The best part of going to a restaurant, in my humble opinion, is the moment after you order when the server brings a basket of hot bread to the table. With a slab of butter right nearby waiting to be lathered onto every square inch of the doughy hunk of goodness. It is also about that time that everyone at the table starts to do advanced math to see just how many pieces they get. “Let’s see 8 pieces of bread. 7 of us at the table. One of us is going to get lucky tonight!”
Most of us just adore this heavenly food. And for those that don’t? They don’t really need to be our friends, do they? And bread has had a high place in human history and in biblical history. Abraham had Sarah bake bread from the finest flour they had for the three strangers who visited their tent. Just before they announced that Sarah would have a child the next year. The Israelites ate unleavened bread the last evening before fleeing from Egypt thus instituting the feast of Passover. Those same Israelites were given manna in the desert. Bread was broken at every meal when Jesus gathered with his disciples AND with sinners as well. It is used when creating a contract or exchanging hospitality. Oh, yeah, and helping to get me out of bed when Elise bakes.
As we look at the first reading, the author of Hebrews discusses the tabernacle in the temple and its layout. In the outer tabernacle is the golden table on which is placed 12 loaves of unleavened bread. This is called the Showbread, the Bread of Offering or the Bread of the Presence. The presence of God. This bread is preparred by the High Priest on the Sabbath and remains in the tabernacle for the following week until fresh bread is made. The older loaves are eaten by the kohanim (the other priests) as a community around the golden table of the offering…of the showbread.
But in all these instances of the eating of bread, all who consume it will die. Now, I have eaten bread that is “To Die For”, but what we are really looking for is that bread that gives us eternal life. The bread for the life of the world. And that is the bread that Jesus gave to his disciples at the Last Supper. It is here that Jesus offers his bread, his body, and his blood for us. The Real Presence.
Surveys have shown that many Catholics, and all Protestants, do not believe in the real presence. They say this is something the Catholic Church made up over the centuries. Well that theory goes out the window when we read the early church Fathers from the first two centuries such as St. Polycarp and St. Ignatius. And Justin Martyr who wrote in 150 A.D.
For not as common bread and common drink do we receive these; but in like manner as Jesus Christ our Saviour, having been made flesh by the Word of God, had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so likewise have we been taught that the food which is blessed by the prayer of His word, and from which our blood and flesh by TRANSMUTATION are nourished, IS THE FLESH AND BLOOD OF THAT JESUS WHO WAS MADE FLESH.
We also read in Hebrews today that the High Priest would spread the blood of goats and calves on the items (the Tablets of the Word, the jar with manna, the Ark of the Covenent, and the staff of Aaron) in the inner tabernacle. The Holy of Holies. Where only the High Priest can enter. Hebrew belief was that life was located in the blood. So blood is spilled, life given up, for forgiveness of sins. It was impossible to expect sins to be forgiven without blood being shed. And blood needed to be spilled every time sin was committed. The high priest would need to offer a blood sacrifice every year for himself and for the people.
Enter Jesus. Not only does the blood of Jesus the man get shed but also the blood of the divine Jesus. The Jewish people would get the message of what Jesus was trying to do. Shed blood once for the forgiveness of past sins and for sins committed in the future by calling upon His name and believing in Him. No longer would people need animal sacrifice. His blood provides eternal redemption.
So the next time the basket of bread comes around go ahead and grab for that extra piece. Load it up with butter. And enjoy. But know that joy will not last. Only the bread that comes from the Son of Man will fill that hunger. In the words of St. Augustine, “You have made us for yourself, O God, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you.”
