THE LIFE-GIVING POWER OF BREAD

Elijah is really struggling when we meet him in 1 Kings 19. He’s on the run for his life because Queen Jezebal and King Ahab have sworn to have him killed. He is going to Mt. Horeb for refuge, but on the way he gives up, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.”

But God sends an angel to strengthen him with bread. In that strength, Elijah walks to Mt. Horeb, where God will meet him. God gives him new strength, new hope, and new life when he was facing certain death.

Jesus comes to us in the middle of lives full of ups and downs. Have you ever felt so discouraged that you were ready just to lie down and give up? Sometimes its health, family, money, or internal problems … So many things make us feel hopeless. And what about sin? The weight of sin can be enough to break us. How does Jesus offer us strength?

Jesus tells us that he is the bread of life. The people are skeptical, though. They think that they know who he is, and where he came from. But the real Jesus is more than another wise teacher with helpful advice about life. He is life itself – the bread of life. He is Son of God and God in the flesh, he comes to us from heaven.

This means that Jesus didn’t just come to the people of his time. His gift of himself is for all times. Why would you want to receive Jesus? And how can we receive Him?

At the root of everything that tears us apart is the power of sin and death. We need to receive Jesus, because by dying for the world on the cross, he gives us life. He wants to become part of who we are. When we eat him in the bread that he gives us, we are strengthened for all of the challenges of this life, and prepared for the life to come.

Let us give thanks to God the Father, who has sent Jesus to give us life. Let us share Jesus, whom we have received, so that others too “may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10)