Bread

Luke 24:35 “Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.”

“Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” John 6:32–33

1. I started jotting down some notes and it began to auto-number what I was typing. I didn’t feel like finding the editing feature to turn it off so this week will feature a numbered list based solely on when I hit enter at the end of a paragraph.
2. Bread is meant to be consumed. And – for the sake of argument – we’ll agree (possibly — since this is written and you are free to interpret howsoever you choose and I’m free to be wrong howsoever I choose, but I digress) we’ll agree that bread implies daily sustenance – it does not have to be explicitly a wheat/gluten based product. From the time of the Exodus when the Israelites where in such a rush they didn’t leaven their bread, and then the provision of bread (manna) through the next 40 years – bread is a physical provision to allow physical existence. It must be consumed to be helpful. We must eat to survive. God, in His wisdom, chose such a simple symbol to associate with both His Word (written) and His Word (living). Given the deluge of books, websites, gyms, health food sections and stores – we certainly understand that daily nutrition is of great importance. Then here is Jesus saying, “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35). As someone else put it, “This is a phenomenal statement! First, by equating Himself with bread, Jesus is saying he is essential for life. Second, the life Jesus is referring to is not physical life, but eternal life. Jesus is trying to get the Jews’ thinking off of the physical realm and into the spiritual realm. He is contrasting what He brings as their Messiah with the bread He miraculously created the day before. That was physical bread that perishes. He is spiritual bread that brings eternal life.” So the first thing we need to do is eat.
3. Then we get fat. Bread, when digested, in part turns to glucose and then strategically aligns itself on every part of our body that we’d rather not have emphasized. For instance, “Bread is high in carbs — a single slice of white bread packs an average of 13 grams. Your body breaks down carbs into glucose, leading to an increase in blood sugar levels.” That’s nice. But the truth is – no matter what makes up our “daily bread” will always need balanced with some sort of exercise. I don’t mean gym-membershipping-5k-running-cardio exercising. Just get up and do something. Anything. Walk. Far too often, when it comes to the “bread of life” we do a wonderful job of eating it – but then sit on our behinds and do nothing with it. Fat is just the bodies way of remembering what we ate. We often do this with our faith – store up knowledge but do not put into practice. We end up sounding like the teacher of the law in that moment that he confronts Jesus by asking “What’s the greatest command” and Jesus responds, “Love your neighbor as yourself”. There’s the food (the statement to love our neighbor) and then there’s the exercise (love your neighbor). Does this guy put it into practice? Nope – he challenges Jesus by asking, “Who’s my neighbor?” So human. When we don’t like an answer, we challenge the answer with another question. In the end – we get Jesus explanation that our neighbor is anyone that we show kindness to. BUT WE HAVE TO SHOW THE KINDNESS – not just know that we should. Just as Jesus summarizes the end of his sermon on the mount with, “Anyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like…” (Matthew 7:24) We need to exercise the very words of God in our lives – otherwise we end up self-righteously smart and life-robbingly dumb. (1 Cor. 8:1 –> knowledge puffs up (self serving/self-righteous) but love builds up (others serving)).
4. So – we are to eat daily, and put into practice daily… maybe, just maybe – this stay at home business is the gift of putting into practice our faith in the context of our families. This seems to be a unique time in our history to very much become the church we want in our buildings to be the church we could be at home. If we are consuming – daily – and are practicing (exercising) – daily – then this consumption and exercise is happening exclusively at home. Philippians 4:8 says, “8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Have we noticed the way we talk to others in our house? Have we noticed how we interact/communicate/treat others around us? Have we put any thought or effort into how we “be Christ” to those closest to us? This isn’t rocket science. This is simple “Who is my neighbor” kind of living. If we accept Jesus answer that our neighbor is anyone we show kindness to – then evern our family members, the people on the phone, those on the other end of an email or web/videochat — these are our neighbors. And by doing something as simple as REMOVING our sarcasm, apologizing for the things we say or do that we see causes hurt/harm – not defending our poor choices…. and on and on. The more we become Christ minded and Christ practiced at home – the more our world will see and feel the impact of the gospel. I suspect that somewhere down the road a lot of churches will look back and see the mistake of trying to do so much church virtually when that time and energy could have been spent being the church in reality with our families.
5. I want to return to the two gentlemen from last week who walked with Jesus and were kept from recognizing him. They didn’t recognize him when they bumped into him. They didn’t recognize him in the hours long journey as he broke down the scriptures and “preached” to them. They didn’t recognize him as he gave unparalleled theological answers to who the Messiah is and the entire context of Scripture associated with that. They only recognized him when he broke the bread. It wasn’t until the most mundane, every-day part of their experience with Jesus that they recognized him. This is the same Jesus who feed thousands – from a few loaves and a few fish – and those thousands demanded another meal – and those thousands called out for his crucifixion. This is the same Jesus who walked in their midst and healed thousands – proclaiming the coming of the Kingdom of God by healing and healing and healing. And the crowds who saw that healing became the crowds who called for his crucifixion. Time and again Jesus did these ‘big” things — but he wasn’t recognized for them. He was condemned, falsely charged, and murdered because the big things weren’t the big things that the “people” wanted. So in this moment with these two men – once again the big thing is not when he’s recognized (his extrapolation of scripture) it’s the mundane, the small, the boring moment that he is seen. And it’s perfect! During his earthly ministry, Jesus cautioned us away from demanding “signs and wonders” and constantly tried to guide the crowds and his disciples back to the simple things. So when he is recognized in the moment he breaks the bread, this should really speak to us. We should not be trying to see Jesus in the big things (distractions) – we should be seeing him in the normal, the every day, the mundane and the boring. We should see Jesus every time we break bread. Our physical act of eating should stand as a constant spiritual reminder of Him. When we physically eat we don’t demand an extravagant meal every time. The most satisfying meal is the simple meal after a hard day’s work. Just as His Word can be so satisfying after a hard day’s work. It doesn’t have to be a “great revelation” nor does it have to be a deep intellectual revelation. His word is simple to simply satisfy us. “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you” So simple. So satisfying. Just like bread.

Let’s Pray: Lord – Thank you for the bread of life that you have given to us in your Son. Thank you that the opportunity to believe in Him, to follow Him, to be Your children, is given to each and everyone of us. We pray to those of us who believe and follow continue to be strengthened through His Word, and we pray that those who have not chosen to believe and follow may see in us Your glory and desire to have this same bread of life. Please forgive us for the times we have sinned, and please be with us as we forgive those who have sinned against us. May we be your children more so today than ever before. We thank you, love you, and pray these simple things in Your name. Amen.