Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.
—Genesis 25:34
Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving... “But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.”
—Numbers 11:4a, 6
They put [Jesus] to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.
—Acts 10:39-41
Do not despise prophecies
—1 Thessalonians 5:20
When the Pharisees and scribes confronted Jesus, complaining that His disciples didn't follow their traditions, they were repeating the tragic behavior of their ancestors in the wilderness.
The Lord had promised to feed them, and delivered on His promise, blessing and sustaining them with the bread of heaven. And the Israelites despised it. They exercised very selective memories as they fantasized about the food of Egypt, beginning with the fish “that cost nothing”. Nothing except their children, their dignity, and their freedom, that is. And so they clung to what was behind them, despising something much better that was right their in front of them.
Variations of this scene occur in other parts of scripture. There is a kind of mirror image, when Esau despised his birthright in return for a meal. Jacob's use of the meal was manipulation instead of fellowship or service.
The Lord's rebuke through Nathan to David after the tragedies involving Bathsheba and Uriah includes the challenge, "Consider what I have done for you. I would have been willing to do more!" What would have happened in the wilderness if, instead of complaining, the Israelites had been thankful or even humbly requested some seasoning?
The consequences of distorted memory (or outright forgetfulness) come into play when those hearing Jesus objected that, "...we have never been anyone's slaves", which ignores both the history of Israel and the occupation in their own time by imperial Rome.
Peter's lesson to Cornelius and family about the disciples eating and drinking with Jesus leaves us better prepared to hear Pauls' instruction about the importance of communion in worship and for the body. Eating and drinking with honor and respect for the Body given and the body that receives stands in contrast with despising the Giver and the gift.
Honor
For he has not despised or abhorred
the affliction of the afflicted,
and he has not hidden his face from him,
but has heard, when he cried to him.
—Psalm 22:24
Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.
—Genesis 25:34
Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving... “But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.”
—Numbers 11:4a, 6
They put [Jesus] to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.
—Acts 10:39-41
Do not despise prophecies
—1 Thessalonians 5:20
When the Pharisees and scribes confronted Jesus, complaining that His disciples didn't follow their traditions, they were repeating the tragic behavior of their ancestors in the wilderness.
The Lord had promised to feed them, and delivered on His promise, blessing and sustaining them with the bread of heaven. And the Israelites despised it. They exercised very selective memories as they fantasized about the food of Egypt, beginning with the fish “that cost nothing”. Nothing except their children, their dignity, and their freedom, that is. And so they clung to what was behind them, despising something much better that was right their in front of them.
Variations of this scene occur in other parts of scripture. There is a kind of mirror image, when Esau despised his birthright in return for a meal. Jacob's use of the meal was manipulation instead of fellowship or service.
The Lord's rebuke through Nathan to David after the tragedies involving Bathsheba and Uriah includes the challenge, "Consider what I have done for you. I would have been willing to do more!" What would have happened in the wilderness if, instead of complaining, the Israelites had been thankful or even humbly requested some seasoning?
The consequences of distorted memory (or outright forgetfulness) come into play when those hearing Jesus objected that, "...we have never been anyone's slaves", which ignores both the history of Israel and the occupation in their own time by imperial Rome.
Peter's lesson to Cornelius and family about the disciples eating and drinking with Jesus leaves us better prepared to hear Pauls' instruction about the importance of communion in worship and for the body. Eating and drinking with honor and respect for the Body given and the body that receives stands in contrast with despising the Giver and the gift.