ἐπιούσιος (e-pe-ü'-se-os): “Give us this day our epiousion bread”—Part II: Lk 10-11, “Joy in the Holy Spirit”-> The Good Samaritan-> The “One Thing Needful”-> The Lord’s Prayer

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Review
The last post discussed the development of epiousios from its root ousia, which came to mean “essence” and “substance” in Greek philosophical thought. The addition of “epi” to “ousia” was a novelty in the Greek language. While its dictionary meaning could be “over” or “above” “being/essence” (supersubstantialis in Latin), it’s meaning must be grasped within the context of its NT usage.

Its first occurrence comes in the Sermon on the Mount within Jesus’ tripartite synthesis of the Christian life. With the Beatitudes completely reshaping our understanding of life in this world such that poverty in Christ (πτωχοὶ τῷ πνεύματι) is true riches in the Kingdom (Mt 5:3), mourning the pathway to eternal comfort (παρακληθήσονται), and meekness (πραεῖς) the means of inheriting the earth, etc., Jesus’ words in Matthew 6 further demonstrate the “upside-down nature” of the Kingdom or the “paradoxy of orthodoxy” as they are worked out in three vital Christian disciplines—works of mercy (ἐλεημοσύνη), prayer and fasting.

Each discipline is viewed first through the lens of This Fallen Age where they are done outwardly “to be seen of men” with their “reward” being fleeting praise. In contrast to this external show of religiosity is the hidden life of the believer whose actions are driven not by momentary benefits but eternal Realities.

With this as the context, we then saw that the driving emphasis of the middle discipline of prayer is the Eternal Kingdom of God breaking into the present moment of false religion in This Fallen Age so as to transform, renew and recreate it. “Give us this day our epiousion bread” becomes the means by which the Living Bread of the Eternal Kingdom begins this process in us.

We will now look at its usage in Luke’s presentation of the Lord’s Prayer, beginning with an overview of the context.

Luke 11

Summary Synthesis: The context

The immediate context of the Lord’s Prayer is Jesus’ Joy in the Holy Spirit for the Kingdom of God going forward (Lk 10:17-24) establishing a community of New Creational persons rooted in Love and Mercy, as demonstrated in the Parable of the Good Samaritan (10:29-37). The “one thing needful” for this community is shown to be a passage out of the distractions and pressures of the active life in this world into the Presence of Jesus, whereby we sit at His feet receiving moment-by-moment direction for life together (10:38-42). These three episodes form the context for our entrance into the Lord’s Prayer and offer the background to the “epiousion bread.” As such, we will work through each of them in turn.

Detailed Analysis: Joy in the Holy Spirit—

The coming of Christ’s Kingdom into this Fallen Age reveals Life-giving knowledge to His community, releasing them from the bondage of the Principalities and Powers of the Present and opening them up to Eternal Joy and Thanksgiving in the Triune God.

When the “seventy returned with joy” having seen that the principalities and powers “were subject” (ὑποτάσσεται) to them in Christ’s name, Jesus offers His interpretation. “I saw Satan falling as lightning from Heaven.” As the Gospel of the Kingdom goes forward, the Kingdom of Satan crumbles.

Christ, however, refocuses His disciples’ exhilaration from their newfound experience of spiritual authority (ἐξουσία) “over the demons.” “Rejoice not that spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice (χαίρετε) that your names are written in the Heavens” (Lk 10:17-20).

Speaking these words, Jesus Himself “rejoiced (ἀγαλλιάω [ä-gäl-le-ä'-o], From αγαν [much] + ἅλλομαι [jump]—> literally, “jumped for joy”) in the Holy Spirit (10:21a). He then declares, “I thank you, Father (Ἐξομολογοῦμαί [eks-o-mo-lo-ge'-o]). This verb, coming from ἐκ + ὁμολογέω, means to “confess” Truth “from” the heart, which enables our entrance into the True Joy of and Thanksgiving for the New Creation coming in the Triune God, 10:21b, cf. Mt 3:6; Mk 1:5; Acts 19:18).

The content of His Thanksgiving is the paradoxical reality that His “Father, the Lord of heaven and earth” has “hidden these things from the wise (σοφός [so-fo's]) and prudent (συνετός [sün-e-to's], From συν + ίημι: Lit. those who are “put together”) and revealed (ἀπεκάλυψας, From apokalyptō) them to babes” (10:21c). When Christ’s Kingdom comes it “turns the world upside-down” (cf. Acts 17:6). And the reason the Father has ordained it so is because “it seemed good in [His] sight” (10:21c).

Jesus then offers us a glimpse into the inner-workings of the Trinity. “All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows (γινώσκει) Who the Son is except the Father, and Who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal (ἀποκαλύψαι) Him” (10:22).

This mysterious, Life-giving Revelation (apokalypsis) of the Persons of the Father and Son is the source of true blessedness. “Blessed (Μακάριοι, cf. Mt 5:3-12) are the eyes which see the things you see; for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it” (10:23-24).

Detailed Analysis: The Parable of the Good Samaritan—

Christ’s Kingdom community is formed in Love, through which we as those wounded by sin are healed by Christ the Great Physician within the Church as His Hospital.

The blessedness of such a metanoia whereby we see/hear/think/act according to our New Creational Life in Jesus is then displayed in how we respond to our “neighbor.” The personal apokalypsis of the Triune Persons to each of us forms the foundation of our community life.

As the narrative of Luke 10 continues, a teacher of the law (νομικός) then stands us to “thoroughly test” Jesus (ἐκπειράζων [ek-pa-rä'-zo], From ἐκ + πειράζω). This word is used elsewhere in the NT only of Satan’s testing of Jesus in the wilderness (Mt 4:7, Lk 4:12) then of Paul’s warning to those who “tempt Christ [ἐκπειράζωμεν τὸν Χριστόν] as “some of them also tempted [ἐπείρασαν], and were destroyed by serpents” (I Cor 10:9, cf. Num 21:6-9). In testing Christ, the lawyer puts forward a question, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life (ζωὴν αἰώνιον)?” (10:25).

With this as The Question, Jesus directs this lawyer back to the teachings of the Law (Ἐν τῷ νόμῳ τί γέγραπται), asking for his own interpretation of its central emphases (πῶς ἀναγινώσκεις, 10:26, cf. Lk 16:29). When he offers a correct synthesis (10:27) via the Shema of Israel (Deut 6:5) combined with the command of Leviticus 19:18 to love our neighbor, Jesus responds by saying, “Do this and you will live” (τοῦτο ποίει καὶ ζήσῃ, 10:28). A simple, clear directive which, as it were, continually answers The Question as it is applied throughout the entire course of the life of a believer.

Yet this, apparently, is not sufficient; it is not agreeable to the Fallen Mind. “But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” (10:29).

This time Christ’s response is not a word or a command, but rather a picture—a picture of the Man Who lives the New Creational Life, bringing healing to a world wounded by sin through Mercy and Love.

First, however, we are given a picture of nominal, OT, religious externalism as epitomized in the priest and Levite. When they encounter one wounded, they respond not with Mercy but with judgment, utilizing all the force of the Law to justify their action of abandoning one in need lest they defile themselves by coming into contact with him (10:31-32, cf. Lev 21:1; Num 5:2, 6:6, 9:6, 19:11, etc.). Thus, the outworking of their false religion enables them to pass by (ἀντιπαρῆλθεν) a man beaten and left “half-dead” (ἡμιθανῆ) in a way which reveals that their life in ministry cannot bring true healing to those suffering. In contrast, the Samaritan does precisely the opposite (with the name deriving from the Hebrew verb, שָׁמַר [shä·mar], meaning to “protect” or “guard”). Though this Samaritan would have been despised by the Jewish religious elites, he does exactly what they do not. Going straight towards this dying man (ἦλθεν κατ’ αὐτὸν) such that he sees him face-to-face, the depth of his heart is filled not with judgment but with compassion (ἐσπλαγχνίσθη). This word, derived from the anatomical term, σπλάγχνον (splanchnon), encapsulates the way in which Divine Mercy works in the inner life of mankind.

In the NT, this word for compassion, which occurs 11x, is used only in the Gospels when speaking specifically of the Mercy of Jesus towards fallen, lost, oppressed, suffering humanity (Mt 9:36 & Mt 14:14-Mk 6:34,15:32-Mk 8:2) who has physical and spiritual needs beyond all hope of healing (Mt 18:27, 20:34, Mk 9:22, Lk 7:13-> 10:33). This Mercy becomes the “one thing needful” for broken humanity, as it draws man out of the depths of sin into the Healing, Transforming Grace of JHWH.

The Good Samaritan, this “Protector” according to Chrysostom (347-407 A.D.) together with Irenaeus (130-202 A.D.), Clement of Alexandria (150-215 A.D.) and Origen (184-253 A.D.) in the East, as well as Ambrose (340-397 A.D.) and Augustine (354-430 A.D.) in the West, is none other than Christ Himself. He is the Great Physician, Who found the man and “bound up his wounds” (κατέδησεν τὰ τραύματα [traumatas], 10:34), pouring in the “oil” of the Holy Spirit and “wine” of His Passion, which are the only elements that can truly heal.

We are this man who left Jerusalem (Paradise) and descended into this fallen world, typified by Jericho (being situated 846 ft below sea level as the lowest city on earth). Apart from God, we are “by the rulers of darkness all but put to death with many wounds, fears, lusts, passions, pains, deceits and pleasures” (Clement). Stripped of the garments of immortality, we are left “half-dead” with “wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores that have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment” (Is 1:6). Jesus approaches when the OT priestly system passes us by in judgment. Joining Himself to us and becoming, as it were, a despised Samaritan (Jn 8:48), He begins the process of our healing through His Life and Passion. Then He brings us “to the inn, the Hospital, which is the Church, where this pathway to healing is focused in greater depths and measure.

Mary and Martha—”The one thing needful”

The action of our Kingdom community becomes centered in the Words and Life of Jesus as we move out of the distractions of This Age to sit at the feet of Jesus with Him directing our movement.

Following this Parable, the Evangelist then moves to a “certain village” to the “house of a woman named Martha” (10:38). Immediately, though, the focus shifts to “her sister, named Mary, who was sitting at the feet of Jesus listening intently to His Word” (παρακαθίσασα…ἤκουεν τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ, 10:39).

Mary’s hearing, her “readiness to believe what the Saviour taught, to accept and to obey—nay to delight in, His precepts…as a disciple in the school of Christ”, is contrasted to Martha, who is literally “drawn out and around (περισπάω [pe-re-spä'-o], From περί + σπάω) by much service” (περὶ πολλὴν διακονίαν, 10:40a). This type of active service, however, does not draw her towards Jesus and those around her. Rather it draws her into self, which incites her anger and judgment. “Do you not care that my sister has left (κατέλειπεν [kä-tä-la'-po]) me alone to serve?” (10:40b).

It should be noted here that Martha’s word for “leave” or “abandon” is next used in the Gospel for the Good Shepherd who “leaves (καταλείπει) the ninety-nine in the wilderness and goes after the one which is lost until he finds it” (Lk 15:4). And it is earlier used of the bridegroom who “will leave (καταλείψει) his father and mother” so that he can “be joined to (προσκολληθήσεται) his wife” such that “the two shall become one flesh” (Mt 19:5; Mk 10:7; Eph 5:31). That is to say, there is a time to leave one thing and attend to another, as Mary left her active service to attend to Christ.

Martha, though, being frustrated at her sister leaving her, sets herself before Jesus (ἐπιστᾶσα [e-fe'-sta-me], From ἐπί + ἵστημι) almost in a confrontational way (especially given its next occurrence in Luke where it is used of the Pharisees’ confronting Jesus, cf. Lk 20:1). She then demands two things of Jesus. “Say to her (imperative), therefore, that she come help me” (συναντιλάβηται [sün-än-te-läm-bä'-no-mi], 10:40c).

One further note on this verb for “help”: This word is composed of three components, συν + αντι + λαμβάνομαι, and occurs only 2x in the NT. It’s dictionary definition means to “take hold of a situation (λαμβάνομαι) together with another (συν) in a way that corresponds to (αντι) the exact need. Its first use is here, where it represents the imperfections of human aid.

The second and only other use in the NT takes us into Life and Work of the Holy Spirit. It is He Who enters into the depths of our being and “helps (συναντιλαμβάνεται) us in our weaknesses” (ἀσθενείαις), making intercession (ὑπερεντυγχάνει) for us with groans (στεναγμοῖς) that cannot be uttered” (Rom 8:26a). And this He must do because we, even as believers, “do not know what we ought to pray for” (Rom 8:26b). The Spirit, however, entering in can “stir up our hearts in such a way that these desires by their fervency penetrate into heaven itself.”

How does Jesus then respond?

Personally with gentleness and kindness—”Martha, Martha.” He speaks her name tenderly (Jn 10:27). And in such tenderness and gentleness, He expresses deep insight—”You are worried (μεριμνᾷς) and in turmoil (τυρβάζῃ; Latin, turba) about many things” (10:41). With this diagnosis, He cuts behind her shield of outward activity so as to get at the root of her disquietude and offer a remedy.

“One thing is needful” (ἑνὸς δέ ἐστιν χρεία). That is to say, all of what is necessary for your life in This Fallen Age can be concentrated in this one thing.

“And Mary has chosen (ἐξελέξατο) the good portion (τὴν ἀγαθὴν μερίδα, 10:42a). This portion (μερίδα, accusative of μερίς [me-re's], which means a particular part that is distinct from the whole, is precisely that which Mary chose to the exclusion of others. And this portion, this “first posture”, becomes that out of which all active service then flows. “Though Mary was not apparently engaged in waiting upon Christ as Martha was, yet she was, in very truth, ministering unto him in a deeper and truer sense…she was waiting upon Christ in one of his loftiest capacities, namely—that of a teacher and prophet in the midst of Israel.” Her willing and loving depth of submission at the feet of Jesus enabled her to perceive her true need then receive His Words with transformative power.

Later, Christ Himself will declare of her, “Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this Gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her” (Mt 26:13; Mk 14:9). When the disciples were becoming increasingly confused by Jesus’ actions on the Road to Calvary, Mary perceived that He must suffer, must die, must rise again.

And so it is she who anoints His Head and Body for Burial (Mt 26:7-12) It is she who is at the Cross when His disciples abandon Him (Mt 27:56). And it is she who becomes the first witness of His Resurrection (Jn 20:14-18).

So Jesus tells her at the close of Luke 10 that this portion “shall not be taken away from her” (Lk 10:42b).

The Lord’s Prayer

When Jesus is next found to be “praying in a certain place” then “one of His disciples” asked Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples” (11:1).

Jesus then answers with the Words that have come to us as the Lord’s Prayer (11:2-4). Without summarizing the petitions as in the prior post, we will only offer a short synthesis on the fourth petition based on what we have found above.

“Give us this day our epiousion bread” (11:3).

Give us the “one thing needful” for life in This Fallen Age, whereby we ourselves can first experience the healing of our mind/heart/body/souls through the Divine Mercy and Love that comes to operate in us through the Passion and Death of Jesus. Then enable us to experience this Mercy and Love of Christ to such a degree that His Life becomes pneumatized in us through the Spirit, enabling us to participate in the healing of those around us who have been wounded by the deceit of sin. And do it all in a way that the Eternal Kingdom comes in us and the Lord’s Will is done in the formation of a New Creational Community here and now on earth “as it is in Heaven.”