Blessed Bread
Jesus took some bread and blessed it.
Matthew 26:26
When our oldest child became a teenager, my wife and I gave her a journal that we’d been writing in since her birth. We’d recorded her likes and dislikes, quirks and memorable one-liners. At some point the entries became more like letters, describing what we see in her and how we see God at work in her. When we gave it to her on her thirteenth birthday, she was mesmerized. She’d been given the gift of knowing a crucial part of the origins of her identity.
In blessing something as common as bread, Jesus was revealing its identity. What it—along with all creation—was made to reflect: God’s glory. I believe Jesus was also pointing to the future of the material world. All creation will one day be filled with the glory of God. So in blessing bread (Matthew 26:26), Jesus was pointing to the origin and the destiny of creation (Romans 8:21-22).
Maybe the “beginning” of your story feels messed up. Maybe you don’t think there’s much of a future. But there’s a bigger story. It’s a story of a God who made you on purpose and for a purpose, who took pleasure in you. It’s a story of God who came to rescue you (Matthew 26:28); a God who put His Spirit in you to renew you and recover your identity. It’s a story of a God who wants to bless you.
By Glenn Packiam
REFLECT & PRAY
Dear Jesus, I place my life like bread in Your hands. Only You can return me to my origin. Only You can carry me to my destiny. Jesus, You are the author and the finisher of my faith.
How does seeing your true origin story as being made on purpose and for a purpose change the way you see yourself? What’s the bigger story than simply your situation right now?
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
The Passover is a family meal observed at the beginning of Israel’s religious calendar, commemorating their deliverance from Egyptian slavery and celebrating the beginning of a redeemed people who belong to God (Exodus 12:1-3; 13:3, 14-16; 19:5-6).
Because Jesus Himself is the true Passover Lamb (John 1:29; 1 Corinthians 5:7), He instituted a new family meal. His eating the Passover with His disciples points to the formation of a new kingdom of God—a new redeemed people and a new family of God. Today we refer to it as the Last Supper because it would have been the last Passover meal for Jesus before the cross (Matthew 26:17-30). Many scholars believe the next feast will be at the great messianic banquet when Jesus returns to establish His Father’s kingdom on earth (see Isaiah 25:6; Luke 13:29; 14:15). K. T. Sim
Because Jesus Himself is the true Passover Lamb (John 1:29; 1 Corinthians 5:7), He instituted a new family meal. His eating the Passover with His disciples points to the formation of a new kingdom of God—a new redeemed people and a new family of God. Today we refer to it as the Last Supper because it would have been the last Passover meal for Jesus before the cross (Matthew 26:17-30). Many scholars believe the next feast will be at the great messianic banquet when Jesus returns to establish His Father’s kingdom on earth (see Isaiah 25:6; Luke 13:29; 14:15). K. T. Sim
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