Bread

FOOD FOR THOUGHT
BREAD
DR. JIM DIXON
JULY 10, 2011
JOHN 6:47-51

About two weeks ago, Barb and I flew out to California. (You did see a picture of me there at Disneyland.) We went with our children and our grandchildren; and we had a great time. We flew on Frontier Airlines. Many of you know that on Frontier Airlines they have those individual TV sets—you can use your credit card, swipe it for six bucks, and then watch TV. Barb and I were in the mood, so we watched TV as we flew on Frontier. We were watching the Food Channel.

On the Food Channel, they had this contest where they have three chefs who compete against each other. They are all given the same ingredients, and the panel of judges has to decide who creates the best meal, the best dish from those common ingredients. The list of ingredients that the three chefs were given began with raisin bread. There are not a lot of things that go with raisin bread. They had to make something out of raisin bread combined with venison, persimmons, and pickles. Really? Pickles and persimmons and venison and raisin bread? How does any of that go together to create a good meal? That was the contest. They all went to work. They also have a refrigerator where they can add some other ingredients, but they have to make these four ingredients primary.

The plane landed in Orange County at the John Wayne Airport before the show was over. So, I get up to get off the plane assuming Barb is with me. I get off the plane and Barb is not there. She had stayed on the plane to try to see the end of the show. I wait in the terminal. Barb is the last person off that plane. If you want to know what happened on that show you can talk to Barb afterwards.

I feel a little bit, this morning, like I should be on the Food Channel. I feel like I need to make a meal this morning using bread. What we are going to do is . . . we are going to go through what the Bible says about bread.

There is the literal meaning of bread in the Bible. Oftentimes, bread is simply referring to the physical food that is used to sustain our physical bodies; but there is also a metaphorical meaning of bread in Scripture. We are going to look at the two primary metaphors concerning bread. Both will be our two teachings this morning.

First of all, bread in the Bible refers to food for the soul. When Jesus said, “I am the Bread of Life,” part of what He meant was, “I am food for your soul.” In the Bible, we have the feeding of the 5,000, and we also have the feeding of the 4,000. A lot of people, even Christians, are not aware of the fact that these were two separate events. The feeding of the 5,000 is described in Matthew chapter 14; it is also described in Mark chapter 6, Luke chapter 9, and John chapter 6. The feeding of the 4,000 is described in Matthew chapter 15 and Mark chapter 8. These are two separate events, both of which took place in the region of the Sea of Galilee.

In the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus multiplied a boy’s lunch that consisted of five loaves and two fish. He fed more than 5,000 people with that lunch, and there were twelve baskets left over. In the feeding of the 4,000, the Bible tells us there were seven loaves and a few fish. There were seven baskets left over. These are different events, different details. Perhaps you are wondering, “Why would Jesus do this miracle twice?” I think the answer is because the message He was trying to communicate is so important.

In the Bible, sometimes miracles are called “powers” because it takes a great deal of power to perform a miracle . . . to transform wine or bread molecularly, to feed over 5,000 people with one lunch. The creative power involved is incomprehensible.

Sometimes, in the Bible, miracles are called “dunamis,” which means “power.” Other times, in the Bible, miracles are called “wonders” because we marvel when we see a miracle or hear about a miracle. The Greek word is “teras.” Other times, in the Bible, miracles are called “signs.” The Greek word is “semeion.” The reason miracles are called signs is because they point to something, they direct us somewhere. They point us . . . they direct us to a deeper message or a deeper meaning. That was true in the feeding of the 5,000 and the feeding of the 4,000—there was a deeper meaning.

The crowds, the Bible tells us, really did not understand the deeper meaning. So, many people in the crowd began to follow Christ in the aftermath of these miracles. They began to follow Christ for the wrong reasons. Some of them just wanted a miracle baker. They wanted a guy who could have food on the ready, somebody who could always provide food, physical provision—a miracle baker. That is why some of them were following Him. They did not understand.

Others were following Him, we are told in John chapter 6, because they wanted to make Him king. They saw His power, and they marveled at that power. They thought, “This must be the Christ. This must be the anointed one. This must be the Messiah. This must be the promised king.” So, they began to follow Him, thinking that He would be their political savior, their political king who would throw off the shackles of Roman oppression. Again, they were following Him for the wrong reasons.

So, Jesus gives an explanation in John chapter 6. Jesus explains to the multitudes this miracle, why He gave them bread. He explains that it was a physical way of communicating a spiritual message: He is the Bread of Life. He is food for the soul. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. “I am the Bread of Life; he who believes in Me will never die.” Food for the soul.

You see, in the Bible we are told that God’s primary concern is the soul—your soul, my soul. The Bible uses words in the Hebrew like “nephesh” and “ruach,” and words in the Greek like “psyche” and “pneuma” because God is concerned about the soul. He cares about our bodies, and so should we; but far more, He cares about the soul—bread for the soul and life for the soul. “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but forfeit the soul?” So, when you die, your body will return to the earth. Dust to dust. Ashes to ashes. But your soul remains. It is the soul that God is most concerned with.

This is the call of the Church of Jesus Christ: that we would be concerned not simply with the bodies of people or with the physical needs of people (though we are concerned with the physical needs of people), but that we would be primarily concerned with the spiritual, with the souls of every person in the world. So, we have been called to take Jesus as bread to the earth. We have been called to take Jesus as bread to the nations. He is the Bread of Life. We take Jesus to the world, and we are concerned with their souls. We take the gospel to the nations that people might be saved. We evangelize. Historically, this has sometimes been called “soul-winning.” We are concerned with saving souls.

We live in the 21st century. We live in a time when, in the church universal, there are many who no longer evangelize. There are many who have kind of stepped back from sharing the gospel because it is not politically correct. Many people in the world view it as arrogant to believe that you believe something that other people need to hear about, or that you believe in someone that other people need to hear about. It is not an easy call today because it is not politically correct. But the Word of God remains. Jesus said, “You will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth. Go into all the world and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you. I am with you always even to the close of the age.” This call is upon the church in every generation—that we take Jesus as bread to the world because we are concerned with souls.

I had a conversation recently with Gene Kissinger. Gene is the head of our Outreach and Missions Department and a very good friend. Gene is telling me it is hard now to find people who are willing to do short term mission trips that are evangelistic. It is easy to find people who want to do short term mission trips that serve the physical needs of people and the physical body. It is easy to find people who want to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick, dig trenches, put in water systems, work with World Vision, and do relief for the poor (whether it is in the urban corridor or some other part of the world). But it is hard to find people who are willing to go into some part of the world and teach a Sunday school class or a Bible School—to tell kids about Jesus Christ. It is hard to find people who are willing to go door-to-door anymore . . . in any part of the world. It is hard to find people who are willing to take Jesus as bread for the soul, seeking to save the lost. This is the call of Christ upon us.

Barb and I travelled to Memphis two weeks ago. We went there for the General Assembly of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. I don’t know what you think of when you think of Memphis. Maybe you think of barbeque? They have great barbeque in Memphis. The Rendezvous Restaurant there is famous, Corky’s Restaurant is famous. Barbequed ribs are famous. Maybe you think of Elvis Presley when you think of Memphis? Or Graceland? A lot of different images might come to mind when you think of Memphis, Tennessee.

It seems to me that maybe a person we should think of when we think of Memphis is a man named Tom Lee. Tom Lee was a black African-American man who died some years ago. On May 8, 1925, he was on the shore of the Mississippi River, fifteen miles from Memphis, when a steamboat went down in the midst of the storm. He was the only one there by the shore. He did not know how to swim, but he got into a little boat and he went out to try to rescue all he could. He went again and again and again and again. He saved thirty-two people. There is this park in Memphis named the Tom Lee Park. Barb and I were walking along the Mississippi River and we went into the Tom Lee Park. They had a sculpture there to show Tom Lee rescuing . . . as he reached out to grab people to save them. There are three pictures there and then a plaque. And I thought, what a beautiful image of the call that we have in Christ—to go into all the world and literally rescue the perishing, to save all that we can, to do this because Jesus is bread for the soul and we believe it.

Having seen people come to Christ, we are to help them grow in Christ. Jesus is bread for the soul; He is bread for our soul. He nurtures and nourishes our soul. The Bible says that “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” That’s from Deuteronomy chapter 8; and it is quoted by Jesus in Matthew chapter 4 and Luke chapter 4. “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”

The Word of God spoken is the gospel. The Word of God written is Holy Scripture. The Word of God living is Jesus Christ. It is all bread. The Word of God is bread for the soul. Ask yourself this question: “Am I feeding my soul regularly? Am I nourishing my soul? Do I give it meals every day? Do I study the Word of God? Do I find time alone with Christ? Do I receive the Bread of Life? Am I nourishing my soul daily?—Not just once a week or once a month, but every day?” We live in a busy world that is busy with so many things; and yet, one thing is more important than anything . . . and that is Jesus. One person is more important than anyone . . . and that is Jesus. He is the Bread of Life. He wants to be food for our soul.

There is a second meaning of bread in the Bible. The second meaning is literally the body of Christ. “This is the bread I shall give for the life of the world, My flesh.” When Jesus instituted communion on Maundy Thursday of Passion Week, he took the Passover bread and broke it, saying, “This is My body broken for you.” When we think of bread, we think of food for the soul; but we also think quite literally of the body of Jesus Christ broken for us.

If you have studied any of the Old Testament, you oftentimes encounter the word “showbread.” The showbread was the bread that was prepared by the priests and placed in the Holy Place of the Jerusalem Temple. It was placed on the golden table. There were twelve loaves of showbread. Each loaf made from fine flour, which was the flour used by royalty. The twelve loaves of showbread represented the twelve tribes of Israel. They were placed on the golden table of the Holy Place every Sabbath. They remained there continually, simply replaced each Sabbath; otherwise, the twelve loaves remained on the golden table every moment of every day. Those twelve loaves were called holy bread. They represented the twelve tribes and their faith in the covenant that Yahweh had made with Israel.

The loaves represented life, which the Jews believed was provided only by God. The presence of God was beyond the Holy Place in the Holy of Holies, the “shekinah” hovering over the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant. That is why the showbread was also called the “bread of the presence”—because it was placed in the presence of God. It represented the covenant, the faith of the twelve tribes; and it represented life, the life that comes only from God.

Every Sabbath when the new loaves were placed on the golden table, the priests ate the old loaves; and that represented taking the presence of God into you and intimacy. So, you think of the showbread, and you think of life, the covenant, and intimacy with God. People have pointed out before, “Jesus is the Bread of Life, partly in the sense of the showbread.” And yes, that is true. Jesus has brought the new covenant by his blood and by his broken body—a covenant of grace, a covenant of mercy, a “diatheke,” a declared covenant by God that “If you receive My Son as Lord and Savior, I will save you and give you eternal life.” Jesus is the new covenant. He is life, “zoe” life, eternal life. He offers intimacy with God. So yes, there is a sense in which they’re similar . . . there is some symbolism; but Jesus has a deeper meaning.

He is a greater bread than the showbread. The showbread was not offered in sacrifice, but Jesus is. “This is the bread I offer for the life of the world, My flesh.” He offered himself in sacrifice. We come to this table, and we acknowledge that He is offering His body for us. His body has been broken for the sin of the world.

I think the words of Christ in John 6 are difficult words for many to understand, even within the Christian world. There are many who struggle with the words of Jesus and the meaning of those words when He said, “This is the bread I offer for the life of the world, My flesh.” Then He goes on to say, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.” Many of the disciples were offended, they were grossed out. They thought, “What in the world does that mean?” Some of them departed and walked away. Jesus said to the twelve, “Are you also going to leave?” Then He went on to explain that He was speaking spiritually; He was not speaking physically or literally. He said, “Don’t you understand? The Spirit gives life. The flesh avails nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit and truth.” This is spiritual teaching. Don’t take this with some kind of crude literalism.

I think we have this problem today when we come to the table. When we think of eating His flesh and drinking His blood, we are not meant to take that in terms of a crude literalism. I mean, there are people in the Christian world . . . and understand this: we should love all Christians, and we should love all people—we’re bound as brothers and sisters with all Christians. I thank God for Catholics, I thank God for Orthodox churches, I thank God for Protestants, and I thank God for Christians. I have brothers and sisters in Christ all over the world, and I thank God for all of them.

However, sometimes in the Christian world, there is a lot of unnecessary confusion. There is this doctrine called “transubstantiation.” Transubstantiation teaches that when you take communion, when the priest or the minister consecrates the elements . . . in that moment, the substance of the bread and the substance of the wine is morphed or transformed. It is changed into the literal physical body of Christ and the blood of Christ. It retains the form of bread and wine, but its substance, its essence, is transformed into the physical flesh and the physical blood of Christ. So, you literally consume His flesh and blood. That’s transubstantiation. And I think it is a misunderstanding of the teachings of Christ, and it has led to further misunderstandings.

In the ancient Roman world, Christians were sometimes accused of cannibalism because of this misunderstanding. The doctrine of consubstantiation is equally confused. Consubstantiation was taught by Martin Luther. It teaches that the physical body and the physical blood of Christ is “in and with” the bread and the wine. The bread and wine is not transformed into flesh and blood, but the flesh and blood is somehow “in and with” (whatever that meant) the bread and the cup. So, again, you are taking into yourself the literal flesh and blood of Christ—an unnecessary teaching that really misunderstands and misinterprets the Word of God.

Some people come to communion with misunderstandings based on crude literalism. Other people come to communion with a soft sentimentalism. There are some people who come to communion, and they view it simply as a remembrance. This is true in many Baptist traditions. They just view this as a remembrance. It is a remembrance; but that is not all it is. Some people just view it as a time of gratitude. It is the Eucharist (from the Greek “eucharistia”), and yes, it means “thanksgiving.” So, it is a time of gratitude. But it is more than that. This is a sacrament. This is a holy moment. This has been instituted by God, it is regulated by His commandments, and it is blessed by the Lord Jesus Christ.

There is something very special about the taking of the bread and the cup, something very intimate. It is a commitment. It is not soft sentimentalism or crude literalism. There is a commitment we must make when we come to this table. It is a commitment of faith—that we actually believe that His body broken and His blood shed has power to forgive sin. You come to the table with the faith that He is the Bread of Life and that He who believes in Him has eternal life. You come to this table, and you come by faith accepting the fact that His sacrifice on Calvary’s cross atoned for the sin of the world. You embrace that by faith.

Then you come to this table renewing your vows because it is a sacrament, a word which comes from the Latin word “sacramentum.” We know, in the Roman world, in the Latin speaking world, the meaning of the Latin word “sacramentum.” It was used by Roman soldiers when they joined the Roman legions. They took the “sacramentum,” which means “sacred oath.” They took the “sacramentum,” and they pledged themselves unto death in the service of the emperor and the empire.

We come to this table and we take the sacred oath, and we pledge ourselves to king and kingdom. You come to this table, and you recognize that He is Savior by his body broken and his blood shed; but you also recognize Him as Lord. King and kingdom. “Sacramentum.” This is a powerful moment; it should be in the life of every Christian, every believer. Let’s look to the Lord with a word of prayer as we come to the table.