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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadWilliam Burkitt Notes and Observations - 1 Corinthians 10:3 - 10:3
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They, that is, the fathers in the wilderness, did all eat of the manna which came down from heaven, which is here called spiritual meat; either because it came down from heaven, which is the habitation of spiritual beings; or because it was food given out by the ministry of angels, those spiritual agents; or else it is called spiritual, that is, sacramental, meat, because it typified Christ, who is the bread of life, the true bread which came down from heaven.
That manna was a type of Christ, thus appears: "Was manna provided by God for the Israelites without their labour and industry? so is Christ given unto men without any merit or work of theirs, but of the free gift and goodness of God.
Did manna come down from heaven beside the ordinary course of nature?
so was Christ's birth wonderful, and not as the birth of other men; being not begotten of mortal seed, but by the influence of the Holy Ghost.
Was manna distributed to all alike, one not having more, and another less, but all an equal share?
in like manner Christ communicates himself unto all alike, without acceptance of persons.
A beggar may have as great a part in Christ as a prince.
Again, as manna was food, plentiful food, sweet and pleasant food; so is Christ the food of life, very sweet to such a soul as can truly relish him.
Farther, must the manna, before fit for food, be beaten in a mortar, or broken in a mill, and baked in an oven?
so Christ, our heavenly manna, was broken on the cross, scorched in the fire of his Father's wrath, that he might become the spiritual food wherewith our souls are nourished unto everlasting life.
Finally, as manna was given only in the wilderness, and ceased when the Israelites came into Canaan; so is Christ our spiritual meat, our sacramental food, whilst we are in the wilderness of this world; but when we shall come to the heavenly Canaan, we shall have no more any need of sacramental supports, but shall behold him face to face, and be satisfied with his likeness."
And they did all drink of that spiritual rock which followed them, and that rock Christ. Here the water out of the rock is also called spiritual drink, it being typically and sacramentally so.
That rock was Christ; that is, it typified Christ. The word is doth import as much as signifies or represents; so the rock is Christ; that is, it signified, represented, and typified Jesus Christ.
For as the rock gave no water before it was smitten with the rod of Moses; so was Christ smitten upon the cross, and out of his side came forth water; and it was the rod in Moses's hand that smote and broke the rock; so was Christ smitten with the curse of the law, in the day when his soul was made an offering for sin.
In a word, as the rock yielded water, not only to them that were first present at the proaching of it, but followed them with its streams, in their stations through the wilderness; in like manner the water which gushed out from our smitten Saviour, the sweet fruits and benefits of his death, did not only belong to them who were present at the time and place of his suffering, but it doth and will accompany all believers to the end of this world. The virtue and efficacy of Christ's blood is now as great, as efficacious and effectual, as it was the first hour it was shed; the divinity of his person adds an eternal efficacy to his passion.