Christ Lutheran Church
August 1, 2021
Pentecost 10 (Series B)
by: Rev. Dean Kavouras

Exodus 16:2-15

As regards Sunday’s Old Testament lesson I see a number of Christological references. Prophecies, or types, as it were, of the Lord's death and resurrection, and of Eucharist as well.

In v. 4 the source of the Bread is heaven, not earth. This is unlike any earthly food.

v. 5 On the sixth day, the day of the Lord's death they will receive "twice as much" a "double portion" as it were for all their sins (Is 40).Moreover "at evening (when the Lord was dead and IT WAS FINISHED) you shall know that it was the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt / the Domain of darkness.

V. 7 "And in the morning you shall see the glory of the LORD," namely his glorious resurrection.

V. 8 (which is a liturgical refrain) meat to eat in the evening, namely the flesh of Christ, and "bread to the full" in the morning is the Sacrament, which is the flesh of the RISEN, not the dead, Lord.

v. 9 "Come near before the Lord" is an Eucharistic invitation, as is "Come unto me all you who labor ..."

v. 10 No sooner had Aaron articulated God's words that the whole congregation's (think of this term as cultic, not organizational, or the body politic) attention was drawn to the wilderness and the GLORY of the LORD (the pre-incarnate Christ), appeared before them in the cloud.

v. 15 "For they did not know what it was." until Moses had catechized them thusly: "It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat."

This ignorance carries over to Jesus's day as he explicates the Eucharist to the people in John Chapter Six. Their question was in effect: Manna? What is this? Who is this?

Answer: This is the bread whose source not earth, or the ground, but heaven. He is divine bread so that anyone who eats and drinks of him will never hunger or thirst, but live forever. He is the "medicine of immortality" in the words of St. Ignatius of Antioch.