Bread (Loaf 1)

Bread. 

Once you stop to think about it, bread is fascinating. Is there anything else (besides water and Coke probably) that so many nations of the world have in common? Somehow we all figured this out - a little water, a little flour, a little heat - BAM! Is there anything like the smell of fresh bread? What can compare to a fresh bread with apricot jam and butter on it? And yet, bread is found in almost every home in the world. Even in the poorest of households, bread is probably something you’ll find in the kitchen. In Afrikaans we express intense need as needing something as a person needs bread, “broodnodig.” Bread is vital. 

And just as bread is found in the households of king and pauper alike, bread is also found from the front cover to the back cover of your Bible. And not just randomly. Think of Genesis 3:19, where God speaks to Adam: “In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread…” Think of that crazy story of Melchizedek and Abram in Genesis 14:18 where this mysterious royal priest of God Most High brings out bread and wine to Abram (can you see what He did there…) Or the unleavened bread of Passover, the bread from Heaven in the wilderness, or the bread that the widow of Zarephath baked for Elijah when the flour and oil would not cease. Even in the Gospels, we find bread in moments of great significance: the feeding of the 5000, the 4000, and the Last Supper. Judas is also revealed to be the traitor with a piece of bread. Our Beautiful, Glorious Saviour reveals Himself to be THE bread, the Bread of Life. Once you stop to think about it, bread is fascinating.    

But you have to stop to think about it. 

The ubiquitous nature of bread is blinding. Just like the Israelites in the wilderness, we too can quickly discredit it as “worthless.” Yesterday’s miraculous provision long forgotten, and all were left with is “nothing but manna.” In Mark Chapter 6, Mark tells the story of the feeding of the 5 000, and like two other Gospels, he follows that retelling with Jesus walking on the water. As Jesus enters the boat, Mark describes the disciples as “greatly amazed” and marvelling, but then finishes the story with verse 52: “For they had not understood about the loaves, because their hearts were hardened.” 

Bread is fascinating, should you stop to think about it. 

In John 6, Jesus feeds the 5000. As in all four of the Gospels that recount this story, He takes the bread, gives thanks, breaks it, and gives it to His disciples to distribute. You see what He foreshadowed there, right? Well, the next day, a lot of people looked all over for Jesus, even crossing over the Sea of Galilee to find Him. Having found Jesus, Jesus looks at them and says, “You’re not looking for Me because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.” So, it seems they, too, “had not understood about the loaves.”

The loaves were signs, bread always has been.

To be continued…