1. 1. The Bread of Life John 6:51-58 Portions adapted from Max Lucado A gentle thunder : Hearing God through the storm Copyrighted material that appears in this article is included under the provisions of the Fair Use Clause of the National Copyright Act, which allows limited reproduction of copyrighted materials for educational and religious use when no financial charge is made for viewing.
2. 2. The Universal God What bread is to temporary hunger, Jesus is to the eternal soul. Travel to almost any country, sit in any restaurant and theyll serve you bread. If the poor have almost nothing, theyll have bread. If the rich have everything, theyll still have bread. Bread is everywhere. No country claims to be the exclusive source of bread. It may be in the form of a tortilla in Mexico or a bagel in New York, but bread is everywhere, and so is Christ. He has no boundaries. No country claims him exclusively. No region owns Him. No nation monopolizes Him. He is everywhere at the same time.
3. 3. Bread for Everyone Bread is eaten every day but some fruits are only available seasonally. Some drinks are made only at the holidays. Not so with bread. And not so with Jesus. He should live in our hearts every day. We need to let him nourish us, not just at church or on special events, but every day. Bread is served in many forms. Its toasted, jellied, buttered, flattened, and grilled. It can be a sandwich, sweet roll, hot-dog bun, croissant, or dinner roll. Bread can meet many needs. So can Jesus. He adapts himself to meet our needs. He has a message for the lonely as well as for the rich and famous.
4. 4. Essential Elements He has help for the physically and emotionally ill. If your vision is cloudy, He can help you. Whatever your problem He can help. Jesus can meet each persons needs. Do you see why Jesus calls himself the Bread of Life? Wheat grows in the field, then it is cut down, winnowed, and ground into flour. It passes through the fire of the oven and then is distributed around the world. Only by this process does wheat become bread. Each step is essential. Eliminate the sunshine, soil, rain, plant, and you have no wheat. Eliminate the winnowing, and you have no flour. Eliminate the fire, and you have no bread.
5. 5. The Cross Eliminate the distribution, and you have no hunger being satisfied. Each step is essential. Jesus is like the wheat plant who grew up in a small town. Had you seen him as a youngster, you wouldnt have thought he was the Son of God. You might have thought him polite or courteous or diligent, but God on earth? Not a chance. He was just a boy. But like wheat, he was cut down. Like chaff he was pounded and beaten. He was wounded for the wrong we did; he was crushed for the evil we did (Isa. 53:5). And like bread he passed through the fire. On the cross he passed though the fire of Gods anger, not because of His sin, but because of ours. the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isa. 53:6).
6. 6. The Distribution Jesus experienced each part of the process of making bread: the growing, the pounding, and the seed falling to earth. And just as each is necessary to make bread, each was also necessary for Christ to become the bread of life. Everyday in millions of places, sometimes by priests in churches, sometimes in a field by a military chaplain, sometimes in a hospital, the Bread of Life, is distributed to those who recognize their need for Jesus to enter in and remain in their lives. Jesus showed the first Christian priests, the apostles how to represent Himself at the last supper. In a book Miracles of the Eucharist, by Bob and Penny Lord we hear of bread and wine being turned into flesh and blood.
7. 7. Holy Mass If you Google Miracles of the Eucharist you will be lead to 161,000 videos, books and other articles. You can do the same on You Tube, and see videos of host that are actually pulsating and bleeding in Betania, Venezuela As Jesus said, I am with you always, until the end of the age. (Mt. 28:20). It is through the Eucharistic sacrifice of Holy Mass that Jesus remains with believers in a visible way. John 6 is not a metaphor but a literal text finalized at the Last Supper by Jesus Himself.