THE BREAD OF LIFE

You have fed me from the banquet of Your love

With bread everlasting…….

 

With the exception of the Atonement, there is no sadder time of Jesus’ mortal life than the time He declared Himself to be The Bread of Life. Up to that moment, the Saviour’s popularity amongst the common people was immense and people thronged Him everywhere He went (Matthew 8:1,15:30; Mark 3:8,7:24,8:1; Luke 6:17,12:1) but finding this doctrine too hard to ‘bear’, many of His disciples ‘walked no more with him’ (John 6:66). From the time of this sermon, He was headed for the cross.

 

The sermon of The Bread of Life came on the heels of five loaves and two fishes. By this extraordinary miracle the Saviour ignited the fire of the Messianic prophecy. Hungry for freedom from bondage and oppression suffered for over 700 years, the Jewish nation was ready for deliverance. Having been fed so miraculously, they knew just who would deliver them as they sat on Bethsaida’s hill feasting on the miracle of ‘manna from heaven’. He had to be the one to break the bands of bondage and if He refused to do so they would take Him by force to make Him king (John 6:14,15). They did not expect to be told to ‘eat’ His flesh and ‘drink’ His blood instead (John 6:32-35; 51-58), even if by metaphor. Instead of being miraculously fed from heaven continuously, which would guarantee a life of luxury and ease they expected, they presumed they would be saddled with more laws, forgetting so conveniently the familiar Jewish metaphor of eating for spiritual benefit, to which Christ really referred through His sermon.  And so even the baptised and most converted to the Saviour abandoned Him and thus began the rejection of the common people easily manipulated by the leadership to propel Him to the cross. 

 

Eating the body of Christ as the bread of life extends beyond the sacramental table. It means feasting upon the words of Christ for they will tell us all things what we should do to obtain eternal life (2 Nephi 32:3). We must not only eat but feast, feast with hunger and gladness and eagerness and joy. We must revel and delight in the body that was offered on the altar of sacrifice so that we will never be in bondage to the enemy of all righteousness and we will be able to say, like Peter of old: “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life….” (John 6:67,68)…….to whom indeed???

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art by Eva Koleva Timothy)

 

TO THIS END WAS I BORN

 

We are about to celebrate Christmas. Whereas Christ’s humble and miraculous birth is at the forefront of our celebration, it is also a celebration of His death. When He said to Pilate: “To this end was I born” (John 18:37), He meant He was born that He might die, and He would die so that we might live. Where there is birth, there is always death, His being the most significant of all. Christ came to not only bear witness of the truth but to offer us the greatest gift of all the gifts of God, that gift being the gift of eternal life. 

 

I have contemplated the two facets of this gift: It is a gift from the Father because it cannot be earned. Because we could not earn it on our own merit, the Saviour has bought that gift and paid the price by His life. We could never qualify for this gift but we can qualify for the GIVING of the gift by Him in whose possession it now is, the qualification being the penitent heart. If we could ever qualify for that gift on our own, there would not have been a need for the Mediator who alone could pay the price. Another component of the gift is the Saviour’s sacrifice of His life. That’s the gift that makes the other gift possible. Since eternal life is both the gift of the Father and the Son, we can never say we earned it on our own, that it is our work and our effort that opened the gates of Celestial Kingdom. 

 

Many of us sacrifice of ourselves at Christmas time when we buy gifts for those we love. Some of us even go into debt to do so. Every Christmas I wish I could do more because I do so little. I reflect on Christ’s love and what it took for Him to give us the greatest gift He could possibly give. Such bravery, such commitment, such love, such mercy…..

 

The baby in the stable

So innocent and sweet,

On the altar of sacrifice 

Lay at the Father’s feet.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art by Jennifer Hickey)