Bread of heaven

The whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron.
The Israelites said to them,
"Would that we had died at the LORD's hand in the land of Egypt,
as we sat by our fleshpots and ate our fill of bread!
But you had to lead us into this desert
to make the whole community die of famine!"

Exodus 16:2 - 4

Grumbling is nothing new – from the Hebrews in the desert to the crowd at Jesus’ trial, to the letters to the editor in The Advocate. Grumbling is about expressing dissatisfaction, a grievance or complaint. Some have made it into a refined art: we do it about taxes, rates, levies, fees, government at all levels, public services and institutions, laws, regulations, rules and policies. Grumbling often occurs when there is a perceived lack of fairness, equity, justice, opportunity or choice. The majority of us like to have a whinge, and most of us get over it and move on. A matter that might really irk may well summon in us the energy to write a letter of complaint or to make that phone call. Grumbling, even in our biblical stories, often produces results, results that may surprise.

The LORD’s reponse to the grumbling Hebrews is to send quail and manna from heaven to feed them. As the saying goes, ‘The Lord provides’. The moaning of the crowd at Jesus’ trial results in Pilate handing him over to the soldiers to whip him and then crucify him.

In both these instances we see at play the unfolding of our story of salvation – God’s plan for us. In feeding the Hebrews the Lord affirms his relationship with them by providing the essentials for life and with the promise of a land flowing with milk and honey – if they remain faithful. The ultimate promise made by God is that we will be saved, from sin, from ourselves, from hopelessness, and it can only be achieved by Jesus’ death, and then fully revealed in his resurrection. Even grumbling has a purpose, for it picks up on that sense of yearning, of seeking what is right.

John (6:24 – 35) takes the Exodus text beyond the feeding of the Hebrews and re-presents Jesus as being the bread sent from heaven: I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst (v. 35). God’s generosity moves from the provision of food, to the total giving of himself, fulfilling the covenant he has with us. This bread we understand as the Eucharist.

For those who grumble about the state of things, how everything has worsened, the Lord unequivocally invites us to break bread at his table, to respond to his gracious generosity by giving him worship and praise. And all are welcome.