A Message from the Interim Rector

Saturday, August 17, 2024

Dear friends,

In Sunday’s gospel, Jesus says, 

“I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” (John 6:25)

This is unusual teaching from Jesus; he is describing himself as bread, the staple food of the first century community. On one level he could be speaking metaphorically while, on another level, he could be making a literal statement. 

Jesus often taught at the dinner table. The breaking of bread was a common expression of hospitality and friendship. At the Last Supper, Jesus breaks bread and hands the pieces of bread to his disciples, with the command to eat in remembrance of him. It wasn’t the first time he had taught them about bread. In the Lord’s Prayer he teaches them to say, “Give us today our daily bread”.

Over the past few weeks our gospel readings have focused on Jesus as the bread of life. There’s something challenging about Jesus becoming present in the bread - he has already sent the Holy Spirit following his ascension into heaven. Why does he also choose to be present in the bread?

Bread is a symbol for the spiritual life. When Jesus feeds the five thousand with a small amount of bread and fish, we are meant to understand this not simply as a miracle of providence, but as a sign of spiritual power - the word of God feeds us abundantly and beyond our imagination. 

Jesus gives the bread “for the life of the world”. This is our everyday life, our relationships, our work, our living and loving. It is a life that draws us toward heaven; hence the promise that “whoever eats of this bread will live forever”. In church, we put this teaching into practice through the sharing of the Eucharist.

This week my wife Ruth, who is Rector of Christ Church Christiana Hundred, wrote a letter to the congregation which contains this beautiful description of the Eucharist.

“Holy Communion is taking the life of Jesus in my hands and consuming it so that he lives in me. The sacrament of his body and blood is sustenance for the journey, food to give me strength to follow where God leads and serve as God commands. It is grace and peace, renewal and refreshment. It is abundance and abiding—God’s generosity staying with me, quietening the fears and filling me with hope and love.”

If Christ is in us, then we are being changed into the likeness of him who died for us. That is our spiritual goal. There’s a lot more to do, of course, but we begin each week by sharing in the life of Christ through the breaking and eating of bread. I therefore invite you to join us in church this Sunday to receive Jesus, the living bread who came down from heaven.

Father David