“Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me with never be thirsty.”” John 6: 35 NIV

Unleavened bread like the bread used to celebrate the Passover at the Last Supper with Jesus.

Jesus tells us who He is many times in the Bible. In the verse above, Jesus tells us He is the bread of life. Bread is a necessary part of keeping us alive. Do you eat bread every day? Remember the prayer Jesus taught us? “Give us this day, our daily bread.” In the time Jesus was on earth, bread was part of every meal. Remember feeding the 5000 with 2 fish and 5 small loaves of bread?

As we go through this time before Easter (when Jesus arose from the dead) it is important for us to understand His sacrifice on the cross for all of us. Jesus is going to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, a special remembrance of the Exodus from Egypt. God commanded that the Israelites celebrate this every year. Jesus and His disciples find an upper room in a house to eat their Passover meal just as God has said.

There are many parts of the Passover meal, but we are going to talk about the bread and the drink. These are the two things that Jesus used to give us our new tradition of communion. The bread used was unleavened which means it wasn’t fluffy like a regular loaf of bread. It was flat because the Israelites left Egypt in such a hurry that they didn’t have time for their bread to raise.

In the Passover meal, three pieces of bread were stacked. The top piece was to represent God, the bottom piece was the people, and the middle piece was the High Priest, the mediator (or middle man) between the people and God. When Jesus broke bread at the Last Supper, it was probably this middle piece. Jesus passed this bread to His disciples and told them that this was His body broken for us all.

Jesus’ death on the cross and His resurrection (raising from death) made Him our mediator, our way to God the Father. No more need for a High Priest, we can talk directly to God because of Jesus!

The drink at the Passover meal was wine or juice of the grape vine. There were four different times that is was passed during the Passover meal; the cup of blessings, the cup of plagues, the cup of redemption and the cup of praise. Jesus passed the cup of redemption (because in God’s new plan, Jesus is our redemption, our Savior). He told His disciples this is His blood of the new covenant.

When you next do communion at your church, think about Jesus at the Last Supper with His disciples. He asked that every time we do this, drink the juice of the vine and eat the bread, that we remember Him and His sacrifice for us. Jesus is the only way to God, our Father!

Blessings as you look to Jesus as your “daily bread”, your Savior, your friend, your strength and your safety.

Prayers for all the people in our world, our country, our states, our communities and our families as we all deal with this new sickness.