That's Good Bread!

I’ve been baking bread. 

Thanks to…Pinterest…I found the recipe I’d used almost 20 years ago.  I mixed my sourdough starter a couple weeks ago. I often get "inspired" and jump right in without taking everything into account.  Well, midway through the 10-day process, I had to stop because we went out of town for Easter, so I put the starter in the frig until we got back.  I wasn’t sure if it’d still be good, but I hoped it would be! (Found out for sure today that it was!)  I left it out that first night back, fed it the next morning, and had been stirring the frothy mixture daily until last night.  At last, I was ready to make bread.  

 

I mixed up the dough (recipe also found on Pinterest) and let it rise overnight.  This morning, I punched it down and split it into loaf pans and let it rise again while I was at church.  This afternoon, I popped them in the oven and pretty soon, the house smelled really good!

 

That wonderful aroma has lingered all day which kept me thinking about bread all day as well, and in particular about the Bread of Life.  (No, I didn’t eat it all day, but it was tempting!)  So I did a search on where that passage was located and found it in John 6:25-59.  I encourage you to read the whole thing; I’ve decided to just print what stood out to me the most.

 

Jesus the Bread of Life 

²⁷ Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval.” 

²⁸ Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” 

²⁹ Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent.”

 

Well, I have to stop right here.  The ladies’ study group I’m in is about to finish the Bible study called Believing God. I think I mentioned it in an earlier post.  Isn’t it interesting how I’m just thinking about bread, and God brings it around to believing Him?  I just love that God sneaks in little reminders for me here and there in the most pleasant ways. 

 

³⁰ So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? ³¹ Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”  

³² Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. ³³ For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 

³⁴ “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.” 

³⁵ Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

^   There it is again.   v

⁴⁰ For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day...” 

⁴⁶ No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only He has seen the Father. ⁴⁷ Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. ⁴⁸ I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹ Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. ⁵⁰ But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. ⁵¹ I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” 

⁵² Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 

⁵³ Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. ⁵⁴ Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. ⁵⁵ For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. ⁵⁶ Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. ⁵⁷ Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. ⁵⁸ This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” ⁵⁹ He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

Now, I can kind of understand why the Jews grumbled about this.  I mean, Jesus is using some pretty graphic word pictures here, which He often does.  He knows just how to grab our attention, perk up our ears, and make us ask “Beg your pardon?” or as I often say, "Huh?" 

(Insert slightly unrelated weird thought:  I’m a movie buff – I like sci-fi, action, fantasy, and drama, though I’m not much at all for horror.  I often wonder if script writers realize just how much Bible they’re using when making films.  It might not be “in context” but just about every single film has some sort of quote or concept that is based on a biblical idea or event.  I mean, even horror films.  I’m just sure that the guy who thought up zombies had been reading the above passage first.  I mean, if you warp the meaning of what Jesus is saying, zombies are exactly the picture you’d get.) Told ya it was weird…

Anyway, it’s only a few chapters later that Jesus is breaking bread with the disciples for the Passover meal and explaining to them what is about to take place.  Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 what He said to them and what it meant:

²³ For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, ²⁴ and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” ²⁵ In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” ²⁶ For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. 

Now even though Jesus used unleavened bread at Passover (leaven often represents sin in scripture), I guess it’s okay that my sourdough bread (which definitely has leaven) can remind me of all Jesus did for me as well.  It’s the perfect Easter bread.  After all, I have to mix it and let it rise overnight, then punch it down the next morning, separate it into loaves, and let it RISE AGAIN!  ;o)  Happy belated Easter.

Hope you’re remembering, believing, and receiving the Bread of Life today.

Aren't they pretty?  I wish computers had smell-a-vision so I could share the aroma with you!