Strength of Bread

When I was a teenager, my Granny decided it was time I learned to make her Sunday biscuits, a staple at every family gathering. She sat at the kitchen table and watched, giving me step by step directions as I gathered and added the ingredients and began to work the dough. Before I felt I had thoroughly mixed the flour into the liquid ingredients, she chided, “Your biscuits will be tough. You’re playing too much with the dough.”

Kneading dough for bread is a different matter. Alternately stretching and pressing the dough builds gluten strands that cause the loaf to hold together and have an entirely different texture than cake or biscuits. Granny wanted her biscuits light and fluffy but to build a serious sandwich, you need the strength of bread.

Jesus repeated, “Yes, I am the bread of life!”

John 6:48 NLT

https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.6.48.NLT

Jesus is the pinnacle of the many types in the Bible. A type is an Old Testament object or person foreshadowing something or someone in the New Testament. When He said, “I am the bread of life,” Jesus pointed from miracles He had only recently performed back to God’s provision of manna in the wilderness of the Exodus. Like object lessons we use while teaching our own children, Jesus was training His first followers and us, as those who have believed on Him because of their testimony, (John 17:20) to make connections between His Words and actions and our own. He is our ultimate Guide and Example, and only He is strong enough to build my life on.

“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil.

For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry.

During that time the devil came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.”

But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ””

Matthew 4:1-4 NLT

https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.4.1-4.NLT

We can learn from Jesus, the living, breathing, eternal Word of God, (John 1:1-5) who would not be mocked by the tempter, no matter how harsh the conditions, to stand up under temptations we face, even in extreme circumstances. His intense hunger would not cause Him to commit the folly of Esau, who sold his birthright for a bowl of stew. (Genesis 25:32) Jesus knew every allusion to Himself in all of Scripture. (Luke 24:27) He kept his followers from defending Him on the night of His arrest, knowing it would lead to His crucifixion and praise God, His resurrection, saying,

“Don’t you realize that I could ask my Father for thousands of angels to protect us, and he would send them instantly?

But if I did, how would the Scriptures be fulfilled that describe what must happen now?””

Matthew 26:53-54 NLT

https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.26.53-54.NLT

Every time He taught, by every word He spoke and every deliberate action He took, Jesus pointed to the Truth of who He is and what He came to do. He is the culmination of God’s sovereign plan.

““I am the good shepherd.

The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep.

No one can take my life from me.

I sacrifice it voluntarily.

For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.””

John 10:11, 18 NLT

https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.10.18.NLT

“He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right.

By his wounds you are healed.”

1 Peter 2:24 NLT

https://bible.com/bible/116/1pe.2.24.NLT

Among the festivals appointed for Israel after their deliverance from slavery in Egypt was a feast to honor the Lord where no yeast was used in any food but especially in their bread.

“For seven days the bread you eat must be made without yeast. Then on the seventh day, celebrate a feast to the Lord. Eat bread without yeast during those seven days.

In fact, there must be no yeast bread or any yeast at all found within the borders of your land during this time.

On the seventh day you must explain to your children, ‘I am celebrating what the Lord did for me when I left Egypt.’

This annual festival will be a visible sign to you, like a mark branded on your hand or your forehead.

Let it remind you always to recite this teaching of the Lord: ‘With a strong hand, the Lord rescued you from Egypt.’”

Exodus 13:6-9 NLT

https://bible.com/bible/116/exo.13.6-9.NLT

“Remember how the Lord your God led you through the wilderness for these forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would obey his commands.

Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors.

He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”

Deuteronomy 8:2-3 NLT

https://bible.com/bible/116/deu.8.3.NLT

According to the apostle Paul, we celebrate the Lord’s Table with its elements representing the body and blood of Christ in the same fashion as a remembrance. I recently had the opportunity to explain to my granddaughter, Amelia, as the Israelites were instructed to explain to their children about the Exodus, exactly what Jesus did for me and for her on the cross. She is young but this may be the first Lord’s Supper she will remember because her daddy served her and her mother and me juice and cracker as we watched our local church service online the week her baby brother, Ezra, was born. Moses commanded the Israelites to keep a feast of remembrance and to explain its significance to their children. Jesus gave us our command and we must do the same, for we are only ever one generation from unbelief.

“For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself.

On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, “This is my body, which is given for you.

Do this in remembrance of me.””

1 Corinthians 11:23-24 NLT

https://bible.com/bible/116/1co.11.23-24.NLT

No part of God’s sovereign plan is coincidence. Every moment is pregnant with intention. It’s no wonder Jesus was galled when the religious leaders asked Him for a sign. He was the sign. Jesus is the fulfillment of all of God’s promises. (II Corinthians 1:20)

“On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to prepare the Passover meal for you?”

“As you go into the city,” he told them, “you will see a certain man. Tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My time has come, and I will eat the Passover meal with my disciples at your house.’”

So the disciples did as Jesus told them and prepared the Passover meal there.

When it was evening, Jesus sat down at the table with the Twelve.

As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it.

Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is my body.””

Matthew 26:17-20, 26 NLT

https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.26.17-26.NLT

“Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength? Why pay for food that does you no good?

Listen to me, and you will eat what is good. You will enjoy the finest food.

Come to me with your ears wide open. Listen, and you will find life.”

Isaiah 55:2-3 NLT

https://bible.com/bible/116/isa.55.2-3.NLT

Groceries are incredibly expensive now compared with a decade or two or three ago when I was a new mother. Bread largely remains an affordable staple. The gospel writers record two instances where Jesus fed thousands with just a handful of loaves and fishes. He provided for their physical needs and they followed Him, wanting to be fed again. He wanted them to embrace Him as their never-ending Source.

“Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs.

But don’t be so concerned about perishable things like food.

Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you. For God the Father has given me the seal of his approval.”

They replied, “We want to perform God’s works, too. What should we do?”

Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.”

They answered, “Show us a miraculous sign if you want us to believe in you. What can you do?

After all, our ancestors ate manna while they journeyed through the wilderness!

The Scriptures say, ‘Moses gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”

Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, Moses didn’t give you bread from heaven. My Father did.

And now he offers you the true bread from heaven.

The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

“Sir,” they said, “give us that bread every day.”

Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

But you haven’t believed in me even though you have seen me.

However, those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them.

For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will.

And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them up at the last day.

For it is my Father’s will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day.”

Then the people began to murmur in disagreement because he had said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”

They said, “Isn’t this Jesus, the son of Joseph? We know his father and mother. How can he say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”

But Jesus replied, “Stop complaining about what I said. For no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me, and at the last day I will raise them up.

As it is written in the Scriptures, ‘They will all be taught by God.’

Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me.”

John 6:26-45 NLT

https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.6.26-45.NLT

Although I watched my Granny make her biscuits, I had her instruction and her watchful presence as I worked, I never learned to make her biscuits. She was right. They were always tough. We have the example of Jesus. We see Him, His life and example, in the scriptures. We have His Word to instruct and guide us and as believers, we have His Holy Spirit to empower us, yet too often we live a powerless, less than abundant life. We look down our spiritual noses at Biblical characters whose hearts were hardened, but we are no different when anyone or anything replaces God in our hearts or minds.

Jesus taught, ““Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches.

Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit.

For apart from me you can do nothing.”

John 15:5 NLT

https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.15.5.NLT

“When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.”

John 15:10 NLT

https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.15.10.NLT

“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person.

The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ.

And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him.”

2 Corinthians 5:17-18 NLT

https://bible.com/bible/116/2co.5.17-18.NLT

Jesus taught us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” He alone can nourish and sustain us. He alone can create in us a pure heart. He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing, (Ephesians 1:3) given us everything we need for living a godly life, (II Peter 1:3) and commissioned us as His Ambassadors, sent in His authority to make disciples of the nations. (II Corinthians 5:20, Matthew 28:18-20) When He says, “You feed them,” remember, He alone is the bread of life. Be the grateful beggar, who finding bread rushed to tell anyone who was hungry.

“And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them.

I will take away their stony, stubborn heart and give them a tender, responsive heart, so they will obey my decrees and regulations.

Then they will truly be my people, and I will be their God.”

Ezekiel 11:19-20 NLT

https://bible.com/bible/116/ezk.11.19-20.NLT