9th March 2016

Everyone has their travel stories. I remember a number of times looking at a meal set before me, and thinking, “What the?!” Crispy brown cow lung was the most exotic, and certainly not to be ordered medium rare. Durian was the most fragrant, and seemed to present itself as a suitable aftershave for a fly. Chocolate sprinkles on scrambled eggs was the most unexpected, and challenged the sincerity of my saying ‘grace’ before the meal.

“What the?!” was the reaction of the Israelites when they were served the miraculous bread in the desert. Manna, they called it, which literally means “What the?!” For forty years it fell daily from heaven, and for forty years kept them alive until they crossed into the Promised Land. They could have called it by a more positive name, but they didn’t seem to understand the wonderful miracle nor the generous grace.

But neither could their descendants who actually lived to see the days of him who said “I am the Bread of Life”. They saw his miracles and said, “What the?!” They heard profound things fall from his lips and said, “Who do you think you are?” They saw generous grace flow from his hands, and said, “Crucify Him!” But not all were blind to his glory. For some saw a great crowd fed from just two small fish and five small barley loaves, and said not Manna with disdain, but Hosanna with great thankfulness.

DM 9^th March 2016