Connecting the Dots

Bread on Christmas Morning

I just finished a bowl of maple & brown sugar, frosted mini-wheats . . . basically bread. Not necessarily the most nourishing for someone with high blood sugar, but at least it was filling . . . 

Temporarily. Except now my tummy [or could it be my brain] is telling me, "I want MORE!" One bowl of this bread wasn't enough to satisfy me. So, will it be back to the kitchen cabinet for me? Another bowl of frosted mini-wheats? Maybe some instant cinnamon oatmeal--cinnamon is supposed to help with high blood sugar, after all--maybe with some blueberries mixed in? Maybe some toast--REAL bread--w/real butter--no margarine for me!

"But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times." Micah 5:2

"So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house & line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she give birth to a firstborn, a Son." Luke 2:4-6a

"Then Jesus declared, 'I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never go hungry . . . '"  John 6:35a

"While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to His disciples, saying, 'Take it; this is My body.'"  Mark 14:22

Despite being the ancestral home of King David, Bethlehem was a backwater even in the Old Testament days of the prophet Micah, hundreds of years before the birth of the Christ child. Kings aren't supposed to be born in town like Bethlehem. They're supposed to be born in great cities like Jerusalem, which was located just a hop, skip, & jump up the road from Bethlehem.

The name itself was prophetic. "Bethlehem" translates from the Hebrew "Bethlehem:"  "Beth" or house, as in "Beth-el," house of God; & "lehem" or bread. [Bethlehem:  House of Bread, on-line source by John Piper.]

Kings also aren't supposed to be born of young, unmarried, peasant girls, like Mary. Shouldn't they be born to queens . . . or at the very least to princesses?

God's plan unfolded as He intended. The bread of life was born in the house of bread. And make no mistake about it . . . Jesus knew full well who He was. 

"I AM the bread of life," He said on more than one occasion. "I Am." He self-identified as God . . . Blasphemy to the hard-hearted who would not, who could not accept Him as the Messiah foretold by Micah & so many other prophets. The Messiah confirmed by the words He spoke; by the miracles He performed.

And Jesus wasn't any frosted mini-wheat bread either. He was--HE IS--the Bread of Life. Those who are led to believe in Him as Lord & Savior--a gift by God's grace--will never be spiritually hungry. [And at this point I decided that I really didn't need another bowl of frosted mini-wheats.]

This Messiah--the Christ, the Anointed One--still comes to us in the Bread & Wine of the Lord's Supper. This Anointed One still comes to us as the Living Word . . . the Word made flesh who "dwelt among us." His bread promises & provides forgiveness & salvation. His bread promises & provides true peace for this life here & now and for the life to come in heaven.

Bread not just on Christmas morning. The Bread of Life is the Bread FOR life.

"O little town of Bethlehem, How still we see thee lie!
Above the deep and dreamless sleep The silent stars go by;
Yet in the dark streets shineth The everlasting light.
The hopes and fears of all the years Are met in thee tonight.

"O holy Child of Bethlehem, Descend to us, we pray.
Cast out our sin, and enter in, Be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels The great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us, Our Lord Immanuel." * **

* Source:  "O Little Town of Bethlehem, Lutheran Service Book #361, St. 1 & 4
** "Immanuel" means "God with us."