Of bread and wine

Tuesday July 25, 2023

Of bread and wine

“Jesus took bread...He divided it and gave it to His disciples ; He said to them : “Take and eat, this is my body.” He then took a cup of wine and... He gave it to them, saying : "Drink of it, all of you, for this is My blood..." Matthew 26.26-28 New Version English Current

Nowadays few people knead their flour and make their own bread. Except maybe those who suffer from gluten allergy. We are more accustomed to buying our daily baguette from the baker. But in Jesus' time, making bread every day was the norm, and this tradition lives on in the Middle East in many countries. Have you ever wondered why Jesus chose bread as a symbol of his martyred body for our salvation ? God had given manna to feed His starving people in the desert, but bread is a food that must be worked by human hands, kneaded, shaped and then baked before it is eaten. Bread is the perfect example of the product of human labour, from the planting of wheat to the production of flour, and finally the making of bread. Jesus, the Man-God, chose the best food made by human hands to represent His body which would allow us, in His death, to access eternal salvation. Then, why didn't He choose water, complementary to bread, instead of wine ? While bread is the staple food for a majority of the world's population, wine is reserved for celebrations, feast days. So Jesus turned water into wine at Cana. Wine is also a product of human labour. Any winemaker will tell you how complex the process of making good wine is (at Cana Jesus surprised everyone with the high quality of the wine He produced!). Jesus thus mingled the most common part of our meals, the bread with the sophistication of a festive meal, with the wine, reminding us that we must appreciate what God is giving us today while thinking about what awaits us at the banquet of the Lamb for Jesus declared : “I tell you, I will not drink of this wine any more, until the day when I drink new wine with you in the Kingdom of My Father” (Matthew 26:29).

Source (His Word for Today)