Chap. Vi.—The Fifth Clause.
CHAP. VI.—THE FIFTH CLAUSE.
But how gracefully has the Divine Wisdom arranged the order of
the prayer; so that after things heavenly—that is, after the "Name" of
God, the "Will" of God, and the "Kingdom" of God—it should give
earthly necessities also room for a petition ! For the Lord had[10]
withal issued His edict, "Seek ye first the kingdom, and then even
these shall be added:"[11] albeit we may rather understand, "Give us
this day our daily bread," spiritually. For Christ is our Bread;
because Christ is Life, and bread is life. "I am," saith He, "the Bread
of Life;"[12]and, a little above, "The Bread is the Word of the living
God, who came down from the heavens."[13] Then we find, too, that His
body is reckoned in bread: "This is my body.''[14] And so, in
petitioning for "daily bread," we ask for perpetuity in Christ, and
indivisibility from His body. But, because that word is admissible in a
carnal sense too, it cannot be so used without the religious
remembrance withal of spiritual Discipline; for (the Lord) commands
that bread be prayed for, which is the only food necessary for
believers; for "all other things the nations seek after."[15] The like
lesson He both inculcates by examples, and repeatedly handles in
parables, when He says, "Doth a father take away bread from his
children, and hand it to dogs ?"[16] and again, "Doth a father give his
son a stone when he asks for bread?"[17] For He thus shows what it is
that sons expect from their father. Nay, even that nocturnal knocker
knocked for "bread."[18] Moreover, He Justly added, "Give us this day,"
seeing He had previously said, "Take no careful thought about the
morrow, what ye are to eat."[19] To which subject He also adapted the
parable of the man who pondered on an enlargement of his barns for his
forthcoming fruits, and on seasons of prolonged security; but that very
night he dies.[20]