined to the brig of USS Enterprise on three days’ bread and water.
It’s not exactly all you can eat. It’s served to you three times a day - a brig guard comes to your cell and asks how many slices of bread you want, and how many of the small cups of water. About a half hour later he arrives with the requested food. You’d better eat it all.
The first time it’s almost funny. The second time, it’s like “Hm. Bread.” The third meal, you’re really bummed. After that, you get creative - you make bread sandwiches and bread tacos and bread rolls and everything you can think of to make it not-bread. Eventually you kind a get off bread, and eat less of it.
But it really does mean bread. And water. And that’s it. I wasn’t left to go hungry - at no time during my sentence did I feel the slightest hunger pang. But what a way to reinforce that yes, you are being punished. If you’re in a jail cell at sea on bread and water, you messed up royally and there is no justification or explanation around it.
I deserved it. It was probably rock-bottom for me. I was released from the brig during mid-rations, just after midnight, and that first meal of leftover beef noodles was probably the finest meal I’ve ever eaten - better than any steak-and-crab-legs I’ve had since.
Psalm 130:1-8 NIV
Lord, hear my voice. If you Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you. I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits and in his word I put my hope. I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning.
Lol I was on guard duty in the Marine Corps. I can tell you, I was looking at the time a lot waiting for my shift to end. There is a lot that can happen and you have to stay alert. So yes the watchmen wait for the morning. Maybe they were watchmen because they were always looking at their watches. lol
Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption. He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins.
Ephesians 4:25-5:2
Put away evil, live in love
I remember hearing someone challenge another Christian by saying the Bible was full of do's and don'ts. The Christian responded back saying, I just focus on doing the do's and I don't have time to do the don'ts
Do's and Don'ts
It is all of God’s grace, God calling us to believe and following Jesus, God giving us the repentance, desire, and faith to believe Jesus, and God giving us the delight of putting on the new identity of Jesus. All of this is to the praise of His glorious grace. Look at what our great God has done for us!! Praise Him!!
Our Daily Bread - February 25, 2019
The Spirit of Fika
When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them.
Luke 24:30
The coffeehouse in the town near my house is named Fika. It’s a Swedish word meaning to take a break with coffee and a pastry, always with family, co-workers, or friends. I’m
not Swedish, yet the spirit of fika describes one thing I love most about Jesus—His practice of taking a break to eat and relax with others.
Scholars say Jesus’s meals weren’t random. Theologian Mark Glanville calls them “the delightful ‘second course’” of Israel’s feasts and celebrations in the Old Testament. At the table, Jesus lived what God had intended Israel to be: “a center of joy, celebration and justice for the whole world.”
From the feeding of 5,000, to the Last Supper—even to the meal with two believers after His resurrection (Luke 24:30)—the table ministry of Jesus invites us to stop our constant striving and abide in Him. Indeed, not until eating with Jesus did the two believers recognize Him as the risen Lord. “He took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened” (vv. 30-31) to the living Christ.
Sitting with a friend recently at Fika, enjoying hot chocolate and rolls, we found ourselves also talking of Jesus. He is the Bread of Life. May we linger at His table and find more of Him.
By Patricia Raybon
INSIGHT
In the lands and times of the Bible, bread and table were symbols of relationship and a shared life. So when Jesus broke bread with His disciples on the night of His betrayal and said, “This is My body which is broken for you” (1 Corinthians 11:24 nkjv; see Luke 22:19), He was using words rich in meaning to communicate more than His disciples understood. Not until three days later when Jesus lifted His scarred hands to break bread at a table in the village of Emmaus did two disciples recognize the Stranger who had been opening their understanding of the Scriptures (Luke 24:13-32). They were
among the first to witness what others would soon hear and see for themselves (vv. 33-43). The Bread had been broken on a dark Passover night. The news would soon spread of a bigger table, shared life, and a new way to read the Scriptures and story of God (vv. 45-49).
Mart DeHaan
John 6:35, 41-51
Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
John 6:35 NIV
At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?” “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”
John 6:41-51 NIV
Christ, the bread of life
Manna
I read a few chapters out of Exodus this morning in my “Eat This Book” Bible reading plan, and I found it interesting the description of manna that fell from the sky during the Israelite’s time wandering in the desert. I don’t think I’d ever really remembered this description:
“31 The house of Israel called the bread manna; it was like coriander seed, white, and it tasted like wafers made with honey.” – Exodus 16:31So I thought, “I am going to make that this afternoon. It listed my ingredients for me” So I did. Looked up a basic recipe for an unleavened cracker, and improvised the rest. The results were pretty good and my first thought was, “This would be great with some goat cheese” (future blog post) but I wouldn’t recommend eating only this for the next 40 years…
Manna makes enough for at least 10 desert wanderers
2 cups flour (white, wheat or a mix – I used AP white)1 cup water1 tbs coriander seeds, crushed fine1 tbs raw honey pinch of salt
Combine the flour, pinch of salt and coriander seeds in a bowl until well incorporated. Stir in the water and honey (I microwaved the honey for ease in pouring) and mix with a fork until fully combined and knead it a few times to form a ball. Divide the ball into 8 smaller sections. Roll out each little ball on a floured surface until really really really thin. Place the strips side by side (they can touch – they don’t spread) and bake at 475F for about 10-12 minutes until browned on top. While still warm, drizzle more honey on top and place back in the oven until bubbling. Remove, let cool completely, break apart and eat.
Our Daily Bread - May 17, 2022
Food from Heaven
The Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you.” Exodus 16:4
In August 2020, residents of Olten, Switzerland, were startled to find that it was snowing chocolate! A malfunction in the ventilation system of the local chocolate factory had caused chocolate particles to be diffused into the air. As a result, a dusting of edible chocolate flakes covered cars and streets and made the whole town smell like a candy store.
When I think of delicious food “magically” falling from the heavens, I can’t help but think of God’s provision for the people of Israel in Exodus. Following their dramatic escape from Egypt, the people faced significant challenges in the desert, especially a scarcity of food and water. And God, moved by the plight of the people, promised to “rain down bread from heaven” (Exodus 16:4). The next morning, a layer of thin flakes appeared on the desert ground. This daily provision, known as manna, continued for the next forty years.
When Jesus came to earth, people began to believe He was sent from God when He miraculously provided bread for a large crowd (John 6:5–14). But Jesus taught that He Himself was the “bread of life” (v. 35), sent to bring not just temporary nourishment but eternal life(v. 51).
For those of us hungry for spiritual nourishment, Jesus extends the offer of unending life with God. May we believe and trust that He came to satisfy those deepest longings.
By Lisa M. Samra
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
Scholars have attempted to explain the source of manna that fed Israel during the exodus from Egypt. Some have theorized that it was the product of tamarisk bushes that grow in the Sinai region. But this isn’t likely. Such desert plants are insufficient in number to have fed an entire nation. The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible reports another theory, suggesting that manna may have been a type of insect secretion. Regardless of how the manna appeared, the fact remains that God said, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you” (Exodus 16:4).
John 6:30–51 provides insight on this. Here, Jesus referred to “my Father” (v. 32) as the source of the manna. He said, “The bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world” (v. 33). He then applied this to Himself: “I am the bread of life” (v. 35).
Tim Gustafson
It is interesting, the terms "Bread of Life" and "Living Bread" is only found in the Gospel of John. They are not found in any other book of the Bible.
Why Is Jesus Called the 'Bread of Life'?
After Jesus feeds the 5,000 with five loaves and two fish, He tells them "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger and whoever believes in me shall never thirst" (John 6:35). The bread of life is not physical bread, but Scripture makes it clear this is the bread of spiritual renewal, found in the salvation of the blood of Jesus Christ.
How Is Jesus the Bread of Life?
One of the themes in the Book of John is who Jesus is, and not just what He did. The Apostle John opens his account with an explanation of Jesus’ deity. In chapter six, he focuses on one of Lord’s miracles, and its fallout. Because the Lord performed miracles of healing and taught the Scriptures with authority, there would sometimes be a large group of people following him.
In one of these instances, the Lord takes five loaves of bread and two fish and feeds thousands of people with it, with twelve baskets leftover. That night, He walks on water. The next day, those same thousands gather again to be fed. Jesus then offers them salvation – eternal nourishment – rather than just temporary sustenance.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal... For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:26-27, 40).