Skip to main content

Bread Maker


      Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who 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.”
        Sir,” they said, “from now on give us this bread.”
       Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:32-35)
            A little over a year ago, I bought a bread maker and discovered the joy of homemade bread. I learned that there were breads filled with grains and herbs and healthy stuff, and there were breads made with all kinds of tasty stuff that isn't so healthy. Even the supposedly healthy stuff, I was told, can have chemicals on it or possibly be genetically modified in ways that are unhealthy for people, and there are even people who have sensitivities to those ingredients. What might be healthy for one person causes another problems. Store bought bread (especially   white bread) seems to have very little nutritional value left.
        When the Israelites boasted to Jesus that Moses gave them "bread from heaven," they were talking about manna. At the time, they called it "What's'it." God also directed the Israelites to put twelve loaves of bread on the table in the tabernacle and the temple every day. That bread was called the "Bread of the Presence" because it was always in God's presence.
            In effect, Jesus was saying that the Manna and the Bread of the Presence were store bought white bread with no real spiritual-nutritional value. Worse, they were Twinkies in comparison to the true bread of life. He, however; is the organically grown, non GMO multi-grain, all natural, minimally processed super-bread.
          In this passage Jesus also made the first of several "I am" claims that infuriated the Pharisees. They understood that Jesus was claiming to be God, the I AM. To make such a claim was and is blasphemy, unless it's true. What does this claim tell us about the I Am? He is the that which gives and sustains life and provides the basic necessities. He comes from God and is in God's presence. He is satisfying and sufficient, so much so that those who "eat" (which He explains means to believe in Him) the bread will not only never be hungry, but never be thirsty. He also makes it clear that there is no work involved in producing this bread. It is heaven-made and given to any who will.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Birthday of Elizabeth Barret Browning

 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen To Him

              The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him . (Deuteronomy 18:15)           Today, we switch from Jesus’ claims of “I am” to prophecies made about Him. My Bible platform is starting in Deuteronomy. I’d start in Genesis, where we would learn that the one who would save us would be a descendant of Eve (Genesis 3:15), of Noah (by default), Abram and Sara(Genesis 12:1-3). Isaac (Genesis 17:19), Jacob (Genesis 25:23), Judah (Genesis 29:8), and David (II Samuel 7:12-16). There were also references to a new covenant (Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:22-32). In addition, there were prophecies about when and where the prophet/Messiah would be born and what would happen to him.           Of course, naysayers will claim that Jesus’ life was retrofitted or reverse enginee...
Post a Comment
Read more