In Israel’s time and for a lot of us today, BREAD was a staple of life. I don’t think I can see life without bread or coffee. But in the Bible, we see bread throughout scripture as way more than just a supplement to your diet. Bread was used in the worship of God. Bread was used celebrating their exodus from Egypt at Passover. And then, God promised when they entered the promised land, it would be blessed with an abundance of grain to make more bread.
Later, we read bread symbolized hospitality. It’s the right thing to do for anyone who came over to your tent. Offer them bread and wine. To bless them physically and spiritually as you showed them the love of God.
Throughout the Old Testament, bread is mentioned with wine as both a blessing or gift from God and a blessing to bestow on your friends and family. We see this with Melchizedek, David’s dad Jesse blessing Saul, Abigail blessing David. Over and Over.
Bread in the tabernacle was used as a representation of God’s presence. The bread had to be there at all times because God was there at all times.
We see bread as the reception of wisdom in the proverbs. Wisdom does this and her ways are like that. Wisdom calls to those who don’t understand and says:
“Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Proverbs 9:5
Later in the New Testament, Paul says that the bread we share represents our unity in Christ. Obviously, the bread in communion, represents Christ’s body broken for us. But it goes even further into the unity we have as brothers and sisters, sons and daughters of God BECAUSE of what Christ did.
Bread represented God’s love and care for His people. Even despite their sins. He fed them and took care of them for years with manna.
Bread had very deep meanings throughout the Bible. Everyone who heard Jesus say “I AM The Bread of Life” understood what He was saying. They understood the importance and value of bread.
In John Chapter 6, there are three sections. When Jesus talks to the crowd, when Jesus talks to the Jews in the synagogue and when He addresses His disciples, He repeats some things each section that we’ll pull from in this study. Three that are prevalent throughout this section of scripture are;
- The divine nature of the bread
- Our need for the bread
- The human responsibility to eat bread.
Join us in this three-part study “All About The Bread” as we dive into the words Jesus said when He declared “I AM The Bread Of Life. Below are the three messages of the series.
The Divine Nature Of The Bread
Our Need For The Bread
The Human Responsibility To Eat The Bread