Manna

Manna was the fine, flake-like food that appeared with the dew each morning during Israel's wilderness years. The name itself comes from the people's puzzled question, “man hu?” — “what is it?” It tasted like wafers made with honey, and could be gathered, ground, and baked.

It came with daily lessons in trust: enough fell for each day only, it bred worms if hoarded, and a double portion fell before the Sabbath so none need be gathered on the rest day. So Moses explained that God humbled and fed them with manna “that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word… of the LORD” — the very verse Jesus quoted against temptation.

Jesus then made a breathtaking claim: the manna was a shadow, and “I am the bread of life… the bread which came down from heaven.” The desert miracle that sustained physical life pointed to the One who gives life that never ends, received not by gathering but by coming to him.