Well, I don’t cook or bake much. One thing I am slightly keen on doing sometime is baking bread. I remember John Lennon saying how much he enjoyed baking bread back in 1980, shortly before his tragic death.
There isn’t really much more to say. I have made scones, but that’s easy 😀.
Are there any songs about bread? Let me think. Ah! Here are a few by Johnny Cash and Frank Sinatra:
And there’s the rock group Bread. I mentioned an album called Hot Hits 14 the other day, the first one I ever bought, for 99p 😀 in Roches Stores in Cork. One of the songs was Guitar Man, from 1972. It was probably my favourite song on that album, even though it wasn’t the real Bread singing it. But the video has the real Bread performing in 1978.
And bread is mentioned in numerous parts of the Bible. Here’s my top 10, chronologically, five from the Old Testament and five from the New Testament:
- Gen 3:19 – The King James version says, “ In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread,” meaning that because Adam and Eve, representing humanity, effectively declared independence from God by eating the forbidden fruit, life is now going to be tough. Modern translations use the word food.
- Genesis 18:6 Abraham prepares bread for the angels who come to investigate the sinful city of Sodom.
- Exodus 12: At the time of the Passover and the exodus from Egypt, the feast of unleavened bread is instituted.
- Exodus 16:4: God supplied the Hebrews in the wilderness with bread (manna) from heaven. In the New Testament, this is seen as a foreshadowing of Christ.
- 1 Kings 17:6: The ravens supplied Elijah with bread. God sometimes uses unusual means to provide for us.
- Matt 4:3-5: When Satan tempts Jesus, who was fasting for 40 days, to turn the stones to bread, Jesus said “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God“. Just as bread provides physical sustenance, God’s word provides spiritual sustenance.
- Matt 6:11: The famous verse from the Lord’s Prayer “Give us today our daily bread.”
- Matt 14:13-21: The feeding of the 5,000, where Jesus multiplies five loaves (of bread) and two fish. However small our input is, God can do amazing things with it.
- John 6:35: “Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” Just as physical bread, or food, is necessary for physical life, spiritual bread is necessary for spiritual life. And it is always available if we are willing to reach out and take it. As the line from the hymn, Guide Me O Thou Great Redeemer puts it:
Bread of Heaven, Bread of Heaven, feed me now and evermore - 1 Cor 11:24: “and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In communion, bread represents the body of Jesus broken for us. This is a very special time for Christians. It feels like Jesus himself is present with us, and he is. Christian debate about precisely how he is present, but he is present with us, even if only two or three gather in this name (Matthew 18:20).
God is always present everywhere, but what we mean when we speak of his presence are occasions when he is present to bless and manifest himself to us. We’ll have that at 100% in heaven, but even if it occurs in a minor way in our present lives, it makes a difference.
And given that he asked us to remember him by this simple meal, it’s no surprise that he blesses us in a special way when we follow his command to meet together and celebrate his sacrifice for us.
And many hymns mention bread. Here are four:
Hibernia Gospel 