Saturday, December 23, 2017

The Bread that Never Spoils

UV 2865/10000 The Bread That Never Spoils
And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
John 6 v 35
Jesus referred to Himself as the Bread of Life. He also referred to Himself as the Bread from Heaven. He is the true bread- the bread without leaven or the yeast of untruth, hypocrisy and deceit. He is the bread that never spoils. He will never become stale or irrelevant to human needs. He is the holistic bread meant for our every need- spiritual, intellectual, emotional, social, physical. He is the Bread that sustains the believer and equips the follower. He is the Bread that strengthens us. He is the Bread of Victory. Born in a town called Bethlehem which means House of Bread, He is the Bread that gives eternal life and satisfies our spiritual hunger. But are we daily munching on Jesus, the Bread of Heaven? Are we digesting His words and His teachings and making it part of our flesh and lives? If we know these to be true, we will never stop munching on Jesus. He exhorts us, “ Taste and see that I am good.” When we meditate on the word, we are chewing, munching, digesting The Bread of Heaven. Just as when we masticate or chew bread, the saliva of our mouths mixes with the crumbs and begins to break it down so that our stomachs then further digest it and assimilate energy to the body, so also as we chew on Jesus, the natural mingles with the supernatural, the intellectual with the spiritual, the spiritual with the physical, the spiritual with the emotional and the process releases the power of renewal, of strength, of healing, of blessings, of fulfilment and satisfaction.
Money is also referred to in modern slang as “bread.” Indeed, the choice human beings have is to either satisfy their hunger with the bread this world provides in the form of money or to satisfy themselves with Jesus. The love and lust for man-made bread or money is the root of all evil while the love of the Heaven-provided Bread- Jesus is the root of all good things. When we munch on Jesus, He satisfies our legitimate aspirations and fulfils our need for eternal and abundant life. Money never satisfies a person – he always craves for more and does not know how much he needs. But the Bread of Heaven ends our spiritual hunger and quest forever.
Why did Jesus chose such a mundane and humble symbol to identify His work and vision with? Jesus spoke of Himself as the metaphorical Bread of Heaven soon after He multiplied the five loaves and seven fish of the small boy in order to feed a physically hungry crowd. He did not do ‘crowd sourcing’ but faith sourcing. When we eat of the Bread of Heaven, we “faith source” all of our earthly and eternal needs. Jesus more than any of His disciples was aware of the physical need, the hunger of the men, women and children gathered in large numbers to listen to Him. The disciples were probably aware too but they looked the other way for they knew they lacked the resources to feed so many. Likewise, Jesus does not ignore our physical, emotional, intellectual or social needs. When we feed on Him daily, all of our needs will be met. When we partake of the mystical elements in the Communion, we are feeding and drinking Jesus, the Bread and the True Vine. The communion is needed for our sustenance, our cleansing, our healing, our strengthening and to obtain victory. During His earthly sojourn, Jesus enjoyed fellowship meals regularly with His followers. Likewise, today He enjoys sitting with us in our fellowship meetings and meals.
Belief in Jesus is the key of David to open the treasures of heaven. Belief in Jesus’s sensitivity to our hunger and passion in all areas may not lead to instantaneous miracles like it happened with the feeding of the multitude but the hope will drive us on, sustain us, give us inner strength and confidence that we will be victorious in the end. He is the all-sufficient Bread, the Bread that is the Bread of Victory that rolls down on the enemy’s camp and capsizes it as in the dream of the Midianite guards that Gideon overheard to give him hope and assurance of victory in his battles with the powerful Midianites.
Prateep V Philip

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