Eating True Bread

One of my favorite foods to eat at a restaurant is some bread with butter or olive oil. When there is no bread, the meal feels a little incomplete. When I was a missionary in Northern Africa, there was never a meal that was served without fresh, baked bread. Every restaurant and café, small or big, always served a basket of loaves of bread, a bottle of olive oil and a bowl of olives for guests to enjoy, many times even before water was served. If there was leftover bread, it was often given away to the hungry and homeless. It was never wasted.

During Jesus’ time, bread was a deeply woven concept in the fabric of 1st century Judean life. The word could refer to both blessing (e.g.: “bread from heaven,” Exodus 16:4) and sorrow (e.g.: “bread of tears,” Psalm 80:5); abundance (e.g.: Psalm 37:25); suffering and worry (e.g.: “bread of toil,” Psalm 127:2, “bread of adversity,” Isaiah 30:20); righteousness and evil (e.g.: “eat the bread of wickedness,” Proverbs 4:17) and even to someone’s pay, (e.g.: “earn your bread,” Amos 7:12). It was culturally ingrained as a symbol of friendship, generosity and hospitality. It would be impossible to conceive of 1st-century Judean culture and society without bread.

Is there anything in our lives that is so deeply woven into the fabric of our existence that our lives are inconceivable without it? Perhaps, it might be financial security so that we can avoid feeling anxious about the future, relational intimacy so that we can avoid feeling alone and abandoned, careerism and worldly ambition so that we can avoid feeling like our lives have little to no significance or the need for approval of others so that we can avoid feeling unadmired or unappreciated. We may wish this wasn’t the case, but we aren’t sure how to disentangle these threads from our lives.

However, when Jesus says, “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35), it’s as though He removes the deeply woven conceptual thread of “bread” from the tapestry of 1st-century Judean life and replaces it with Himself. Likewise, He yearns to do the same for us. He can replace our want for financial security with a knowledge of His everlasting provision, for we are worth more than sparrows. He can replace our want for relational intimacy with His deep and abiding presence. He can replace our careerism or worldly ambition with the divine purposes for which He personally created us. He can replace our want for approval with His divine seal, “beloved child of the King.” Jesus says, “I am the bread of your life.” May our hearts be filled with Him.