Recently, our whole family went out for dinner at a special pizza restaurant. The menu was amazing, and we all looked forward to eating our chosen meals. Our two-year-old granddaughter, Ellie, was there, too, but as she couldn’t read the menu, we just ordered her a plain cheese pizza.
When the server came round with some garlic bread as an appetizer, Ellie enjoyed a piece and declared it to be ‘yummy.’ She ate several more pieces, copying her older cousin Andrew, but when the server arrived with the pizzas, she didn’t want any. All that she desired to eat was more bread. She loved the taste and the texture, so she didn’t want to replace it with something else. While we all ate our chosen meals, Ellie was content to eat what was left of the bread. She knew what she liked and didn’t want to change it for anything.
When I read today’s verse where Jesus declares Himself to be the Bread of Life, I wonder how many of us are satisfied with what He has to offer us spiritually? Are we ready to accept all that Jesus brings to the table of our lives, and is it sufficient for our spirits and souls? Once we taste the bread He offers, are we content to keep feeding from Christ’s life and teaching, or do we set His pieces aside each time we come across something spiritually novel or new?
When Jesus spoke to His people about being the Bread of Life, He lived in an age where Roman emperors placated the unruly mobs in Rome with bread and circuses. The temple at Jerusalem was also a place where the best bread in the nation was religiously displayed and replaced every week, so when Jesus said He was the Bread of Life, He was radically declaring Himself to be better than the emperor and greater than the temple. It was a bold statement and one that would cost His life. Christ sought to inform His followers that as far as spiritual nourishment was concerned, He was more than enough for all of them.
Today, Jesus speaks to us through the Gospels with the same declaration, telling us in this 21st century that He is still all we need to nourish our spirits. He has invited us all to taste and see that the Lord is good; all we have to do is consume what Christ has to offer.
Point to ponder: How has Jesus become my Bread of Life?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, You offer to sustain us by becoming our Bread of Life. Encourage us to feed on Your words and ways that will sustain our souls and replenish our spirits. In Your Holy Name, we thankfully receive and pray. Amen.
John
Stuart is a retired Scottish Presbyterian pastor now living in Knoxville, Tennessee.
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