Spiritual Food and Drink

Posted on March 11, 2025 Updated on March 11, 2025

By Linda Rex

March 23, 2025, 3^rd Sunday in Preparation for Easter or Lent—As I scroll through my feed on my social networking app, I often find pictures someone has taken of a delicious meal or drink they have found at a local restaurant. Or they will post a special occasion, where fine dining was involved, or pictures of a fun party, with cake and punch and all the trimmings.

Eating and drinking is an essential part of our human story and our everyday life. God created us this way, so it only makes sense that he would reach out to connect to us in ways we could understand and appreciate such as through food and drink. In our lectionary passage for this Sunday, 1 Corinthians 10:1–13, the apostle Paul shows how his people, the ancient Israelites, ate and drank of “the Rock” while they were in the wilderness. This Rock they ate and drank from was Jesus Christ, as their Lord and Deliverer. He had rescued them from slavery in Egypt, brought them to Sinai to make a covenant with them, and then led them through the wilderness to the Jordan River, where they would cross over into their promised land.

What is truly human about us is that we enjoy the good gifts God has given us—food, drink, sex, relationships, even a relationship with himself. These ancient people had not only been given a relationship with their God who had rescued them, but they were also given manna—daily bread when they had nothing to eat, and water from a rock when they had nothing to drink. It seemed that God was constantly doing good things for them. But as truly human as they were, they took God’s good gifts and complained, or simply misused them for their own lusts and desires. And the result in every instance was death.

God told the humans in the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve, that they had everything they could eat from in that garden. They could and did walk with God each day in warm fellowship and companionship. And they had clear water to drink. They had all they needed—God had provided well and offered them the tree of life. They could live forever in that beautiful paradise. But then, as in the case of the ancient Israelites, the human craving to do things our way took over. They ate of the one tree they were told not to eat of—the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and death entered in. When we choose to go our own way, to misuse the gifts we’ve been given by God, to turn away from our relationship with our Creator, the end result is death.

The apostle Paul was concerned about the believers in Corinth. They lived in a metropolis in which temple prostitution was the norm and an expected behavior. Self-indulgence, sexual immorality, social elitism, and idolatry were the norm. And these values had entered the church via these believers, who had begun to return to their pagan roots, and adopt unhealthy ways of living and being. The apostle Paul called them on this, reminding them of the cost of choosing to go their own way—death. They had received a tremendous gift from the Lord Jesus Christ—his life for their life. Jesus offered them their daily bread—himself, and drink from the fountain of living water—the Holy Spirit. Why in the world would they trade in this spiritual food and drink for that which would not last and which would only lead to death?

It is in this context that the apostle Paul says that God does not allow temptation in any way other than what is common to our human condition, and only to the extent in which we can bear up under it. And he always provides a means of escape. He has given us Jesus to intercede on our behalf, and has given us the Holy Spirit to offer intercession for us. God in us by the Holy Spirit is ever at work, enabling us to face the temptations of this life and to resist them. This is possible because Jesus, as God in human flesh, experienced every temptation we experience, and did not ever sin. This is our comfort and strength when facing severe temptation. We turn to Jesus, and he delivers us.

You may ask yourself, this isn’t how I understood this passage before—isn’t this about our trials or bad experiences in life? Actually, in the Greek, the meaning of the word we translate “temptation” has more to do about being put to the test the way the ancient Jewish leaders were constantly putting Jesus to the test, trying to tempt him and lead him astray. Can you see that we are often faced with the same temptations Jesus was faced with—to justify himself, to prove himself, and to turn away from what his heavenly Father had asked him to do, to abandon us and leave us in our sins? But he stood firm—not in himself—but in the Spirit, in his Father’s will, trusting fully in faith that his heavenly Father would bring him through.

When it comes to temptation, this is our only hope—that our Triune God will deliver us and carry us through. That is why we eat and drink from the spiritual Rock that is Jesus Christ, identifying with him in his death and resurrection, and allowing him to have his way in our hearts, minds, and lives. In the end, it is his life for our life that will bring us through to the other side, and on into our promised land.

Heavenly Father of Lights, in Whom there is no alteration in your love and grace, thank you for every good gift you have given, most especially the gift of your Son and your Spirit so that we could live in right relationship with you. Forgive us for turning aside to our own way, and for trading in your spiritual food and drink for that which is temporary and passing. Grant us the grace to turn back to you, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

¹“For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; ²and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; ³and all ate the same spiritual food; ⁴and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ. ⁵ Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness. ⁶Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved. ⁷Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written, ‘the people sat down to eat and drink, and stood up to play.’ ⁸Nor let us act immorally, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day. ⁹Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents. ¹⁰Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. ¹¹Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. ¹²Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. ¹³No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.”      1 Corinthians 10:1–13 NASB

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