The Bread And Cup Will Taste Differently

February 12, 2016

The Bread And Cup Will Taste Differently

“About 5,000 men were fed that day, in addition to all the women and children!”

Matthew 14:21

The miracle of Jesus feeding the multitude in the wilderness is so very rich in spiritual food to sustain us on our journey, little wonder it is the only miracle recorded in all four Gospels. When Jesus was teaching through parables, he noted that his followers would have a treasure of the old and new. (Matthew 13:52) That truth was certainly exhibited in the wilderness where the multitude had gathered with Jesus.

Those gathered with Jesus on that day are remindful of the multitude following Moses and Aaron into the exodus through the wilderness. There our compassionate God moved to feed his people with manna from heaven. Jesus’ response to the disciples panic over their insufficiency to care for the people is remindful of Elisha’s miracle during a famine: “Give it to the people so they can eat, for this is what the Lord says: Everyone will eat, and there will even be some left over!” (2 Kings 4:43b).

Jesus introduced four new phrases that day, which for the last two thousand years have accompanied the sharing of The Lord’s Supper, Holy Communion, the Eucharist: taking bread, blessing bread, breaking bread, and giving bread. Can’t you see Jesus smiling, and hear all heaven laughing with great joy as the disciples lugged twelve baskets of leftovers to Jesus?

The next time you have the opportunity to share at the Lord’s Table, remember Jesus feeding the multitude in the wilderness. Think: what in your life feels like a wilderness experience to you? Then recall these words of Jesus, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26 NRSV. Emphasis mine). Perhaps the bread and cup will taste differently this time.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.