THE FOOD THAT JESUS ATE MOST OFTEN
When Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt to travel to Canaan, the land promised to them by God, they encountered tremendous hardship in the Sinai Peninsula. This is treacherous land even today. It is an area of sand dunes, high limestone plateaus, and granite mountains, some of which reach eight thousand feet above sea level. The area is a desert wilderness, with very few sources of water. It is a land that cannot support the growth of fruits, vegetables, or grains.
Food was supplied supernaturally to the people in the form of manna. For forty years, manna was the primary staple of the Israelites.
God said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day” (Ex. 16:4). The exact amount to be gathered was set as an omer. Moses later told the people that they were to
"remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD. (Deut. 8:2–3)"
Manna was an unknown food to the Israelites. In fact, manna became the name of the substance because when the Israelites first saw it, they said, “What is it?” The word for “what is it?” in Hebrew is manna. Manna appeared to them to be like small, round coriander seeds, as fine as frost. It was the color of bdellium — a pearlized white color. The people could cook it like grain — grind it on millstones or beat it in a mortar, and then cook it in pans or make cakes from it. It had the taste of “pastry prepared with oil” or “wafers made with honey” (Num. 11:8; Ex. 16:31).
When dew fell on the camp in the night, the manna appeared, and the ground was covered with it each morning. It was provided in sufficient quantity so that each person could gather up an omer of it, which was 2.2 liters or about three quarts minus a pint. Any manna left on the ground melted in the heat of the desert sun.
Manna had an interesting quality to it. It was to be gathered daily and not stored overnight, except on the night preceding the Sabbath. On the sixth day, the people were to gather two omers of manna; God apparently provided a double portion. On any other day, manna that was stored overnight would breed worms and stink—but not on the Sabbath. Surely that is one of the greatest food-related miracles of all time! (See Ex. 16:15–36.)
When Jesus taught His disciples to pray,“Give us this day our daily bread,” He appeared to be making a direct reference to the provision of manna (Matt. 6:11). The breads of Jesus’ time were coarse whole-grain breads, which were darker and heavier than the breads we have today. Since they were made with whole grain, including the bran and wheat germ, they had a much higher concentration of naturally occurring polyunsaturated oils. Just as manna would become wormy and smelly overnight, so the whole-grain bread in Jesus’ day, with its high natural oil content, was likely to become rancid and moldy if it was not consumed daily. Eating a freshly baked loaf of whole-grain bread a day was and is a healthy way to live!
For forty years, manna was the staple of the Israelites’ diet. It must have been highly nutritious to have sustained that many people for that length of time. It must have had precisely the correct balance of protein, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, and minerals. God’s promise to the people had been, “I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians” (Ex. 15:26). His provision for fulfilling that promise was through manna.
During their travels through that barren wilderness, how the people must have longed for the fulfillment of God’s promise to them — a promise of “a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing” (Deut. 8:8–9).
Jesus knew what it meant to live in a wilderness such as the one through which the Israelites traveled. In Matthew 4 we read that Jesus was led by the Spirit into a wilderness area to be tempted of the devil. He remained in that wilderness—an uninhabited, desolate, lonely area — for forty days and forty nights, fasting the entire time. The Scripture tells us that afterward He was hungry. (See Matt. 4:1–2.)
During His stay in the wilderness, Jesus had three main encounters with Satan, each time Satan coming to Him with a temptation. The first temptation was this: “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” Jesus replied, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God’” (Matt. 4:3–4).
Now, Jesus had been fasting, and He was extremely hungry. It is no surprise that Satan would come to tempt Jesus with the food that He craved the most to quench His hunger, the food that was the foremost staple of His diet: bread.
Jesus’ statement to Satan was a direct quote of Deuteronomy 8:3, the verse in which Moses reminded the Israelites why God had given them manna. Satan’s temptation was aimed at the most immediate physical need of Jesus, the need for food for His physical survival. But Jesus’ response addressed the most basic of spiritual questions: Would He choose to live according to His natural impulses and needs, or would He live according to spiritual principles?
BREAD AND KING DAVID
The greatest king of Israel, King David, consumed bread regularly. In fact, more references are directly made to bread and whole grains in the life of King David than in the life of any other person in the Bible.
When David was just a boy, he was told by his father, Jesse, to take an ephah of parched corn and ten loaves of bread to the camp of his brothers. These food supplies were to sustain his brothers who were in the army of Saul, camped out in the Valley of Elah across from the army of the Philistines, led by a giant named Goliath. An ephah of parched corn consisted of about five gallons of dried grain.
The corn of Bible times was not like the corn, or maize, that we know in the United States today. Maize is native to North America, where it has been cultivated for more than three thousand years by the Native American Indians. Corn in the Bible, however, refers to different grains or seeds. Even in ancient England, the term corn referred to wheat, and in Scotland and Ireland, to oats. In the case of David taking corn to his brothers, the grain in question was likely dried kernels of wheat that could be munched upon directly.
Before David became king, he went through a decade of his life in which he was mostly on the run from King Saul, who desired to kill him. David and his men worked to support themselves by providing security for farmers who had flocks grazing in the areas near where David and his men hid out in caves and narrow gorges. Nabal was one man who had been protected by David. In 1 Samuel 25, David sent ten of his men to Nabal to request a food payment for the security services he and his men had provided. But Nabal refused.
When Nabal’s wife, Abigail, heard of his refusal, she took it upon herself to take a food payment to David. Among the provisions were two hundred loaves of bread, two bottles of wine, five sheep, five measures of parched corn, a hundred clusters of raisins, and two cakes of figs. (See 1 Sam. 25:18.) God, through the services of Abigail, provided bread for David. Later in his life, David left Jerusalem after his son Absalom mounted a coup to overthrow him. He and those loyal to him went to the area across the Jordan River from Jericho. The people who were native to that area brought David these provisions: “beds and basins, earthen vessels and wheat, barley and flour, parched grain and beans, lentils and parched seeds, honey and curds, sheep and cheese of the herd . . . For they said, ‘The people are hungry and weary and thirsty in the wilderness’” (2 Sam. 17:28–29).
In Psalm 37:25, David wrote, “I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread.” David knew this to be true from his personal experiences.
JESUS’ RELATIONSHIP WITH BREAD
Bread played an important role in the life and teachings of Jesus. But a loaf of bread in Jesus’ time was not the baker’s loaf we find in our grocery stores today. Bread was baked on large, flat rocks, the dough stretched and twirled in a circular fashion to make a large, flat circle. (A similar working of dough can sometimes be seen in traditional Italian pizza restaurants.) The resulting loaf was larger than a pancake but thin, like paper. The pita bread of today is a modern, version of these loaves. One to three loaves of bread per person were eaten at each meal.1
Jesus referred to bread in a number of His teachings. Here are several examples:
"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! (Matt. 7:7-11)"
Jesus definitely regarded bread as a good gift.
"I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he is there among you who, if his son asks will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world. (John 6:48–51)"
Jesus knew that bread was the staple of man’s physical life; in like manner, only those who accept Jesus as their atoning sacrifice and feed upon the Bread of Life will enjoy eternal spiritual life.
Jesus and the Feast of Unleavened Bread
On several occasions, Jesus celebrated the Passover Feast with His disciples. This feast was marked by the consumption of lamb, bitter herbs, and unleavened bread.
Unleavened bread is simply bread made without yeast. Yeast, or leaven, causes dough to puff up. The end result is greater volume without greater weight. The Passover Feast originated as the Israelites prepared to leave Egypt. The command of God through Moses was that the people should prepare one lamb, a male yearling without blemish, and roast it by fire for consumption in one night. One lamb, either a sheep or a goat, was to be consumed per household — small households were allowed to join together so that the entire roasted lamb was eaten, including its head and entrails. The lamb was to be eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. It was to be eaten as the people were wearing sandals on their feet, a belt on their waist, and a staff in their hands; in other words, the meal was to be eaten in haste, eaten as if they were ready to move out on a moment’s notice. (See Ex. 12.) Blood from the slain lamb was to be applied with hyssop branches to the doorposts and lintels of their entryways so that when the Angel of Death moved through Egypt that night, their households would be “passed over,” and they would suffer no loss of their firstborn. Indeed, that is what happened. Pharaoh, grief-stricken over the death of his firstborn son, virtually banished the Israelites from the land after years of stubbornly refusing to let them go.2
The Israelites took batches of unleavened dough with them as they left Egypt, “having their kneading bowls bound up in their clothes on their shoulders” (Ex. 12:34). Their provision as they traveled to and through the Red Sea included unleavened bread baked from these batches of dough.
Moses also instructed the people that they were to keep a seven-day feast annually as a remembrance of the night they were delivered from Egypt. In fact, the first name for the Passover Feast was the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Ex. 12:17). The Israelites were to eat unleavened bread for seven days as part of this feast, and during those days, they were to have a holy consecration and were to do no work. Moses said that when their children asked why they kept this feast, the people were to explain, “It is the Passover sacrifice of the LORD, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our households” (Ex. 12:27).
Jesus at the Last Supper
On the night that Jesus was betrayed by Judas, He and His disciples ate their last supper together. We read in the apostle Paul’s letter to the Corinthians about this night:
"For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” (1 Cor. 11:23–25)"
The meal that Jesus and His disciples were eating together was the last meal with leavened bread prior to the Passover Feast. Jesus died on the first day of Passover, fulfilling the meaning of the broken bread (His broken body), the slain lamb (His being the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world), and the bitter herbs (the bitterness associated with His death, as well as the offering of bitter vinegar while He was on the cross). This night before the Passover meal was the night in which all leaven was removed from the house. All utensils were scrubbed clean, all leavening agents were tossed out, and even the floors, walls, and fabrics of a house were washed. Likewise, the washing of the disciples’ feet came after the supper was over — it was a symbol that Jesus was cleansing His disciples thoroughly from all the evil that lay ahead. Although they didn’t realize it at the time, Jesus’ washing of their feet was a sign that He alone would be crucified the next day—the lives of His intimate associates would be spared so they might move forward into the fullness of the ministry that God had for them.
In the Scriptures, leaven is referred to in both good and bad ways. Jesus said of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees, “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees” (Matt. 16:5). On another occasion, however, Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened” (Matt. 13:33). Jesus didn’t have anything against bread with yeast! Most of the bread He consumed had leavening.
Jesus by the Sea After His Resurrection
After Jesus’ resurrection, He joined His disciples by the Sea of Galilee for a breakfast of fish and bread. (See John 21:9–12).
Jesus and Raw Grain
Jesus and His disciples ate grains in their raw state, as recorded in Luke 6:1: “Now it happened on the second Sabbath after the first that He went through the grainfields. And His disciples plucked the heads of grain and ate them, rubbing them in their hands.” To do this was entirely lawful — in biblical times, people were allowed to glean or pick freely the grain that remained in a field after harvest. These grains may still have been green, or they may have ripened after the harvest. Rubbing the grain in their hands removed the outer husk, but the bran and wheat germ remained.
WHEAT AND BARLEY
The two foremost grains used in the Old Testament were barley and wheat. Wheat is actually mentioned fifty-one times in the Scriptures. A wheat harvest is mentioned in Genesis 30:14, and a barley harvest is mentioned in Ruth 1:22.
Wheat was considered the staff of life and the king of grains. It became used as a measure of wealth. Barley, the cheaper and more plentiful of the two grains, was used by the poorer classes of people.
A family that had wheat bread was considered to be a fairly high-class family. In the time of Jesus, wheat was worth about three times more than barley. That apparently was also true seventy years later when John wrote in the book of Revelation: “I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, ‘A quart of wheat for a de narius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine’” (Rev. 6:6).
Wheat’s Nutritional Value
The nutritional breakdown of just one ounce of wheat bran is as follows:
Calories 60, fiber 12 grams, fat 1 gram, potassium 410 milligrams, carbohydrate 18 grams, protein 5 grams.
Wheat germ is high in B vitamins, iron, magnesium, zinc, chromium, manganese, and vitamin E. Just a quarter of a cup of wheat germ has five grams of fiber.
Wheat bran’s high fiber content is one of the best-known dietary sources of insoluble fiber. It is an excellent means of protecting against and curing constipation. It helps prevent intestinal infections, hemorrhoids, and varicose veins, and helps guard against colon cancer. A healthy amount of wheat bran to consume is one to two heaping tablespoons per day.
Wheat As a Whole Grain
In addition to being used to make flour for bread, grains in Bible times were roasted, boiled, parched, or even eaten green from the stalk. Grains were ground, crushed, pounded, and dried to make soups, grain-based salads, casseroles, and even desserts.3
Bulgur wheat is a special preparation of the wheat grain that is found commonly in the Middle East. In bulgur wheat, the wheat kernels are washed, scrubbed, cracked, and then dried. The smaller grains can then be cooked or soaked in water — as they soak or cook, they swell. This grain is commonly used in making tabouli (also called “tabbouleh”), a salad prepared in Israel using bulgur wheat, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, parsley, scallions, and other chopped fresh herbs.4
Another form of cracked wheat that is smaller than bulgur wheat is called couscous. This grain can also be used in making tabouli and other salads, but it is usually used as a main dish or in casseroles. Some desserts even use couscous. This grain is easily prepared by pouring boiling water over the cracked wheat or by lightly cooking it.
Nutritionally Rich Barley Bread
While we do not know with certainty that Jesus ate wheat bread, we do know that He ate barley bread. In the story of the feeding of the five thousand men—plus women and children—the miracle occurred because Jesus broke, blessed, and multiplied five barley loaves and two small fish brought to the event by a young boy. Barley loaves were also multiplied by Elisha; he multiplied twenty loaves of barley bread to feed a hundred men (See 2 Kings 4:42–44).
Roman gladiators were sometimes called hordearii, which means “barley eaters,” because the grain was added to their diet to give them bursts of strength before their contests. Barley is considered to be one of three balanced starches (rice and potatoes being the other two) that are rich in complex carbohydrates and fuel the body with a steady flow of energy.
In some areas of the Middle East, barley has been called the “medicine for the heart.” It contains fiber that can lower the risk of heart disease by reducing artery-clogging LDL (bad) cholesterol. This same high fiber content keeps a person regular, relieving constipation and warding off a variety of digestive problems. It may also help block the development of cancer.
In a study conducted at Montana State University, a group of men ate a high-barley diet, including cereal, bread, cake, and muffins made from barley flour. After consuming three servings a day of this food for six weeks, the cholesterol levels of these men were an average of 15 percent lower. Those with the highest cholesterol levels at the start of the study showed the most significant improvement. Another group of men who ate the same products made with wheat or bran flour did not have a drop in their cholesterol counts.
Look for the term unpearled on a box of barley grain or flour. This means that the barley is unprocessed and high in fiber. It is available at most health food stores. In contrast, barley that is labeled “Scotch” or “pearled” has been processed and is not nearly as effective.
Barley is available on the market today, but you do have to look for it. Barley bread is virtually nonexistent — you’d have to make it yourself from the grain you could find. The vast majority of barley grown today is used to feed livestock or to manufacture whiskey and beer. Barley grain is rarely eaten by itself; however, it is sometimes used as an ingredient in soups.
Other Biblical Grains
Worldwide, more than eight thousand different species of plants supply grains. Only a very small number of these grains are consumed routinely by Americans. The most commonly consumed grains worldwide are wheat, rice, corn, and oats. Rice, corn, and oats were not consumed in Israel during the time of Jesus.
Other grains mentioned in the Bible besides wheat and barley are millet and rye. Millet is mentioned only once in the Scriptures (Ezek. 4:9). As a grain, however, millet is superior to wheat, corn, and rice in protein content; its average protein content is between 10 and 12 percent. It is also high in minerals and is easily digested. Millet is a hardy plant and can grow in rich or poor soil. It requires little moisture in order to grow. Since wheat allergy is one of the most common food allergies in America today, millet is a good alternative. Millet has no gluten, which is the primary cause of wheat food allergies. Many health food stores carry millet bread. Sadly, the majority of millet grain that is produced is used as bird or chicken feed. Interesting, isn’t it, that we feed our birds better grain than many of us eat ourselves?5
Rye is another grain mentioned in the Bible. Rye is a gluten grain, but its gluten content is much lower than that of wheat. It is approximately 20 percent protein and is high in fiber. Rye contains high amounts of the minerals magnesium, iron, and potassium. It also contains B vitamins and other minerals. Most rye breads available commercially are made with refined rye flour, and this flour has usually been mixed with processed wheat flour. Pure rye bread is difficult to find. It is nearly black in color and is very nourishing and flavorful.
WHOLE GRAINS FOR MAXIMUM HEALTH BENEFIT
When it comes to the nutritional value of grains, a very simple choice is involved: whole or refined. Rather than choose whole-grain breads, we tend to choose the refined white bread. Instead of whole-grain cereals, we tend to feed our children boxes of commercial breakfast cereals that usually have more than 50 percent of their calories in sugar and very little to no fiber. As far as I am concerned, these cereals should not even be called cereals. They should be labeled “cookies” or “candies” rather than “cereals.”
Unfortunately, one saying among nutritionists is this: “The whiter the bread, the sooner you’re dead.” But most of us habitually choose white bread because that’s what we were fed as children. Most of us don’t have a clue as to how wheat is processed in order to make bread white.
THE PROCESSING OF WHEAT
FOR “WHITENESS”
The processing of whole grains of wheat to white flour takes approximately twenty steps.6 The wheat kernel is composed of an outer layer called the bran. The bran is rich in B vitamins, minerals, and fiber. The next layer is the wheat germ, which is the sprouting portion of the kernel. The wheat germ is a rich source of vitamins B and E. The next layer is the endosperm, which is the starch or food supply for the sprouting seed.
The endosperm is approximately 80 to 85 percent of the grain. The germ is about 3 percent, and the bran about 15 percent.
Refined white flour is pure endosperm or starch. Both the bran and the germ have been removed, along with approximately 80 percent of the wheat’s nutrients. The endosperm has far lower B vitamin and mineral content than the germ and bran, and also significantly less fiber.
Not only have 80 percent of the nutrients been removed, but the milling process involves such high temperatures that the remaining grain is damaged by oxidation. Flour at the end of the refining process actually has a grayish appearance from the oxidation. That color, of course, would be offensive to most consumers.
So a chemical agent such as chlorine dioxide, acetone peroxide, or benzoyl peroxide is used to bleach the flour to make it white. This bleaching process destroys even more of the few vitamins that remain. In addition, the bleaches can react with fatty acids to produce peroxides that are toxic and that can cause free-radical reactions. (Just compare these bleach products to the labels on chemical bleaches in your home such as Clorox!) In all, the milling and bleaching processes used today remove some twenty-two important nutrients from our bread, including fiber, vitamins, and minerals.
The white flour, however, looks cleaner and purer than dirty brown whole wheat flour. And as a consequence, it is more appealing to the American public.
What about “enriched” bread? To these breads, bakeries usually replace about four nutrients to the flour they use — thiamin, niacin, riboflavin, and iron. However, the vitamins they use are usually “coal tar derived” vitamins. Unfortunately, the end result is extremely little actual vitamin enrichment.
Low-fiber bread that has been laced with a great deal of sugar and hydrogenated fat becomes pastelike in the intestines. This, in turn, leads to constipation, which in turn may lead to gastrointestinal disease such as irritable bowel syndrome, diverticulosis, diverticulitis, and hemorrhoids.
“But,” you may be saying, “I only have a couple of slices of white bread a day.” Oh, really? Are you also counting the buns for your hamburgers and hot dogs? Are you including crackers, bagels, pretzels, and many pasta and cereal products, which are also made of white flour? Remember, the most commonly eaten foods in America are white bread, coffee, and hot dogs.
The Link to Food Allergies
Gluten is the main protein found in grains. Wheat has a higher gluten content than any other grain. Oats, rye, and barley also have gluten, but it is present in lower amounts. Nongluten grains include rice, millet, buckwheat, amaranth, and quinoa. A grain with low gluten content is spelt.
Celiac disease is an intestinal disorder characterized by malabsorption and diarrhea that result from the body’s inability to utilize gluten. Allergies to grains may be the result of excessive consumption of processed foods.
Choose Whole-Grain Products!
The conclusion we can draw is this: Choose whole-grain products! Besides bread, you should be able to find whole-grain pasta, whole-grain muffins and bagels, and whole-grain pretzels. If the label on these products does not read “whole wheat” or “whole grain,” you should assume that the product is made completely or partially with refined flour.
DRINKING YOUR GRAINS
Convenient and health-promoting products made available by our technology today are beverages that yield the nutritional benefit of whole grains without actually having to eat the grains. Rather, we can drink the nutritional benefits from whole grain.
Wheat grass and barley grass products are both available. At times, the juice itself can be purchased. More commonly, these products are found in powder form that can be mixed with water, juice, or another beverage. Both are rich in chlorophyll, which is the green blood of the plant. Chlorophyll is very similar to the “heme” component that is part of the hemoglobin in our blood, the part of the blood that carries oxygen. Heme in blood is bound by iron whereas chlorophyll in plants is bound by magnesium.
Extracts of wheat and barley are rich in flavonoids, which are phytonutrients. Flavonoids have been shown to have antiviral, antitumor, and anti-inflammatory properties. Chlorophyllin is quite abundant in both wheat and barley grasses. It has been shown to inhibit a number of carcinogens including those found in cigarette smoke and in charred meats.7 Wheat grass and barley grass powders are often packaged with chlorella, spirulina, and blue-green algae in products that are called “green foods” or “superfoods.”
- WHAT WOULD JESUS EAT?
Jesus ate whole grains directly and in the form of whole-grain bread. We can follow His example by choosing to eat whole-grain breads and pastas, and to eat whole grains in cooked and salad dishes.
NOTES
1. Joan Nathan, The Foods of Israel Today (New York: Random House, 2001).
2. For more on this, see William Coleman, Today’s Handbook of Bible Times and Customs (Minneapolis, Minn., 1984).
3. Globe Communications Corporation, Healing Foods from the Bible (Boca Raton, Fla.: American Media Mini Mags, Inc., 2001), 85.
4 Joan Nathan, The Foods of Israel Today.(New York: Random House, 2001).
5. Rex Russell, What the Bible Says About Healthy Living (Ventura, Calif.: Regal Books, 1996).
6. Udo Erasmus, Fats That Heal, Fats That Kill (Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada: Alive Books, 1994).
7. Mitchell L. Gaynor et al., Dr. Gaynor’s Cancer Prevention Program (New York: Kensington Publishing, 1999).
By Don Colbert in "What Would Jesus Eat?", Nelson Books, USA, 2002, excerpts chapter 3. Adapted and illustrated to be posted by Leopoldo Costa.
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