Bread

I don’t eat a lot of bread. Partly to curb my carbohydrate consumption and, quite honestly, I don’t want to fill up on bread when there’s so much good stuff on the menu. I have made some exceptions though. Like when my wife cracked open a jar of her homemade apple jelly alongside a warm loaf of homemade bread. Did some serious damage on that one. Or at a restaurant when they bring warm ciabatta bread or those warm rolls with honey butter. Any caution or counting carbs is thrown to the wind.

I’ve been thinking about bread as we approach the Nativity. Beth (house) and lehem (bread) so Bethlehem means “House of Bread.” 

Bread is mentioned in the Bible 361 times. It symbolized life and sustenance. It had a nourishing purpose as well as a social component as well. Jesus said in John 6:31, “Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” People socialized by “breaking bread” together.

It’s hard to imagine the prominence of bread in the diet of the people in the Bible when we have so much food in abundance. We take it for granted and even have the audacity to complain if our food is not prepared to our satisfaction. The food insecure among us are not lacking for food but the ability to afford it, which is another issue altogether.

Bread was used in the tabernacle sacrifices and continues in the ordinance of communion. It is synonymous with Jesus who declared Himself to be the Bread of Life. He taught that unless we eat His flesh we could have no part of Him. When Jesus observed the Passover on night He was betrayed, He said “This is my body which is broken for you.”

There are so many references of bread in the Bible that we could not exhaust them in this post. Hopefully you are already thinking about other references. Ponder them in light of this Advent season. 

O little of town of Bethlehem how still we see thee lie; Above thy deep and dreamless sleep, the silent stars go by.Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light; The hopes and fears of all the years, Are met in thee to night.