Not by Bread Alone
When the Israelites stood right on the edge of the Promised Land, Moses gave a speech to the younger generation, the ones born in the wilderness and who, unlike their parents, had never known Egyptian slavery. We call this speech Deuteronomy. In it, Moses reminds this wilderness generation of all that the Lord has done for his people, and what they must not forget when the enter the Promised Land. In Deuteronomy 8:3 he says:
“He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”
This is a really profound insight, namely that we need God more than we need food, and obedience to God must come before even our biological needs.
So, in today’s passage when Jesus says
“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.”
He is reminding his disciples (and through them, reminding us), that God must be first in our lives, because any other way of living will not ultimately work for us.
A good reminder.