The Bread of Life and a Soup Kitchen
This Sunday at church my pastor spoke on Christ being the bread of life. He spoke to us about Matthew 14 and 15 where Jesus provides bread for 9,000+ hungry people from just a couple loaves of bread and some fish.
Jesus then goes on to say that He is the bread of life.
My pastor went onto explain that Jesus used His miracles as a metaphor for who He was. When the woman at the well in John 4 was thirsty for a drink of water, Jesus replied “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”
Our physical need for water is just a shadow of that which truly matters – our spiritual need for Christ who brings eternal life.
The same goes for Jesus calling himself the “Bread of Life”. Just as our physical bodies need bread as sustenance, so our spirits need Him everyday to sustain us and give us strength.
For any Christians reading this, you’ve probably already heard this a thousand times. I mean, I’ve heard it for as long as I can remember, and yet until today it never really hit me.
Today I went to help out at a local soup kitchen, and while I wouldn’t say I’m unfamiliar with poverty (at least observing it), today it hit me that people, even here in Canada, genuinely struggle to find their next meal.
I watched as people brought out their containers and put away half of their meal before even starting to eat, making sure they would have enough for later on. These people were so dependent on food; and not knowing where their next meal would come from they chose to keep their bellies a little bit hungry now to spare them the hunger and fatigue later. They were so dependent on this food to sustain them and keep them going.
As I watched I began to understand why Jesus called Himself the Bread of Life. Just as these people were dependent on bread to literally keep their bodies alive, so we are dependent on Christ to keep our spirits alive.
Then not only did I see their physical longing, but I saw their spiritual longing – to be known and seen, to be respected and valued, to be cared for and loved. I saw that just as they needed physical bread, they were so in need of Jesus – the one who calls Himself the bread of life, the one who loves us and calls us His own, the one who called the hungry and poor blessed, and the one who died for us that He might have the chance of being called our provider, our friend and brother.
The past few years have taught me that my strength comes from Christ, and that without Him my joy and strength come from a shallow well that quickly runs out. But as I watched all of this play out today, I was reminded of how thankful I am that I get to not only be strengthened by the one who calls himself the Bread of Life, but I get to know Him personally and enjoy the endless joy and strength and comfort and sustenance that comes from a relationship with him. If you know Christ, you probably know what I’m talking about. If you don’t, ask Him to show you what His being the Bread of Life means for you. He’s a good God, and just as at the soup kitchen today we waited in anticipation to feed and commune with those who were hungry, so is He.
