Christ: The Life Giving Bread

Celebrate. Commemorate. Observe. The LORD expects us to remember and be mindful of everything we have received through His grace. In Exodus 12, we read about the first Passover. During this time, God instructed the Israelites to sacrifice a lamb and use its blood to mark their doors, thereby signifying their faith in God’s promise to protect them from the final plague which was about to fall on the Egyptians. Additionally, they were instructed to prepare unleavened bread to eat with the lamb, symbolising their haste to leave the captivity of Egypt. This bread was to be made without yeast, here regarded as a symbol of sin, and to be eaten in a state of readiness to leave, a comment on the readiness to depart from the captivity of sin. Now the LORD asks the people to “observe this day throughout your generations as an everlasting ordinance.”

So you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this same day I will have brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as an everlasting ordinance. Exodus 12:17

The reason for this is two fold. One, through the celebration, the people are less likely to forget their miraculous deliverance from Egypt, which they can readily tell their children and all who ask about it. Two, the Passover meal foreshadows the sacrifice of Christ, who would later become the true Passover lamb that was sacrificed for the redemption of all humanity.

Similar to how the LORD gave instructions to remember and observe the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the people of Israel, Jesus Christ before being delivered into the hands of men made a new ordinance to follow till His glorious return. Paul later reminds the church at Corinth about the same.

For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes. 1 Corinthians 23-26

Jesus explains to the disciples (and by extension to us) to remember, His body which is broken and beaten for our sakes, His blood which was shed to give us salvation, the new covenant which is formed between us and the LORD. Finally, by remembering and partaking in the Holy Communion, we proclaim the death of Jesus Christ, till He comes.

Let’s focus on the “bread” for this meditation. The idea of bread as a symbol of life is a recurring theme throughout the Bible, from the manna that sustained the Israelites in the wilderness to the Passover bread that represented the body of Christ. In the Gospel of John, Jesus expands on this symbolism, declaring himself to be the true bread of life that gives eternal sustenance to those who believe in him. This discourse on the bread of life in John 6 follows the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand. After Jesus performs this miracle, the crowds follow him to the other side of the sea, since they were filled. However, Jesus challenges them to seek not the perishable food that satisfies only for a time, but the eternal food that endures to eternal life.

Jesus answered them and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.” Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” John 6:26-29

The underlying message here is that of faith in God. The people were ready to follow Jesus in search of food. But Jesus implores them to seek the food which endures to everlasting life, which can be obtained through Him.

Therefore they said to Him, “What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ” Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.” And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. John 6:30-35

The metaphor of bread as a symbol of sustenance is a powerful one, and Jesus uses it to underscore the importance of faith in him as the source of true life. Just as physical bread sustains the body, so belief in Jesus sustains the soul. Jesus declares that his flesh is the true bread and his blood is the true drink, and that whoever partakes of them will have eternal life. This being a radical and challenging message, many of Jesus' followers struggled to accept it. Some even turned away, unable to accept the difficult teachings of Jesus. Many couldn’t or wouldn’t accept that the LORD now sent Jesus to give sustenance for the soul, and the ones who stayed were the ones to whom this was revealed through the grace of the LORD.

But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” John 6:36-40

Thus, the metaphor of Christ as the life-giving bread underscores the importance of faith in him as the source of true life. Just as physical bread sustains the body, so belief in Jesus sustains the soul. Through his flesh and blood, we are nourished with the sustenance that gives us eternal life. As we partake of the bread and cup, we remember the sacrifice that Christ made for us and proclaim his death until he comes again. Finally, we shouldn’t partake of the Lord's Supper in an unworthy manner, for in doing so, we would be guilty of the body and blood of Christ.

Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world. 1 Corinthians 11:27-32