Tell Me What You See ~ Bread (no Circus)

Greetings Dear Reader,

When Avalon and I got our first home, on the first morning we were there, she commented on how nice it was that we could smell the local bakery in the morning.  There is something about the smell of fresh bread that triggers the pleasure center in our brain.  I only have to ponder for a moment the smell of fresh warm bread to feel the joy of those mornings again.

That smell also triggers hunger in many of us.  When I smell fresh bread, my mouth waters and I get that feeling in my stomach that tells me I want to eat.  I have more than once taken a still-warm loaf of bread and some butter and devoured the bread, not because I was hungry but because of the joy of eating warm fresh bread.  The nature of fresh bread is that we are drawn to it. 

When Jesus says that he is the Bread of Life, it encompasses all of this.  In fact, the full statement about this truly carries the desire in us rather than just the hunger relative to fresh bread.  Here is how John says it:

John 6:35 - 37 “Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.’”

If we see the imagery for what it is, there are some very clear cause and effect events in the statement.  Obviously, Jesus is not saying that he is actually bread.  Neither is he saying that if we follow him that we will never again need food.  This statement follows the feeding of the five thousand.  He is connecting his miraculous provision to the spiritual provision of following him. 

Later, just before he dies, he will return to this image.  He will hand them the Passover bread and tell them that they are eating his body.  Again, they are not literally eating human flesh.  Rather, they are symbolically taking in Christ to be a part of him and have him be a part of them.  It is so that the joyful desire for fresh bread reminds us of Jesus and what he has done for us relative to our reclamation and redemption.

I have tried to train my mind that whenever I smell fresh bread to remember who the Bread of Life is and what he means to me.  I also connect this to Jesus’ teaching us to pray.  When he says that we are to ask the Father to “give us this day our daily bread,” he is speaking of our dependence upon the Father for our needs.  That is clear, good, and vital to faith.  However, I also see the need to realize that we can ask the Father to grant us daily the grace and will to follow his Son more closely.

So, tell me what you see, Dear Reader.  If we see that Jesus is as desirable as warm fresh bread, that he sustains us, and that he will never reject us how does that impact the way he is represented by our culture.  There is a vast difference.  I must only see Jesus as the staff of life that he is.  I need not hunger for anything beyond him.  In fact, I have found that for me, nothing beyond Jesus satisfies.  Nothing outside of Christ has the same impact on me.  Tell me what you see, Dear Reader.  If you like we can discuss it over a loaf of warm fresh bread.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn
Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a homeowner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”
(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Every human story is part of the great story that leads to the Father getting everything back to Good.

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“You are the Bread of Life, oh Lord,
Broken to set us free.
So how can there be any hunger in me,
If you are Bread of Life?” – Michael Card