Pão
O pão é símbolo central na Bíblia: do maná no deserto ao pão da vida — Jesus. A Escritura usa o pão para ensinar sobre provisão divina, comunhão e dependência espiritual.
O maná do céu
Deus alimentou Israel no deserto com pão do céu. O maná era diário, fiel e suficiente — retrato da provisão constante de Deus.
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "I have heard the grumblings of the sons of Israel; speak to them, saying, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread; and you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’ "
So it came about at evening that the quails came up and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the layer of dew evaporated, behold, on the surface of the wilderness there was a fine flake-like thing, fine as the frost on the ground. When the sons of Israel saw it, they said to one another, "What is it?" For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, "It is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat.
And the house of Israel named the breadmanna, and it was like coriander seed, white, and its taste was like wafers with honey.
Yet He commanded the clouds above
And opened the doors of heaven;
He rained down manna upon them to eat,
And gave them food from heaven.
Man ate the bread of angels;
He sent them food in abundance.
He causes the grass to grow for the cattle,
And vegetation for the labor of mankind,
So that they may produce food from the earth,
And wine, which makes a human heart cheerful,
So that he makes his face gleam with oil,
And food, which sustains a human heart.
O pão da vida
Jesus declarou: 'Eu sou o pão da vida.' Quem vem a Ele nunca terá fome, e quem nele crê jamais terá sede. Ele é o sustento eterno.
Jesus then said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven.For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world."Then they said to Him, "Lord, always give us this bread."
Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; the one who comes to Me will not be hungry, and the one who believes in Me will never be thirsty.
I am the bread of life.Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.This is the bread that comes down out of heaven, so that anyone may eat from it and not die.I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats from this bread, he will live forever; and the bread which I will give for the life of the world also is My flesh."
And He humbled you and let you go hungry, and fed you with the manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, in order to make you understand that man shall not live on bread alone, but man shall live on everything that comes out of the mouth of the Lord.
But He answered and said, "It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes out of the mouth of God.’ "
Partilha e comunhão
O partir do pão une o corpo de Cristo. Na Ceia, na generosidade e na partilha, expressamos a comunhão com Deus e uns com os outros.
And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body, which is being given for you; do this in remembrance of Me."
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
Is the cup of blessing which we bless not a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is the bread which we break not a sharing in the body of Christ? Since there is one loaf, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one loaf.
The Lord’s Prayer
"Pray, then, in this way:
‘Our Father, who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
‘Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
‘Give us this day our daily bread.
One who is generous will be blessed,
Because he gives some of his food to the poor.
But He answered them, "You give them something to eat!" And they *said to Him, "Shall we go and spend two hundred denarii on bread, and give it to them to eat?" But He *said to them, "How many loaves do you have? Go look!" And when they found out, they *said, "Five, and two fish." And He ordered them all to recline by groups on the green grass. They reclined in groups of hundreds and fifties. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food and broke the loaves and He gave them to the disciples again and again to set before them; and He divided the two fish among them all. And they all ate and were satisfied; and they picked up twelve full baskets of the broken pieces of bread, and of the fish.
Provisão divina
O justo não é desamparado e seus descendentes não mendigam pão. Deus provê com fidelidade o alimento de cada dia.
I have been young and now I am old,
Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken
Or his descendants begging for bread.
And the disciples came to the other side of the sea, but they had forgotten to bring any bread. And Jesus said to them, "Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees."They began to discuss this among themselves, saying, "He said that because we did not bring any bread." But Jesus, aware of this, said, "You men of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread?Do you not yet understand nor remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets you picked up?Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many large baskets you picked up?How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you about bread? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees."Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Cast Your Bread on the Waters
Cast your bread on the surface of the waters, for you will find it after many days. Divide your portion to seven, or even to eight, for you do not know what misfortune may occur on the earth.