Tag Archives: Bread of Life

Bread of Life

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What does he mean?
How can it be?
That he can be bread
for us?

Yet what I eat,
take into my body,
becomes a part of me,
maintains its functions,
builds cells
that keep me alive.

Taking Jesus
into my life,
he becomes a part of me.
My being,
my growth,
my strength.

And so
I take,
eat,
that we become one,
he is part of me
and I am part of him.

An in you alone Lord
do I have life.

Bread of Life, Hope of the World

John 6:51-58 (CEV)

51 I am that bread from heaven! Everyone who eats it will live forever. My flesh is the life-giving bread that I give to the people of this world.

52 They started arguing with each other and asked, “How can he give us his flesh to eat?”

53 Jesus answered:

I tell you for certain that you won’t live unless you eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man. 54 But if you do eat my flesh and drink my blood, you will have eternal life, and I will raise you to life on the last day.55 My flesh is the true food, and my blood is the true drink. 56 If you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you are one with me, and I am one with you.

57 The living Father sent me, and I have life because of him. Now everyone who eats my flesh will live because of me. 58 The bread that comes down from heaven isn’t like what your ancestors ate. They died, but whoever eats this bread will live forever.

for another post on this passage, see here

So Easy to Grumble

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You offer me life,
sustenance,
strength

and I grumble.

I grumble about
where it has come from,
is it safe,
is it right
and proper,
what do others think,
would it be approved of?

Instead of looking at you,
listening
and receiving.

Forgive me Lord,
my stupid questions,
my reluctance,
my hesitancy
to receive what you offer –
so freely,
so generously.

Lord,
may I come
and eat
and live
for you.

John 6:35, 41-51 (CEV)

35 Jesus replied:

I am the bread that gives life! No one who comes to me will ever be hungry. No one who has faith in me will ever be thirsty.

41 The people started grumbling because Jesus had said he was the bread that had come down from heaven. 42 They were asking each other, “Isn’t he Jesus, the son of Joseph? Don’t we know his father and mother? How can he say that he has come down from heaven?”

43 Jesus told them:

Stop grumbling! 44 No one can come to me, unless the Father who sent me makes them want to come. But if they do come, I will raise them to life on the last day. 45 One of the prophets wrote, “God will teach all of them.” And so everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him will come to me.

46 The only one who has seen the Father is the one who has come from him. No one else has ever seen the Father. 47 I tell you for certain that everyone who has faith in me has eternal life.

48 I am the bread that gives life! 49 Your ancestors ate manna in the desert, and later they died. 50 But the bread from heaven has come down, so that no one who eats it will ever die. 51 I am that bread from heaven! Everyone who eats it will live forever. My flesh is the life-giving bread that I give to the people of this world.

Bread of Life

For a different post on this reading see here

Real Food

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I don’t know about you, but I enjoy food – well eating it anyway, I’m not so hot on making it!  So to me this idea that the people had that Jesus was going to feed them, and keep feeding them sounds attractive.

Except that was not quite what Jesus had in mind…

John 6:51-58

51 I am that bread from heaven! Everyone who eats it will live forever. My flesh is the life-giving bread that I give to the people of this world.

52 They started arguing with each other and asked, “How can he give us his flesh to eat?”

53 Jesus answered:

I tell you for certain that you won’t live unless you eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man. 54 But if you do eat my flesh and drink my blood, you will have eternal life, and I will raise you to life on the last day. 55 My flesh is the true food, and my blood is the true drink. 56 If you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you are one with me, and I am one with you.

57 The living Father sent me, and I have life because of him. Now everyone who eats my flesh will live because of me. 58 The bread that comes down from heaven isn’t like what your ancestors ate. They died, but whoever eats this bread will live forever.

This is that soul food that Jesus was talking about – he is the food that nourishes to the depths of our being.

Eating Jesus’ flesh is a strange, if not repulsive idea.  So what does Jesus mean?

To me, it means that when we meet with Jesus, in worship, in prayer, in communion, he is feeding us. Feeding us at the depth of our being.  The food that Jesus offers is life-enhancing – not just with vitamins, proteins and fibre. He offers to feed us not with food that will make us hungry again in a few hours, but feeding us with God, his life, his love, his peace, his power.

 

Lord,

I come to you

seeking food,

not that I will soon be hungry again,

but your food,

you love,

your peace,

your hope,

your way in my life…

Feed me Lord,

I pray

for I come

and eat