The Bread of Christ
I am the bread of life. - John 6:48
The first electric toaster appeared in 1909. It toasted one side at a time and required you to pull the plug once it was done. The first automatic electric toaster was designed in 1919 by Charles Strite, a man sick and tired of burned toast. Americans were skeptical at first, but from 1922 to 1930 sales tripled thanks to the introduction of sliced bread by Wonder. Before this, bread was sold in whole loaves. If you are going to enjoy your new toaster, you need the convenience of sliced bread. Many people in America thought that pre-sliced bread was about the best thing they had ever heard of. Thus came the phrase: "That's the greatest thing since sliced bread."
Let us mediate today about bread, but not just any simple, physical bread. I would like to meditate on the living bread of life, far greater than sliced bread we can buy at a store. Jesus said, "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever." John 6:51. John devotes the entire sixth chapter of his Gospel to this one theme: Christ is the bread of life. He is nourishment for our hungry souls.
An Armenian Christian said that Westerners do not understand what Jesus was saying when he said, "I am the Bread of Life." You see, in the Middle East, bread is not just something extra in a meal. It is the heart of every meal. Jesus was illustrating that the only way you can come to life is through him. Jesus used many metaphors to define his ministry. Let's consider this one metaphor, bread, for a few moments to discover the unique message it has to convey.
I. The Bread of Christ is Universal
Jesus said, " I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.” -John 6:51.
No one is excluded, form the bread of life of the whole world. There is no restriction to the kind of person Christ invites to His table. It makes no difference who you are or what you've done. It makes no difference where you're from or how you got here. There is no official language at Christ's table except the language of the heart.
A respected mission organization sent a group of translators to a small and remote tribe in South America. When the translators reached the Gospel of John chapter 6, the translators realized that there was no such thing as bread in that culture. The tribe did, however, have a specific kind of banana which they used like bread. Thus, for their purposes the translation became: Jesus said, "I am the banana of life." Centuries back in Indian culture also there was no such thing as bread.
However, it makes no difference whether you say Christ is the bread of life or that Christ is the banana of life. Because we worship a universal Christ. We serve a God whose name is known and worshiped all around the world. John the Baptist says in John 1:29, “Behold ! The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the whole world.” Of course, that which is most universal is also most personal.
II. The Bread of Christ is Personal
Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. - John 6:54
A communion is an intimate connection. If all are welcomed at Christ's table, then we are all precious to Christ. There are no second class citizens in the Kingdom of God. Every individual heart is precious to God. Communion is connecting and talking to each and every person. We can call it an interpersonal relationship with Christ. Therefore, Paul the Apostle tells us in 1 Corinthians 11:28, “But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.”
Pastor Lloyd Ogilvie once had a serious accident which resulted in a year-long period of recovery. While he was in bed, wondering if he could ever walk again, a friend sent him a photograph which she had found. It was a picture she had taken of the large sign board on the corner of their church, where Ogilvie's sermon titles were displayed. She had taken the picture years before on a Sunday. The board read: "The Lord Never Forgets." The custodian who had arranged the letters on the sign that week had put Ogilvie's name immediately below it. There were no quotation marks, so the sign read: THE LORD NEVER FORGETS LLOYD OGILVIE.
Christ never forgets any of us. God loves you. The Lord is showing His mercy individually, through the communion service. His love is both universal and extremely personal. He is the bread for a hungry world. He is bread for your life and mine.
III. The Bread of Christ is Communal
Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. - John 6:53
Certainly the bread that Christ gives us is a personal thing. We rejoice in our acceptance by God and the indwelling of Christ's Spirit in us. But this experience does not happen in isolation. It happens in a Christian community, which we call Communion; A fellowship.
Of course many people and communities have their own ideas and understanding of the holy communion. Traditionally, we have communion at church with the entire congregation. But of course different people have different needs and ideas. There are some who have private communion with God, even in front of a computer screen. It is clear, though, in this passage that Christ is talking about something more than just personal or individualistic. We read in the sixth chapter of John's Gospel, there is a clear reference to the Holy Sacrament offered by the church. The bread is personal, but it is also communal. It is the bread of God's people. The strength we draw from eating the body of Christ is partially the result of our spirits joining as his disciples. We ARE the body of Christ. Search the scriptures and you will agree that the Christian faith is not lived in isolation. It is not a faith that stands strong alone. We are a sacred fellowship. The Bible says in Hebrews 9:12, “Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.”
Ben Weir, a Presbyterian missionary, was a hostage in Lebanon. Yet he continued to speak bravely and worshiped while in captivity. Every Saturday night, he saved a piece of bread from dinner, and on Sunday morning he would eat that piece of bread and feel so moved by the sense of communing with God’s people all over the world. Even in prison, he found a way to celebrate being in the presence of the Lord. The bread of Christ is universal yet personal. It is personal yet communal.
IV. The Bread of Christ is Time-sensitive yet Eternal:
“This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.” -John 6:58
When we go to the store we always check the expiration date like, "Sell before September 1, 2021." All food is time-sensitive, and we pay attention because we don't want sour milk or stale bread. Christ's bread is time-sensitive as well.
Biblical scholars tell us that, when Jesus told us to pray in the Lord's Prayer for daily bread. “Give us today our daily bread.” - Matthew 6:11. He used a word that is unique in all Greek literature. The word is not found in classical Greek, and it is not found in the New Testament Greek. Some people thought St. Matthew made up the word when he wrote his Gospel. But in 1947, they found the Dead Sea Scrolls from the cave. Among them was a shopping list which contained the word DAILY. So Jesus' word for “DAILY” was on the list. The items were what needed to be purchased every day in the agora, the marketplace. Bread, before the time of preservatives, needed to be baked daily. Like manna, it could grow moldy the next day in dry climates, as well as moist weather.
Thus Jesus calls for us to depend daily on him. Each day should be a new day which we need to feed our spiritual soul. Daily remember the death of Jesus Christ through our communion. We cannot depend on yesterday’s prayer to spiritual nourish us for today. We cannot depend on tomorrow’s prayer to satisfy our spiritual hunger for today. We must nourish our soul with the bread of Christ, each and every day. Our DAILY bread.
Do you see the wonderful paradoxes? Universal yet personal. Personal and yet communal. Time-sensitive and yet eternal. Jesus says that even though this bread of life which He gives us is eternal, it must be gathered daily. And this brings us to one final paradox:
V. The Bread of Christ is to be Kept, yet it is to be Given Away
As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me.- John 6:57
The bread of Christ gives us great strength and therefore we do not want to lose it, nor misplace it. But at the same time, Christ wants us to give it away. This is the message God gave to us. The bread of Christ is not to be hidden or stored and kept to ourselves. It is to be shared with the world. Usually, we will say in our communion service “the body of Christ given for you”. We do not say, the body of Christ is broken for you. “And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me”. ( Luke 22:19)
In one of his books, Charles Allen tells this story: As World War II was coming to a close, the Allied armies gathered up many hungry orphans. They were placed in camps where they were well-fed. In spite of excellent care, they slept poorly. They seemed nervous and afraid. Finally, a psychologist came up with the solution. Each child was given a piece of bread to hold after they were put to bed. This particular piece of bread was just to be held—not eaten. The piece of bread produced wonderful results. The children went to bed knowing unconsciously they would have food to eat the next day. That guarantee gave the children a restful and satisfied sleep.
Dear brothers and Sisters in Christ, it seems that everyone who lives in this world whether they live in India or the US, rich or poor, orphan or non-orphan, sick or healthy is looking for a guarantee of bread to eat the next day without being nervous and afraid. But not just physical bread, but spiritual bread. They are sleepless because they don’t have the reassurance of the bread of Christ, the gospel. It is our responsibility as the body of Christ to ease the broken hearted with the reassurance of the bread of Christ. Do not keep the gospel of Christ to yourself alone, but share it for those who seek spiritual nourishment.
This is Christ's message to us. Can you remember all of our delightful paradoxes? The bread of Christ is universal and yet personal; it is personal yet communal; it is time-sensitive yet eternal; it is to be kept yet given away. Remember these words as we take Communion today. When we take the bread, we are partaking of Jesus Christ. We are saying, “Yes, I believe you are the Bread of Life.” Jesus, Himself, is the nourishment that gives us eternal life. Jesus did not come to feed the world with bread that would give physical life. He came to give Himself as the Bread of eternal life. Amen.
