BREAD OF LIFE

John 6:35
“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to Me will never hunger, and whoever believes in Me will never thirst.”
---------------------------------------------

In the Philippines, there is one bread that is called the “poor man’s bread”. It is called the “pandesal” which is loosely translated as “salt bread”. A typical Filipino breakfast will have this pandesal on the table – served either with jam, butter, margarine, cheese or condensed milk. For some poorer families, they would just dip the pandesal in a cup of coffee – just like oreo cookies. This is one reason why we like it. On its own, it already has its distinct flavor especially when eaten hot.

Filipino tradition is filled with many food experiences, starting from the simplest one like the pandesal up to the most exotic ones, like “balut”. Simlarly, Jesus’ ministry was built on the rich foundation of many stories of feeding and being fed. There is the Last Supper, the feeding of five-thousand, the breakfast at the beach after His resurrection, the dinner with Zaccheus, dinner at Martha and Mary’s house and so on. And during this banquets, He would tell about His greatest parables or teachings about God and the promise of salvation.

Just as the Jews received manna from heaven in their long trek towards the promised land, Jesus is giving us Himself as the bread of life. As the Lord God sustained the Israelites in the wilderness for 40 years with manna from heaven, Jesus is sustaining us through Him. It is in the wilderness of the desert as in the wilderness of our souls that we hunger. There is a continuous tension or hunger in our hearts, choosing between good and evil. And somewhere in the midst of that tension we find the bread of life: not just manna from God, not the flesh of Christ, but the Bread of Life, the Bread that brings life – Jesus. He is the pandesal of our lives – delicious, flavorful, satisfying the emptiness of our hearts and the hunger in our soul.

Almighty Father, we are in awe that Your love would reach down to save us in our sinful state. Your Son carried our guilt that You might accept us in Your holy presence. He has claimed us as members of His body which was offered. And now we eat this bread as a representation of sharing in His body. Thank you for this bread and for Christ's presence which we visualize in it. Thank you for bringing us into union with You in Him.

Be my rock of refuge, a stronghold to give me safety.