The prophet persecuted, sustained by the strength of God. It is not magic bread. It is the presence of God signified in the food. To be imitators of God is very ambitious. To be imitators of Jesus is more human…
1 KINGS 19, 4-8
Elijah went a day’s journey into the desert, and when he came to a broom bush, he sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.”
Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.”
He looked around, and there by his head was a cake of bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.”
So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.
Within the cycle of Elijah, which we discussed two Sundays ago, we find this narrative (which adds strong symbolic elements to the story). Elijah is being persecuted by the prophets of Baal, supported by Queen Jezebel. He flees to the desert, seeking refuge on the Sinai peninsula, near Horeb, the sacred mountain where, according to the Book of Exodus, Moses received the Law from God himself. He grows faint in the desert and is comforted by food brought by an angel, so that he can continue his journey to the end.
This text contains the same message as the one from Exodus we read last Sunday. Elijah, like Israel, is fed with the bread of God. Both texts are similarly applied to Jesus, who is the true bread of God that helps us to walk.
EPHESIANS 4:30 – 5:2
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
The same moral exhortations continue, now adding pious considerations to motivate the Christian life.
José Enrique Galarreta